Native American Ways of Life

This we will attempt to do in regard to Native Ameri set up Environmental Philosophies.

Challenges to American Indian Environmental Philosophies

The Judeo-Christian Western attitude toward the purlieu is and was philosophically quite different from that of the native bulks. Those of European start believe that the world is given to humans to use and improve, non for the sake of the world, but for the advantages of the people (Rosenstand, 59). Chief Seattle might not believe that land, sky, and oceans can be owned, but the white people think so, and busily go about claiming territories and expanding their horizons with whatever mechanisms ar available.

This audacious approach to the resources of the land and environment posed a tremendous challenge to the cultures of the people who were already in the western sandwich hemisphere. The devastation and decimation of people have been chronicled by scholars, media, and popular entertainment. We proverb it in Pocahontas and Dances with Wolves. The images of fields full of buffalo, mindlessly killed and skinned, lying to neutralize in the sun, are indelibly set in the internal consciousness.

Part of the difficulty lies in the opposing opinions or views of the sense over the senses. The Native American cultures viewed their environment and life in a visceral, wholistic manner, a kabbalisticly integrated approach to spirit that is almost incomprehensible to someone not of that background. We could blame Plato a

Overholt, Thomas, and J. Baird Callicott.

Clothed in Fur (The Narratives).

This dense understanding of all the forces of nature leads a native soul to believe that the North Wind is the father of one of her children (Hallowell, 34). at that place are profound communications with all aspects of nature in ways that are incomprehensible to those of European descent, but a philosophy that enables Indians to live in harmony with their environment. An Ojibwa hunter can talk to a bear and prevent attack, saying, "If you want to live, go away" (Hallowell, 36). Such beliefs about the powers of the animals are so deep in Native American thought, that one can go on a bearwalk and experience a transforming personal metamorphosis. groundbreaking society could use this type of influence, harmonizing people with the more inseparable forces of the environment. Technology has brought speed but not peace nor happiness.

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