Connection with the Environment - two different worldviews into perspective

Note to the reader: The objective of this article is to reflect on how European settlers’ and Indigenous Peoples’ worldviews played a significant role in their different ways to establish a relationship with the environment. The geographical and chronological cut is defined as the American Continent between the 15th and 17th centuries. Therefore, considering the historical context and the research done, the term “settler” is being used as a synonym for “colonizer” in this article.

The reason behind this article

My goal is to delve deeper into humankind and nature, a theme briefly discussed in my previous article - Reflecting on the Fundamentals. In a less simplifying and more comprehensive perspective, the objective is to present the worldviews of the first settlers and Indigenous Peoples in connection with the environment.

The American Continent as an immigration zone

It is known that the American Continent is a region of immigration. Research points out that the first group of people – non-specialized hunters and gatherers, carrying rudimentary lithic instruments – entered the American Continent through Beringia around 40,000 years ago. 

It is a consensus among archaeologists who study the permanent settlement in the western hemisphere that the Bering Strait was the main pathway for intercontinental exchanges. However, the beginning of permanent settlement is still one of the most controversial topics in American archeology. Along these lines, it is assumed that permanent settlement took place through various migratory waves over time. The different groups of immigrants developed heterogeneous processes of occupying the ecological spaces. Comprehending that helps one understand the diversity of the multiple cultures encountered by Europeans, during their massive disembarkation in the western hemisphere from the 15th to the 17th centuries.

The encounter of two worldviews

During that stretch of time, one can say that “two worlds” came across each other: European settlers had their own way of thinking and Indigenous Peoples their own value-system.

In fact, it is necessary to emphasize the plurality of mental and cultural dimensions in each of them. It is not reasonable to admit any form of homogeneity between the different European peoples who disembarked here. Likewise, it is not coherent to accept uniformity among  the societies that lived here for several millennia.

Considering the diversity within each of these worldviews, it’s time to explore the two perspectives on the relation with the environment.

European settlers and the environment

The first European settlers saw the environment as mere support to reach their economic aspirations. The land was exploited to the point of exhaustion. During colonization processes, there was no concern about using the land and the natural resources mindfully. For instance, the exploration of gold and silver was done to the maximum extent. Once the mines were exhausted, the places, completely degraded, were simply abandoned.Rivers were exploited in the search for riches. There was no concern for their integrity and preservation. Watercourses were often contaminated with mercury and, therefore, the fauna and flora were drastically endangered.Forests were destroyed by the practice of slash – felling of trees followed by burning to practice extensive agriculture – or by the disorderly extraction of wood. The fauna was treated with total disregard, leading some species to extinction.

Indigenous Peoples and the environment

Indigenous Peoples, on the other hand, considered and still consider the environment as part of themselves. Therefore, nature is inherent to their very existence. Indigenous Peoples' commitment to the natural world extends further than preserving the environment as their relationship with nature is an indissoluble connection. One can say that there is more than a balanced relationship between Indigenous Peoples and nature - this deep connection is based on harmony.  

Rivers, forests, mountains, valleys, and animals are intertwined with the culture, language, customs, and traditions of Indigenous Peoples. For this reason, the environment was and will forever be part of the communities and, at the same time, appreciated and used with full care and protection.

The importance of an intersectional analysis 

It is known that all the so-called pre-Columbian peoples – spread so irregularly throughout the American Continent extension – had ancestral ties that were strongly rooted in the environment.

The different ecological environments – from the Arctic Circle to the extreme south of Patagonia – influenced religious practices, customs, ways of life, artistic and artisanal production, social organization, worldviews, and traditions of the societies established here before the colonizers arrived.

Researches show multiple connections between the Peoples of the northern part of the American Continent and the other societies across the western hemisphere. For this reason, when reflecting and studying Indigenous Peoples in Canada, one must consider the scope of intersectional analysis through Archaeology, Anthropology, History and Ecology lenses, involving the entire American Continent. 

The starting point

To unlearn and relearn, aiming for a broad and more comprehensive knowledge of these issues will allow one to reflect in greater depth – not only on the past but also on the present and the future of Indigenous Peoples. Furthermore, one will have more efficient tools to understand the challenges of major environmental issues, which is an ever-increasing concern.

References

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Laidlaw, Z., & Lester, A. eds. (2015). Indigenous Communities and Settler Colonialism: Land Holding, Loss and Survival in an Interconnected World. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

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