Organization: Penn State University
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 11:23:50 EDT
From: <MEK104@psuvm.psu.edu>   Mark Kubiske
Newsgroups: talk.environment
Subject:    Re: Native People's leadership

in <1992Jul19.143145.5665@iscsvax.uni.edu> duneman 7484@iscsvax.uni.edu
writes

>Just a thought to ponder, at least: ...  Looking for ways to make the
>environmental movement work *before* "it's too late." It is agreed, I'm
>sure, that the main source of this enviro-horror is the "West's" total
>absence of CONNECTION to the Earth and it's beauty.  We've ransacked the
>Earth'sresources for our own material excesses with no thought as to what
>we were destroying.  Now, who can give us the leadership to guide us
>through this mess ...  Native peoples.  The indigineous peoples of the
world - NOT >the conquerors and destroyers.

Several points to respond to here.  I flatly  reject your notion that all of
the environmental problems in the world today are the result of "western"
civilization.  Are you suggesting that the countries of the mideast and far
east are more "environmentally sensitive" than we are?  Why don't you take a
trip to China and check out the mess they've made of their forests.  Your
statement that all of the worlds environmental problems is the fault of the
"West" is far from agreed upon - it is primarily the environmental
extremests and radicals that subscribe to your accusation.  Secondly, I
don't know of anyone who does not fit the description of "indigineous
peoples of the world".  Do you think that some of us came from outer space?
Actually, I'm being facetious, I know who you're talking about.  What you
mean is Native Americans, Native Aficans, South American Indians, etc.  and
you are placing the blame squarely on the Europeans who settled the
Americas.  What you fail to mention are all of the benefits that you now
enjoy from that migration.  One of the reasons that that the Native
Americans were "at one" with their environment was that they simply had no
choice.  Why did the plains Indians havest so few bison, and use virtually
all of each carcass?  Simply because it is very difficult for a hunter on
foot with primitive weapons to kill a bison.  Life was very hard, famine and
disease were well known and an "old age" was mid-thirties.  Quite a
paradise.


As far as Native Americans as environmental leaders today, there is an
excellent example of what you're talking about in the Menominee Indian Tribe
of Wisconsin.  The Menominee saw the resource potential in their forests of
Northern Wisconsin and wanted to - not preserve - but conserve this
resource.  That is to say, they wanted to utilize the resource in a
sustainable manner.  They entered into an arrangement with the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources to design and impliment a forest management
plan, which includes timber harvesting.  One point here is that the
Menominee people realised that it was not only impractical to simply
preserve their forests, but it was undesirable as well.  Another point is
that they lacked the expertise to design a forest management plant so they
sought the foresters and land managers of the Wisc.  DNR for help.  Guess
what ...  most of them are of European descent.  So there is one example of
Native American leadership - ideas that are in direct agreement with the
goals of forest management policies in general.  The success of this program
is not unique.  State and federal forest agencies have been implimenting
successful sustained yield management plans on state, federal and private
forests for many years.

Mark.