The web of life

[1nharmony]

Chief Seattle of the Suquamish tribe (NW USA) is credited with this quote:

"Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.
This we know: The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know.
All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.
Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.
Man did not weave the web of life: he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."

This message came to mind recently as I began reading the February issue of National Geographic. Society President John Fahey wrote this in the introduction:
"There is inevitable tension in the relationship between human aspirations and the natural world. Our future depends on how well we manage that relationship."

President Fahey's comment seems somewhat trite to me. A person in his position, I would think, obviously has an awareness of the connection between man and nature. Native Americans had this awareness for centuries before the Europeans arrived, so I'm finding this "revelation" of Fahey's rather ironic, while also wondering why he describes it using the word "tension". I think the Indian generally found the relationship to be harmonious. Is it that the "white man" (using this term to denote any of us today who are disconnected from nature) is so removed from nature that he can do nothing more than observe the results of his destruction rather than foresee the negative impact?

 

[Myst]

I have always loved Chief Seattle's words. And this is no exception. The native americans have always known the divine connection between man and nature. And it is only recently that the rest of us have begun thinking about it. And you are right, to us (im not native american but my beliefs are based on native american beliefs..if you know what i mean), the relationship between man and nature is always harmonius, like the relationship between the body and the soul essentially. We realise one can't exist without the other, moving away from nature brings about the "tensions". The white man (majority of us who have a heck of a busy life and no time to breathe pure air) are exepreincing "stress" cuz of moving away from the earth. Not from the "tensions" cuz of a relationship with nature. But, in a life so full of stress, i dont think Fahey realises where the stress is arising from....

 

[1nharmony]

We realise one can't exist without the other, moving away from nature brings about the "tensions". The white man (majority of us who have a heck of a busy life and no time to breathe pure air) are exepreincing "stress" cuz of moving away from the earth. Not from the "tensions" cuz of a relationship with nature. But, in a life so full of stress, i dont think Fahey realises where the stress is arising from....

I agree with you, Mystic, that we have created most of our troubles by distancing ourselves from the earth and nature. Every time I get into the mountains that are SO near my home I wonder why I don't go much more often. As Society Pres., Fahey must walk amidst important political circles and I think maybe this "tension" comes from the knowledge of what politicians want to do to our planet compared with the knowledge of the impact those actions will have upon us all in the long run. Global warming is a fine example of this tension. In my experience, it seems people have to personally feel the impact of something before they are ready to do anything about it. Even then, they tend to expect that someone ELSE should be fixing the problem.

 

[painted wolf]

unfortunatly this is a symptom of society. Those in power have a terrible choice to make. To not only admit you are doing something dangerous, but to then get everyone in your culture to stop doing it. Often the dangerous activity is wound into the very fabric of the society.

Look at Easter Island, the "Classical" Mayans, Anasazi, Greenland Norse and so on.

Humans all over the globe have been suffering the consiquences of environmental bad planning for the entirety of our history.

I think the "tension" comes from the fact that we are dependant on the things that will eventually kill us. Could you really live without oil? Do you know how much it is tied into your modern life?
energy, plastics, medicines, fertalizers, clothing, health and beauty products. Did you know that we can't make Solar power collectors without using Oil? Or Wind power, geothermal power, hydrogen power, nuclear power and so on.... all need oil at some stage.

This is a terribly complicated problem we have facing us today. One eaven my Native American ancestors wern't always successful at solving when they faced it. There is no miricle cure, it will be a painful process for human kind.

wa:do

 

[1nharmony]

I think the "tension" comes from the fact that we are dependant on the things that will eventually kill us. Could you really live without oil? Do you know how much it is tied into your modern life?
energy, plastics, medicines, fertalizers, clothing, health and beauty products. Did you know that we can't make Solar power collectors without using Oil? Or Wind power, geothermal power, hydrogen power, nuclear power and so on.... all need oil at some stage.
wa:do

Absolutely correct. A television item recently predicted a "huge catastrophy" that will come upon the civilized world in the year 2012. My husband and I discussed what could cause such an event and the obvious answer was anything that would disable our source of energy. Can you imagine the chaos without electricity? The number of people who would die, first from exposure to the elements, then from starvation? Hurricane Katrina was a wake-up call to all of us, but all we did was hit the "snooze" button.