"...this entire tangle calls for a major creative effort to make the American legal system, which is based largely on individual and property rights, somehow accommodate the communal, nature- and place-based belief systems of many Native (and other) people. It is interesting that Christians are beginning to invent something called Creation Theology, which sounds a lot like what goes on at Bear Butte.  [Bear Butte is a place sacred to Native Americans.]...It is possible, however, that the ecological havoc in store for us from global warming will push the law in this new direction, as private and public property vanishes under the encroaching waves and ownership of all sorts of resources is rendered moot."   From "Sacred Ground" Native People's magazine online

I was looking up various things that struck my fancy and ran across Native Peoples magazine's site, which has both online and print editions.  There are many articles about current causes, events, and other related things, and I highly recommend it if you want to keep apprised of ecological issues, as many of the proposed environment-raping actions are being fought by native peoples. 

The other things I found interesting in the "Sacred Ground" article were in the above quote. 

Firstly, the interesting way of looking at so-called creation science where the writer saw a legitimate and realistic assessment of how the world works/was created in the concept.  This with no separation between science 'fact'-- because in scientific processes, there is no such thing as fact, there is only theory, e.g. what has yet to be disproven-- and religious explanations for how the world was made.

The native writer was apparently seeing in creation science a parallel vision to how native peoples see the world; and that what Western science quantifies/ describes with the rules of science is either not the important thing, or it is another aspect that is disregarded by mainstream Western science.  (I rather feel the writer was thinking that the scientific method is more like the dissection of a dead body to define life versus the examination and treatment of a living being by a doctor.  But I tend to disagree with the statement in that creation science is highly flawed and is attempting to use an inappropriate framework to define itself, one that actually takes away from the beauty of religion; and that while the comparison with native religious belief that the land is a living entity has some similarities, it is a strange and incorrect correlation to make a comparison between creation science and native belief systems.  Between religious elements, yes; but not between a pesudo science and a religion.  I suppose if you are looking at shamanic practices as science...but it seems to be off the mark.  (But that's me, and that's a discussion for another forum. :)

The point being that the article illustrates an interesting perspective that would make a fascinating jumping off point for character building.

Secondly, I really like the mention of what Global Warming might do to change property ownership and rights in the future.  You can take all sorts of directions with that.  If a Native American model was adapted, dictating that the world's resources were not owned, but were to be respected and used sustainably without damage to the environment... that would be interesting, especially if you had a hard-line standard where people made do or they did without, even and unto death by starvation, lack of water, or poor shelter. 

I believe it was Charles DeLindt in Svaha that had the Hopi or Navajo nations (forgive me, it's been years since I last read this book) being the leaders of technology and sustainable high tech in a quasi-post-apocalyptic world.  And Karen Travis had that hardline do or die attitude in the culture of her aliens in the Wess'har series, with hard-line aliens who believe all life is sacred--unless you are threatening other life yourself.  In which case, they will act on behalf of the helpless life you are trouncing, be it the things you kill to eat the meat of, or the raping of the environment.

So the latter idea has been used somewhat; yet it's an intriguing way of looking at the future, and it could be used many more times, whether in an upbeat tale or a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk tale of tech gone wrong and the morass that Western culture has fallen into.  You could make it from teh point of view of a native person, or from an African tribal person, or any number of folk from 3rd world or oppressed cultural groups.  [I've taken that tack somewhat in a world I'm building.]

Interesting stuff. 

 

Comments

[betsydornbusch]

I'm hoping to achieve something similar with my Indigos in SCAR, with more development. They live commune style rather than family style, though there are family units. But mostly the land belongs to the whole tribe. They honestly probably would share with outsiders if they could, but instead they steal from Christian caravans, calling it "sharing." That they have to defend their freehold against Christian crusaders provides plenty of justification for their actions, at least to them.