Analysis of American Indian Environmental Ethics as Described by Ojibwa Narratives

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1 Philosophy 336 CSU Chico- Summer 2010 Final Term Paper Thursday, August 19, 2010 Analysis of American Indian Environmental Ethics as Described by Ojibwa Narratives Throughout the centuries philosophers, anthropologists, and scholars have debated the issue of Native American environmental ethics. One commonly held belief is that the Native Americans felt a deep connection to the natural world and aimed to conserve or preserve the environment. However, among supporters of this idea there is debate over the world view of indigenous cultures as it relates to the land. In Callicott and Nelson's study, American Indian Environmental Ethics: An Ojibwa Case Study, the authors state that, From the narratives themselves and certainly from the analysis of them...it should be obvious that the Ojibwa had a strong environmental ethic. Indeed, the Ojibwa ethos, embedded in the Ojibwa worldview, seems much more oriented to setting out the proper way that people should treat other-than-human persons including animal and plant persons, as well as manitous, than the way they should treat each other." (p. 117) Further, Callicott states that the, American Indian tradition...provides the foundations for ethical restraint in relation to nonhuman animal nature." (CITE). The narratives of, The Orphans and Mashos, and, The Boy That Was Carried Away by a Bear support these claims. However the narratives of, The Moose and His Offspring, and, Little-Image reject this idea. One of the strongest arguments for Callicott and Nelson's claim comes from the analysis of the events which occur in, The Orphans and Mashos. In this story the father of the central characters catches his wife having sex with snakes in the woods. The man then tells his sons to run away and conjures a plan to kill his wife by burning her in a fire. The narrative never rebukes the murderous actions of the father. Instead, he is portrayed as a hero for saving his sons from an evil mother (even 1

2 though it is never clearly explained why the mother's infidelity put the children in any direct danger in the first place). Later in the story, the children are running from their mother who has died and become a manitou, they come to a river which they can not pass without the help of a Horn-Grebe. The older brother begs the Horn-Grebe, Oh, please, my grandfather, carry us over the water to the other side! A manitou is persuing us (p. 45). This statement shows a deep connection between human and animals in several ways. First of all, the use of the term, grandfather that is used to address the Horn-Grebe is one that indicates much respect. The term also exemplifies the community concept which identifies kinship between humans and animals. The way in which the statement is phrased also shows that the children could not command the animal to help them, thus implying that humans do not have complete dominion over nature. Finally, since the children did not have the ability to cross the river without the help of the Horn-Grebe, the statement shows that the animal possessed a power that the humans did not have. Therefore, the events that take place in, The Orphans and Mashos clearly support Callicott and Nelson's idea that the ethical treatment of nature is often portrayed as being more important than the ethical treatment of humans in Ojibwa narratives. The Boy Who Was Carried Away by a Bear also supports Callicott and Nelson's claims. The first line of the story describes a situation of child abuse by stating,...a certain old man had many children and one of his sons was he continually flogging; small was the boy (p70). The boy runs away and is raised in the wilderness by a bear. He does not return home until he is grown whereupon the story states that, But of nothing did they question him, for they were afraid of him. Never again did the old man chastise him (p72). This shows that the father only refrains from beating his son upon his return because he is afraid of his son's strength. The old man never faces and consequences for his abusive behavior and does not show any remorse. Thus, the story is not meant to condemn violence. It does, however, convey a message of the importance of treating animals with respect. The boy develops a close relationship with the bear who raises him and even calls him, grandfather. Even after the bear 2

3 returns the boy to his family he continues to take care of the boy by providing food whenever the boy is hungry. The story explains that, Whenever he was heard saying, 'My grandfather, I am hungry, feed me!' then there, wherever they were living in the winter time, would he obtain a bear, near by the wigwam (p72). This example shows that the boy would only kill a bear when the animal offered itself to him and when he was in need of food. He never killed bears for sport or killed more than was necessary for survival. Since the narrative does not condemn violence between humans but is used, instead, to show the importance of treating animals with respect it can be concluded that the narrative can be used as an argument in support of Callicott and Nelson's claims. Some narratives, however, contradict Callicott and Nelson's ideas. In the Ojibwa narrative, The Moose and His Offspring, moose are personified to have many human qualities. They are able to speak to each other and understand human language. They also live in family based communities. This can be seen in the beginning of the narrative when the father says to his son, Why did you have two wives? You should not have done so (p74). This simple statement shows that the moose had the physical ability to speak to each other, the knowledge of a common language, and a sense of kinship in which marriage is practiced. It would seem that a worldview in which animals are seen as having such similar lives to humans would produce a resistance to killing these animals. However, the story goes on to explain an instance where a young moose tracks a human family, is caught, and has his nose cut off. This treatment is far from humane and shows a hierarchy of power in which man rules above animals. This concept is further portrayed at the end of the story when the mother moose expresses anger towards humans and a desire for revenge and her husband scolds her. He says to her, Hush! Speak not thus of people, for they are truly endowed with manitou power (p75). This shows that humans are believed to have a special power that can not be attained by the moose. Therefore, this narrative justifies the inhumane treatment of moose by the Ojibwa people regardless of their human-like status and contradicts Callicott and Nelson's claims which imply a practice of restraint in harming animals 3

4 and a concept of equality between species or, in some cases, even a superiority of animals. Little-Image also rejects Callicott and Nelson's thesis. Both the events that take place and the specific language used to describe them connote a sense of unnecessary violence towards animals. In this narrative there is a running competition between bears and humans in which the loser of the race must be killed. The humans win the race and kill the bears under fair and agreed upon circumstances. However, right after the humans win the race the story says, Now, a war-club did he who was racing have; whereupon he clubbed (the bear) that he had raced with, and also the other thirty bears (p77). This killing in such a massive quantity exceeds basic subsistence needs and is, therefore, unnecessary. More excessive slaughter takes place after another victorious race for humans. The story states, Thereupon he laid the other bears low with the club, as many as half their number he clubbed to death (p77). Later, Little-Image, a manitou, goes hunting for bears with a human. The story explains, As fast as they overtook them they clubbed them to death. In truth, many they smote along the way And when they had slain them all, then back they came (p78). This occurrence does not take place as a result of a victorious race. In fact, no reason is given for the killing at all. This suggests that the manitou and the human do not value the lives of the bears and do not have rules governing any proper treatment of animals. The language used to describe the killing is also rather insensitive. The term, war-club in the first example suggests that the killing is done in a spirit or war rather than in order to simply feed and clothe the tribe. The use of the term, clubbed to death also creates an image of violence and anger. These examples clearly show that the narrative does not demonstrate ethical restraint towards animals and does not imply that proper treatment of animals is more important than how people treat each other as Callicott and Nelson postulate. Although the narratives of, The Orphans and Mashos and, The Boy That Was Carried Away by a Bear do show evidence of a strong environmental ethic and emphasize the importance of the proper treatment of animals more than the treatment of humans, it can not be concluded that the 4

5 narrative reflects the actual worldview of the Ojibwa. Similarly, one can not say that simply because, The Moose and His Offspring and, Little-Image have themes which contradict Callicott and Nelson's claims they correctly reflect the practices of the Ojibwa either. If one is to look at American cinema and popular children stories in order to determine ethics it would not reflect the actual practices of American society. For example, in a common version of Little Red Riding Hood a child is tricked by a wolf who disguises himself as the girl's grandmother. The wolf intends to eat the child, however she is saved by a hunter. Instead of killing the wolf in a humane way, the hunter cuts the wolf open and fills his belly with rocks. The wolf then goes to a pond to drink and sinks to the bottom and drowns. This does not reflect the actual way in which people treat animals in American society. Most people in America believe in treating animals with proper care and only killing them when necessary and in the least painful way possible. Hansel and Gretel, another popular children's tale, tells a story of two children who kill a witch in order to save themselves from being eaten. After the children kill the witch they find a chest full of jewels, gold, and diamonds in the witch's house. They take all of the riches and return home safely. This implies that it is ethical to steal if the person you are stealing from is evil. In reality, most Americans would say that stealing is wrong and abstain from doing so. An analysis of American cinema would definitely lead one to the conclusion that the proper treatment of humans is not valued. Many popular horror movies, including, Saw, The Hills Have Eyes, and, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre tell tales of people brutally murdering other people. In each story the murderers get away with the killings with no repercussions. If one assumes that the actions are considered ethical if they are present in a story and the person who performs such actions does not face bad consequences then one would believe that Americans believe that brutal killing of other humans is accepted. Thus, just because the proper treatment of humans is not emphasized in Ojibwa narratives one can not assume that Ojibwa ethics are not as concerned with the treatment of people as with the treatment of animals. In conclusion, there are many arguments both for and against Callicott and Nelson's claims 5

6 about Ojibwa ethics as described in Ojibwa narratives. The narratives of, The Orphans and Mashos and, The Boy that was Carried Away by a Bear both tell a story in which humans are treated badly and animals are loved and honored. They convey a strong, deeply embedded, environmental ethic. On the other hand, The Moose and His Offspring describe instances where animals are slaughtered or harmed by humans without much justification. This contradict Callicott and Nelson's thesis because it implies that the Ojibwa were less concerned about the environment and the treatment of the nonhuman natural world. However, to make an assumption about the actual environmental ethics and worldview of the Ojibwa based on the narratives is to draw a hasty conclusion. The actual practices of the Ojibwa may have differed greatly from the implications of the narratives just as the American worldview is not always reflected by stories or cinema. The environmental ethics of Native Americans has been an issue of debate for many centuries and will continue to inspire intriguing and thought provoking studies for centuries to come. Works Cited Callicott, J. Baird, Nelson, Michael P. (2004) American Indian Environmental Ethics An Ojibwa Case Study. Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. 6