WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM NATIVE AMERICANS’ USE OF TREES?

Andrea Thordarson (WHS)

“History is just new people making old mistakes” There’s a lot we can learn from the past. We often learn in school how history is about learning from our previous mistakes. From the widespread teachings of the atrocities of WW2 to the various miscalculations made by roman tacticians that led to the downfall of an empire; we are reminded of the vital role history plays in society. The climate crisis has been a particularly heavily debated topic, with an increase in natural disasters and pollution leading to world-wide protests. In our journey towards an amplified environmental conscientiousness perhaps it is time to look into cultures and civilisations that more successfully found a balance between give and take.

One of the key features in native American cultures is their connection to nature and the Earth. Dissimilar to the European method of pillage and plunder, they maintain a deep respect for the land. Take for example the way in which they used trees. A great emphasis is placed on ensuring sustainability and finding ways to avoid simply cutting them down. Trees were an important source of food, medicine, tools, navigation as well as being central to religion and art. Needles of evergreens went into making tea, the pitch was chewed like gum as well as used as a sealant for bowls and baskets, nuts grew year round and acorns were used as flour. They created art in the form of totem poles that told their history, and in many tribes, trees carried a sacred importance. When they did need to cut down the trees, elaborate rituals were performed, and it was ensured there was always a consideration of the repercussions of their actions. One of the most recent strings of natural disasters has been an increase in wildfires seen throughout the northern and southern hemispheres, most notably in Australia and California. 600 years ago, pre the European colonialization of the Americas the natives would practice ‘controlled fire’. They would strategically burn forests in order to maintain the landscape. This custom was one of the reasons the Americas were seen as “untouched and pristine”. It changed the composition of the trees in the forest. Where modern day forests are mainly comprised of species that are shade tolerant, drought intolerant pyrophobes; native cultures encouraged the growth of trees with a higher tolerance to fire and drought. However, with European settlers becoming a more and more prevalent population in America this practice was diminished until in the 1940s with the introduction of ‘Smokey the bear’, policies surrounding the prevention of forest fires people began to revisit the utility of controlled fires and it was reinstated. Although these specific examples would be nigh on impossible to emulate in modern day society where there is a far larger population and therefore far greater need for resources, the thinking of sustainability and the great respect of nature is a matter to be considered as something that should be found in the future of our societies.

Bibliography

“Native American Use of Fire in Ecosystems.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 June 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_use_of_fire_ in_ecosystems.

Patterson, Susan. “What Native Americans Can Teach Us About Using Trees For Survival.” Off The Grid News, 2 May 2018, www.offthegridnews.com/extremesurvival/what-native-americans-can-teach-us-aboutusing-trees-for-survival/. Penn State. “Eastern Forests Shaped More by Native Americans’ Burning than Climate Change.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 21 May 2019, www. sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190521162443. htm.