Landscapes Lost and Found - Agri-culture: Reconnecting People, Land and Nature - page 8

temper, the dominance of the new thinking. But it has been a Sisyphean
struggle, until perhaps recently when the mountain-top has at least become
more visible. It is, though, in the indigenous groups of the world that
we find remnants of nature-people connectivity. One of the most com-
prehensive collections on the diversity of human cultures and their
connectedness with nature and the land is Darrell Posey's 700-page
volume, Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity . Containing contributions
from nearly 300 authors from across the world, these highlight 'the central
importance of cultural and spiritual values in an appreciation and preservation of all
life' . These voices of the earth demonstrate the widespread intimate
connectivity that people have with nature, and their mutual respect and
understanding. 13
In Australia, Henrietta Fourmile of the Polidingi Tribe says:
Not only is it the land and soil that forms our connections with the earth but also
our entire life cycle touches most of our surroundings. The fact that our people hunt
and gather these particular species on the land means emphasis is placed on
maintaining their presence in the future. . . What is sometimes called 'wildlife' in
Australia isn't wild; rather, it's something that we have always maintained and will
continue gathering.
Pera of the Bakalaharil tribe in Botswana points to their attitudes in using
and sustaining wild resources:
Some of our food is from the wild, like fruits and some of our meat. . . We are happy
to conserve, but some conservationists come and say that preservation means that
we cannot use the animals at all. To us, preservation means to use, but with love,
so that you can use again tomorrow and the following year. 14
Johan Mathis Turi of the Saami reflects on the mutual shaping in the
Norwegian Arctic:
The reindeer is the centre of nature as a whole and I feel I hunt whatever nature
gives. Our lives have remained around the reindeer and this is how we have managed
the new times so well. It is difficult for me to pick out specific details or particular
incidences as explanations for what has happened because my daily life, my nature,
is so comprehensive. It includes everything. We say 'lotwantua', which means
everything is included.
A similar perspective is put by Gamaillie Kilukishah, an Inuit from
northern Canada who, in translation by Meeka Mike, says: