Posted by: tashi
Yes, but IMO primarily due to the fact that their population density has been low relative to the carrying capacity of the land, not due to any unique relationship with the land.
With increased technology comes increased population density and individual impact, regardless of ethnicity or history of “coexistence with nature”.
When I mentioned things being “ruined” I was speaking in the general destruction of life sustaining ecological systems due to human consumption, not the draining of this specific lake. My bad if that didn’t fit the context.
Ahhh - ok, thanks, that makes way more sense.
Agree on the population density/carrying capacity thing to a degree, but at the same time disagree on the rebuttal of coexistence with nature and their relationship with the land. Indigenous culture is rooted in the idea of taking only what you need and making sure you leave more than enough for the future, aka Seven Generations. If you look at fishing and aquaculture systems in the PNW, they were designed to ensure the future health of aquatic species such as salmon. These concepts are their culture, their spirituality and their identity. Indigenous people have a completely different way of looking at the world that we exist in and it is largely antithetical to the Westerm/Capitalist way of doing things. Indigenous peoples in NA got mocked and derided for being backwards, uneducated savages, but they know far more about living with nature than we do and were/are far more advanced than we give them credit for.