-By Barry Mitschke
When you open this book, the inside covers have a bluish-coloured map entitled “CULTURE AREAS AND TRIBES” that illustrate most of North America. (See the image showing the North-western part.) The 10 culture areas are: ARCTIC, SUBARCTIC, NORTHWEST COAST, GREAT PLAINS, PLATEAU, GREAT BASIN, CALIFORNIA, SOUTHWEST, NORTHEAST, and SOUTHEAST. Tribes within Western Canada include: ESKIMO (Inuit), CREE, TLINGIT, TSIMSHIAN, BELLA COOLA, HAIDA, KWAKITL, NOOTKA, COAST SALISH, SARSEE, BLOOD, BLACKFOOT and ASSINIBOIN.
As a white American professor and author, J. Donald Hughes attempted “… to present from Indian sources the attitudes of Indians toward the natural environment and the practices resulting from those attitudes.” He consulted widely with tribes, elders, teachers, speakers, and others. These ideas are organized into 10 chapters: The Unspoiled Continent; the Sacred Universe; the Powerful Animals; The Plant People; All Beings Share the Same Land; The Gifts of Mother Earth; The Wisdom of the Elders; Our People Covered the Land; The Strangers’ Ways; and, Indian Wisdom for Today. Nine sets of black and white photographs taken between 1880 and 1926 show the lifestyles of various Indian Peoples; those living in Canada include: Blackfoot, Haida, Cree, Salish, Tlingit, and Piegan.
Forty years ago, this book was a landmark effort to acknowledge the worldview of Indian peoples in a respectful and truthful way. Hughes admits that there would be historians, anthropologists, and others who would both agree and disagree with his conclusions and presentation. The Preface “Everywhere Life is Renewed” was written by Jamake Highwater (Blackfoot Indian). “To the Reader” includes the acknowledgements (who was consulted). The 143 pages of text precede the Notes, Bibliography, and Index.
A selection of quotes from the book reveals some of the flavour of the contents:
- p.4. “There were also animals, trees, plants, and rivers, and the Indians regarded themselves as relatives of these, not as their superiors.”
- p.5. “Ways of life, and therefore attitudes and practices varied from one area to another, and between linguistic groups, tribes, communities, clans, families, and even individuals.”
- p.14. “… their religion was a religion of nature. … as one with nature.”
- p.41. “… Plains Indian ethics of sharing. Generosity was an honored ideal …”
- p.42. “… Plains Indians lacked a concept of land as disposable private property … an area of land … belonged to the tribe.”
- p.52. “Trees were the most powerful and impressive to Indians of all the plant people. ... seen as having immortal spirits and the power to help or hurt.”
- p.56. “Fire, of course, was a sacred power, and wise rules governed its treatment.”
- p.60. “… Indian attitude … The land was the gift of the Great Spirit … hallowed their natural environment, perceiving it as a holy, organic unity which surrounded and nurtured them.”
- p.76. “Wherever Indians farmed, their methods conserved both water and land. … to provide constant vigilance and difficult labor at the proper seasons … motivated by a religious view of nature.”
- p.78. “Indians learned the ecological principles and relationships from nature in a very direct way…. [could] see the results of carelessness or waste.”
- p.79. “… developed an extensive body of knowledge about nature that amounted to an ethnic science. … observant and rational …empirical observation and experience … took stock … how much there was of each species and where it was to be found ... The Indians’ science was a blend of observation, reason, insight and nature mysticism.”
- p.81. “All American Indian groups used sacred traditions and ceremonial life as vehicles for transmitting and expressing ecological understandings.”
- p.95-96. “The Indians apparently recognized the desirability of keeping their populations in balance with … the ‘carrying capacity’ of the land. … traditional practices and conscious choice … warfare … infant mortality…”
- p.111. “…Indians were disposed of their lands through treaties, sale and other arrangements. … in actuality, the land was taken by conquest, purchase, and treaty from its Indian owners. … remnant on which to live … [OR] … total removal to other lands …”
- p.113-114. “The southern plains were empty of buffalo by 1874, and the northern herd was almost annihilated in nine more years. … the non-Indians blamed the Indians … [disinformation] … deprecating attitude …”
- p.118-119. “Education … provided … by the dominating society was institutionalization …missionary schools [Christianization] …compulsory government schools … boarding schools … acculturation was not just a process of education, but a total assault on the Indian way of life ...”
- p.137. “… Indians were … America’s first ecologists.”
- p.140. “… people today need to learn to see points of view other than those of their own cultural perspectives. … listen to what Indians have been saying … view the world though Indian eyes … reverence for the earth and life …”
- P.143. “The value of Indian environmental perspectives … helping to develop a new style of life that incorporates care and reverence for nature and understands the limits that must be placed on human actions …”
Let us move closer to home. Since the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action (TRC) Report in 2015 with its 94 recommendations, there has been a flood of discussions, writings, publications, and activities across Canada. (For instance, the debate continues about whether Canada needs an Indian Act!) A useful reference for current terminology is found in Appendix II pages 161-166 of the book by Joseph, Bob (with Cynthia F. Joseph). (2019). Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips and Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality. He clarifies the usage of six terms: Aboriginal Peoples; First Nation(s); First Peoples; Indian; Indigenous Peoples; Inuit; and, Metis Peoples. As he says: “Language has the power to respect and honour or hurt and offend. … especially true when working across cultures.”
Visiting Haida Gwai this year and several museums in BC, I acquired a recent map created by Aaron Carapella (2016) called “First Nations & Inuit” published by www.tribalnationsmaps.com. It claims to be “… the most comprehensive [map] ever created by the First Nations of Canada. It utilizes the original and true tribal names for each Nation, and shows the original homeland of each Nation. … It is a visual reminder of those who have called this land home since time immemorial, creating a sense of pride for First Nations people, and a better understanding for the non-Native public.” Carapella has created separate maps for the Metis People, and other groupings.
Comparing the image from Hughes’ book to the Carapella map, one notes some similarities. Instead of Eskimo, the Nations listed across the ARCTIC have ‘muit’ endings to their tribes, hence like Inuit! In the SUBARCTIC, Cree have many categories from west to east: Rocky/Mountain, Woods, Plains, Western, Eastern Swampy, Moose, James Bay, Southern James Bay, and the Cree Nation of Nemaska. In Saskatchewan, there are about a dozen major tribal names (see the image), with some English names like Woods Cree and Plains Cree, Downstream People, Touchwood Hills, Calling River People, Prairie People, Rabbit Skin, Southern Piegan, and Assiniboine. Google says there are 70 First Nations in Saskatchewan, so how do they fit into a dozen tribes? Note: British Columbia shows the most tribes for any part of Canada. There are several hundred names on the Carapella map, but there are 634 First Nations in Canada (Google). All of this is very complex, and gets confusing.
What if we were to focus on the Qu’Appelle Valley? If you were to research the Plains Cree and the Calling River People (I assume the Qu’Appelle Valley People), you would get closer to understanding “… the attitudes of the Indians [Indigenous Peoples] to the natural environment and the practices resulting from those attitudes …”, as Hughes said. What if you were to listen to a nearby First nation, such as Piapot? Check for written histories; talk to oral storytellers. There is much to learn about our Indigenous neighbours, and their continuing relationships with Mother Earth. (Employ AUCCA!)
All of us are human beings with similarities and differences. We are even more than that. As Suzuki says: “We are the Earth, created of and animated by its sacred elements: earth, air, fire and water. As social animals, it is love that make us fully human, and we know who we are through spirit and ceremony.” (Page 10 Suzuki, David et.al. (2022). The Sacred Balance. Rediscovering Our Place in Nature. (25th Anniversary Edition). (p2023.02.13)
Inquiring …
- J. Donald Hughes was a Professor of History at the University of Denver. Is he still alive? Who are the leaders there today?
- Which of the quotes noted above speak most powerfully to me?
- Who are my Indigenous neighbours? How do we get to know each other?
- Read True Reconciliation. How to Be a Force for Change. (2022) by Jody Wilson-Raybould. (340 pages, Notes, no Index). She says we need to learn “new stories,” understand them, and then act. If we all do that, what will Canada be like in 10 years? … in 30 years? … in 50 years?
Ideas and views expressed here are those of the author
