This past week our class finished the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. One of the last chapters we read on our own was about one of the lakes that were very important to the native culture of many people. The Onondaga lake used to be a beautiful place where there were clean water and thriving plants. This all came to a halt when many companies around the lake started to pollute it with chemicals and it became worse and worse. Living things and habitats began to die and the native people that appreciated the lake were losing the sacred place right before their eyes. How could our society let this happen? How could the companies not feel more responsible for hurting this place and turning it into a superfund?
It is amazing that after so much suffering the native people have endured due to the “normal” society in the past, these native people in present day still have to fight for people to respect their land and their beliefs. No one wants to take responsibility for not doing what is right for the environment because they know that it is wrong to destroy a sacred place to almost the point of no return; “People do know the consequences of our collective damage, they do know the wages of an extractive economy, but they don’t stop (328). The native people should not have to fight alone to protect and restore the land; it should be an issue the whole society takes on. Reading Braiding Sweetgrass and listening to the beliefs and stories of the indigenous people will help people realize that it is not just an environmental restoration issue, it is a respect issue. People need to have respect. It is really a basic concept that people should understand. We grow up learning to respect our elders, respect our superiors, and to respect each other. Why should we not respect the land… our one and only home?
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