Indigenous perspectives on water and conservation

LAWRENCE, Kan. — A change in how we think about water, air and land could improve efforts to conserve the environment.

Dan Wildcat, professor at Haskell Indian Nations University, discussed his views during a webinar hosted by North Central Region Water Network.

Wildcat is a Yuchi member of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma.

“When we talk about water and water conservation, the thing we most desperately need today is a cultural climate change,” he said. “I think the issues we need to face with water, with the land, with the air — they are all related.”

A focus on education is crucial, Wildcat said.

Many people do not know where their water comes from.

Education about water should start early and continue throughout higher education.

“We can share what my Yuchi ancestors and the first peoples of this land understood through their experience,” Wildcat said. “That is literally that we are the air we breathe, we are the water we drink, we are the soil and earth. Those three factors give us the food that nourishes our bodies.”

In many indigenous languages, plants and animals are acknowledged as relatives — not resources.

“That little shift in world view could have tremendous positive consequences,” Wildcat said. “In my family, you don’t treat your relatives like resources, or pretty soon you’re not invited to many family gatherings again.”

Human relationships with water, land and air need to be of primary importance, Wildcat said.

Everyone has a responsibility to be good relatives to the earth.

“It leads us to modern, scientific views of the world,” Wildcat said. “A forest is much more than just the trees. The prairies are much more than just the grass that grows there.

“We’re moving into an era of systemic thinking. I think indigenous people have something to share.”