By Kennedy H. Murphy, Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
Our Indigenous ancestors had learned the ways of our Earth long before machines and long before you or I were ever even a thought. They knew the Earth provided many things like food, water, medicine, and life. They also understood that Earth was a healer, a storyteller, and a mother, a mother to numerous things like plants, insects, humans, and animals alike. She is our mother. The Earth was also a teacher to our ancestors, and through trial and error, they learned how to hunt and properly grow their foods. Our ancestors learned a great lesson: moderation in harvest and hunting with these newfound gifts. Our ancestors knew to be humble with what they were given, meaning not to overhunt and cultivate within reason. Something we struggle with today by over-farming, overhunting, and aiding in the extinction of wild animals and insects. From The Ohio State University Department of Entomology, researcher Reed Johnson conducted that bees, moths, bats, birds, and other insects provide around $500 billion to global food production yearly. Bees also help pollinate one-third of the food supply in the world, but due to humans spreading harmful insecticides, global warming and killing bees, in general, is the leading cause of the bee decline. Since 2006 the rate of bee colonies dropping was averaged at 30%, compared to historical loss rates of around 10-15%.
When colonization became familiar, our ancestors quickly learned that their lives were forever shifted. They could no longer plant or hunt freely, nor lay their heads down for a second without dreaming of death. During the construction of railroads in the 1900’s, the buffalo population was estimated to be around 30- 60 million living on the plains. Hunting parties from the railroad workers began to take place. They killed for sport and killed fast. Our ancestors killed animals for necessity, utilizing every part of the animal for weapons, clothing, tools, and food. There were an estimated 300 buffalo remaining by the end of the 19th century from the railroad overkill. Buffalo played an essential role in the plains; they were a prime food source for our plain’s ancestors. In addition, they grazed on certain grasses, which allowed for diversity in the plain’s region. These large animals were always on the move, and given their stature; their hoove prints left pockets in the Earth that allowed moisture to be retained and encouraged growth on the plains.
Our ancestors feared for their future generations, what the Earth would soon turn into, and what colonization would shape her. Our ancestors couldn’t predict the awful conditions that were to come for them, the endless wars, the erasure of entire tribes, and the constant fight for recognition. All these things about the past can still be said for today for right now. Our mother is dying.
We are killing our mother. We, as humans, are the culprits; we are the murderers. And we are the only ones who can truly make a change to these terrifying acts of eco-terrorism and a future of pollution. From big oil spills like Deepwater Horizon, an oil rig that had exploded from a leak, had an estimated 134 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, making it the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. These irreversible damages affected the animals in the waters below, in the air, and onshore; Wiikwemkoong First Nations activist Autumn Peltier said, “We can’t eat money, or drink oil. In addition, to entire coral reefs under threat, coral reefs provide us with protection from damaging waves and they also give us resources. But coral reefs are threatened by climate change, when temperatures rise, and the reefs can’t recover the temperature exposure kills the corals and their supported ecosystems. In addition, certain corals will release microscopic algae to keep them alive, resulting in many coral bleaching to occur. There is no one else to blame but ourselves, our ancestors gained the knowledge of survival and life lessons from animals, but it seems we’ve forgot those lessons.
Surviving genocide and passing on wisdom and knowledge gained from our ancestors is an honor that we as Indigenous people hold onto if we so chose. With this honor can come a raging passion for justice or a blooming spark of creativity, anything to express these feelings of mistreatment and abuse that our elders and ancestors faced. Mother Earth is hurting, and we are the parasites within her, sucking out her nutrients and leaving behind destruction and the stench of death. We must do better, and we must do it now.
Sources:
Bee Population Decline | Sustainability (osu.edu)
Where the Buffalo No Longer Roamed | History| Smithsonian Magazine
Impact of Bison on the Environment – The Bison Life (nebraskabison.com)
Deepwater Horizon | Oil Spills | Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (noaa.gov)
Experts aim to keep coral reefs from dying off | University of Hawai’i System News (hawaii.edu)
‘We can’t eat money, or drink oil’: Indigenous teen Autumn Peltier tells United Nations | Canada’s National Observer: News & Analysis
