European capitalism was built on deeply rooted beliefs, including the notion of private property and the
belief that nature existed as a resource for humans to tame and exploit. European and Eastern
Woodlands Indian cultures had starkly different attitudes toward the natural world. Following a
mandate laid down in the biblical Book of Genesis, Europeans believed that they had a God-given right
to rule over nature. The Huron, an Eastern Woodlands Indian tribe from Canada, approached nature in
a radically different way that reflected their animist belief that all living things had spiritual power.
What ecological consequences flowed from the Huron view of nature? How might this view have
shaped the European impression of Indians? What ecological consequences follow from the Western
view?
Book of Genesis:
In Genesis God gave humans complete control over nature. According to this view humanity was not
simply enjoined to “subdue nature” but to make sure that the “fear of you and the dread of you shall
be upon every beast of the earth.”
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and
subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the fowl of the air, and over every living thing
that moveth upon the earth.” (King James Bible, Gensis 1:28 (1611)
Link to the gallery from which this image was uploaded: http://courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/whaton/exhibitions-displays/archive/temptation-in-eden-lucas-cranachs-adam-and-eve
Link discussing the above piece of art.
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/northern/cranachaltdorfer/v/cranach-the-elder-adam-and-eve-1526
Writings of Jesuits on the Huron:
One of the best sources for understanding Indian views of nature can be found in the writings of Jesuit
missionaries, a Catholic order active in the French colonization of Canada. In this selection a Jesuit
recounts his exchange with a Huron Indian about the proper treatment of animal bones, which
Hurons believed had to be treated with respect to avoid angering the animal spirits that might take
offense and make hunting more difficult.
“It is remarkable how they gather and collect these bones, and preserve them with so much care, that
you would say their game would be lost if they violated their superstitions. As I was laughing at them,
and telling them that Beavers do not know what is done with their bones, they answered me, ‘Thou dost
not know how to take Beavers, and thou wishest to talk about it.’ Before the Beaver was entirely dead,
they told me, its soul comes to make the round of the Cabin of him who has killed it, and looks very
carefully to see what is done with its bones; if they are given to the doges, the other Beavers would be
apprised of it and therefore they would make themselves hard to capture. “ (Paul le Jeune, 1633)
From: The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents: Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in
New France 1610-1791 (1896-1901), 6: 211.
Answer the following questions in detail using the above materials:
- How did the Huron view of nature affect their treatment of the environment—including
animals, trees and plants? - How might the Huron view of nature have shaped the European impression of the Native
Americans? - How did the Western view of nature affect Europeans’ treatment of the environment—animals,
trees, and plants? - Was the biblical view of nature representative of all European attitudes toward nature and the
environment?
Sample Solution