Four Reading notes

December 20, 2023 By: Rodmac

Environmental History 3991    Unit 2   Assessment 2       Reading notes

Rod MacLeod              T00449542      December  2023

 

Introduction.

Four of the Reading Notes out of the eight included in the first Unit of the course have been chosen as they relate to many of the issues currently taking place in the authors geographical area.

1. Citation

Worster, Donald. “Transformations of the Earth: Toward an Agroecological Perspective in History.” The Journal of American History 76, no. 4 (1990): 1087–1106. https://doi.org/10.2307/2936586.

 

Thesis

 

The older history was naïve in the sense that it tended to separate nature and humans, and while there are distinctions, the two have been shown to be totally intertwined and dependant on each other.

Environmental history was a response to questions being asked in the early part of the 1970s as to how many people the planet could support.

The term “agroecological perspective” refers to the concept of agriculture becoming not a method of growing food for individuals but producing enough to feed the millions who now lived in cities and could not grow their own, and for the profit of the farmers and all in the industrial food system.

The basic argument made by the author is that the change over time in agricultural practices to become more efficient and more based on capitalist ideals, has not been good for nature and will have long term negative implications for humans.

His main points are:

1. We will be much more efficient and have more success in all that we do if we recognize the connectedness of humans and nature in all endeavors but especially agriculture

 

2. The commodification of agriculture that resulted in monocultures, be it wheat, fruit, or trees; has increased yields but decreased the quality of the ecological factors, and not said, but understood, is that it has also decreased the quality of the product

 

3. The soil is the basis of all life on the planet and once depleted at best will take a long time to recover and at worst may never recover. Modern agriculture is depleting the soils and must rely on chemical fertilizers to continue to grow paying crops.

Evidence for the argument is mostly secondary reports, the author has depended on many others for input, from economists to historians looking at the agricultural revolution in England and how the North American Prairies have become the centre of ultra-large scale agriculture.

Assessment of the argument

This author is preaching to the converted in my case. This puts a different perspective on many things that I already believe in, eating as organically and locally as possible, eating as vegetarian as possible.

I suspect that he has not made the case well enough for the many farmers who feel that they cannot afford to farm this way, that their living depends on the bigger is better model; nor for the average consumer who sees higher prices for food affecting the family budget and aiming to reduce their household costs by buying the cheapest mass-produced products.

This new mode, which is actually going back in time, would result in a healthier environment, healthier humans and is an all-round win-win.

From that perspective it seems to have been a success as the fact that we are studying this topic indicates that it has moved into the mainsteam of science and is making inroads into changing farm practices at least at small scale local levels.

 

1. Citation:

Turner, Nancy J., and Sandra Peacock. “Chapter 4: Solving the Perennial Paradox: Ethnobotanical Evidence for Plant Resource Management on the Northwest Coast.” In Keeping It Living: Traditions of Plant Use and Cultivation on the Northwest Coast of North America, edited by Douglas Deur and Nancy J. Turner, 101–150. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2005. desLibris e-book

 

Argument

 

Turner and Peacock describe and admire the successful relationship of coastal peoples with nature and the environment prior to the arrival of Europeans in North America. They present significant evidence of cultivation of crops as well as other cultural modifications that provide their needs.

 

Some of the main points are:

 

1. Successful hunter-gatherers for at least 2,500 years, before arrival of Europeans. Focussed on marine life, especially salmon
2. successful cultivation and management of existing plants such as berries to improve nutrition and quantity

Turner and Peacock discuss

Pruning and fertilizing food crops, often with fish or seaweed

Remove tree bark without killing the tree

Burn off competing plants, and improve forest habitat for game animals

2. What role did spirituality play and what impact did it have?

People prayed to the soul of the plant or animal that they harvested, recognizing the importance of next season. Examples are the welcome to the salmon returning and the first fruits ceremony

3. The main points in the argument are:
4. A) archaeological research showing that beds for food plants were tended and improved, as well as that pruning of plants such as berries took place. The stripping of bark from cedar trees has become one of the standards used to show ancient use of an area for gathering and makes the argument for ownership of the land in settler terms.
5. B) interviews and listening to the stories of elders who describe how they were taught to garden to get bigger and more berries for example.
6. C) evidence from oral and from archeological on families controlling plots of land in the growing of crops, such as camas root

Much of the evidence presented in this article is primary, mostly due to the long period of time that Turner has been studying this issue.

The secondary evidence is also compelling as it comes from listening to stories of what has been handed down from elders.

Prof Turner has a long and distinguished career on the BC Coast and was the first person that I read to present the ethnobotanical history of the BC Coast in the original version of Coastal Plants of BC from 1994.  Many plant descriptions included a paragraph on the ethnobotany implications and changed my way of thinking about this issue.

1. Citation

Diamond, Jared M. “Ecological Collapses of Ancient Civilizations: The Golden Age That Never Was.” Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 47, no. 5 (1994): 37–59. https://doi.org/10.2307/3824451.

Thesis

Indigenous societies of the past are admired by modern environmentalists for their Sustainable use of resources. While this was most often the case it has not always been true. Diamond presents examples from New Zealand, Easter Island and the southwest desert where native societies did not live in a sustainable manner with sometimes tragic consequences. Rather than use this information to criticize these previous societies we should learn from their mistakes and focus our efforts on a Sustainable future.

Evidence

One much studied example close to home is the Anasazi of the Southwest Desert. They built massive structures of mud and adobe that had wooden roof supports, wooden ladders and used wood for heating and cooking. They also built gravity irrigation systems and grew many crops close to where they lived. They then abandoned these pueblos and disappeared. When this author hiked into the Navajo National Monument in northern Arizona the Parks guide explained the mystery but did not offer a solution.

Archeologists and Paleobotanists discovered evidence using packrat droppings that contained residuals of what the people of the time were storing for eating and then discarding. When the pueblos were built they were located in a pine forest that supplied their needs. As the population grew, due to their survival and reproduction successes, they used up all of the trees that were close enough to be of value and essentially deforested the surrounding areas. At the same time the population grew and used more water that eventually depleted the aquifer.

Diamond offers similar evidence from Pacific Islands, from Madagascar and from mid-eastern deserts.

 

 

 

Assessment

Diamond does an admirable job of dispelling some of the myths of the ecologically aware indigenous peoples, while maintaining that the failures were a result of ignorance of conditions encountered and their success as societies in growing their population and needing more resources.

There is no blame attached but recognition that any society that remains in one place for many generations learns the tricks to be sustainable, not for any esoteric reasons, but just to survive.

The problems studied seem to indicate that issues arise when a society colonizes an unfamiliar region and does not recognize the limitations. This would be true of the colonists no matter where or what their background is.

For our society we seem to not be learning the lessons that are out there and this is inexcusable. Examples such as overuse of water in the Okanagan, pollution of waterways from mines and destructive industrial practices such as the Tar Sands would not take place if society learned about and heeded lessons from the past.

 

1. Citation

Krech, Shepard. “Reflections on Conservation, Sustainability, and Environmentalism in Indigenous North America.” American Anthropologist 107, no. 1 (2005): 78–86. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3567675.

Thesis

Does history show that the Ecological Indian is a myth or reflected reality. Has modern society confused subsistence societies with having a higher purpose. Krech presents several suggestions that the only higher purpose was the Sustainability of the family unit and the collection of family units,  and that there was no motive that included any concerns beyond their local areas.

Most indigenous societies of the past had a strong understanding of their environment as it pertained to their immediate area and circumstances; especially as it affected their survival.

Main Points

Did pre-contact indigenous people display any understanding of the bigger picture and their part in it, and were they working towards anything more noble than survival.

Has the modern view of the Ecological Indian been skewed by environmental groups glorifying the old ways for modern purposes.

Do the many examples of modern native groups co-operating with seemingly harmful works confirm this focus on economic sustainability in balance with the environment.

Evidence

Krech notes that much of the evidence is through oral history and that much of that history has been lost due to disease, the residential school system etc.

There is much archaeological evidence available showing failures of ancient ways in preserving their environment, such as described by Diamond in Polynesian islands.

There is also an increasing realization that it is not possible to generalize as to what do the Indians want. There is as much variation in opinions within a native village as there would be in any society.

Assessment

The idea of the Ecological Indian is how many in the environmental community want to present their allies in a movement. The reality is that there is no homogeneity of thought and it is just as likely that a First Nation will focus on the Sustainability of their community from the perspective of jobs for their youth and revenue for their programs as from conserving everything around them.

Krech gives several good examples and suggests that the focus in Indigenous communities is on Sustainability of resources rather than purely protection of the environment for esoteric purposes.