Connection
8
The current status
Generally, Native American tribes nurture a very important relationship with their land. The respect of the organic unity of nature came to existence much earlier in Native American culture than in western philosophy of environmental protection. By living off the land American Indians have always considered themselves as part of the natural unity, and not above it. By restricting them to reservation territories, which are lands that are mostly not desirable and unfit for proper cultivation, American Indians were deprived from their primary livelihood and hurt in their spiritual connection with nature.
As a result of the land's uselessness and the lack of sufficient funding, the natural face of the land inside the reservation is usually left unused and empty. Moreover the appearance of tourism also often leads to the degradation of the landscape as it contributes to excessive water usage and pollution.
The Indian explanation
The retardation of land development also has a deep root in the difference between the Indian concept of land ownership and Western proprietorship. According to ancient Indian tradition (that applies in the territory of the reservation) the land cannot be owned by a single person, it belongs to everyone and is a part of common territory. Because of the fact that land belongs to everyone, it seems that it also belongs to no one in the sense of private investment. Why would anyone invest money in a land if he would have to share the profits with everyone? That is why lands are many times left unmanaged inside the reservation, holding back local individuals from the opportunity of making money out of it.
As a result of these factors, again, financial aids are necessary from both the government and environmental protection agencies to maintain the balance of nature in these tribal territories and preserve their beauty.
Environment
At the top:
This is what Native Americans are
trying to prevent
To the right:
The landscape before cultivation,
as the artist saw it