September 16, 2010

Respect for Nature

Written by: Karen Zaukar, Student Media Mentor, Education Resource Center-MEDIAK

Respecting Nature is one very important Native Value. Most people believe that if you respect and appreciate nature and your surroundings, that you will be able to keep seeing such things. For example: Subsistence hunting/living, you kill animals such as Moose, Fish, Caribou, Ptarmigan and so on. If you kill the animal for food to survive, you would thank the animal for giving it's life to save yours. Since you thanked the animal, and appreciate what the animal has done to you and your family, then by the next hunt or even the next year, there will be more animals to come and give their life.

For me I am a little different, I do not hunt animals, I only go fishing once in a while. I am also a semi-vegetarian, so I only eat poultry, sea food, eggs, and dairy products. I don't like the idea of killing animals to consume when there are alternate ways to get all the nutrients. I think that it's killing an innocent animal for only your benefit, but I can’t stop eating meat all at once. As of right now, I have taken out the big animals from my diet, and it is almost much healthier. Since I buy food from the store, I get whatever I feel like eating, and when I want it, I cook it. But once I'm done and getting ready to eat, I always think poor, what ever I ate, I'm thankful for you taking your life so I can keep breathing. Thanks for your sacrifice I highly appreciate it. The way I am, I think that that's me respecting nature and the animals, even though I am taking a life of an animal, I am thankful that I do have it to eat.

With all of this, I think it is a great idea to respect nature in its truest form, so we may continue to live off the land. I think it is also important to share these values, or ideas to other people including youth. This is because youth can share what we teach them when they get older to other youth in the future, so no one will ever disrespect any type of nature in this world, from now on.