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“To us people, the woods and the big hills and the northern lights and the sunsets are all alive and we live with these things and live in the spirit of the woods like no white person does…for all their modern inventions they can’t live the way we do and they suffer if they try because they can’t read the sunset or hear the old ones talk in the wind” (Frelich, 103). Words of an Ojibwe Native American.               

Native Americans have shaped their world, their world views, and their lifestyle around the earth, unable to comprehend a world where the environment is separate from themselves or destroyed by human touch.  For centuries Native Americans have sought to adapt to the environment as much as possible rather than adjust the surrounding environment to fit their needs. From most records of Native American life, it can be concluded that they generally used everything they could from the animals they killed and tried to leave as little of an ecological footprint on the earth as possible. They have historically had a reciprocal relationship to nature rather than a unilateral one, where they give back to mother earth each time they take something from Her.  Their worldview includes all living things—animals, humans, plants, trees, and the spirit world. Humans are not the center of importance of this web as western culture frequently believes, but merely a small segment of earth’s intricate web of life. With a world view like this it’s no wonder they wanted to take only what was absolutely necessary.  To them it comes as second nature to be attuned to the environment every second of every day (Gill).                                                                  

Throughout history the Ojibwe Band of Native Americans has had a very important relationship with the surrounding forest, as trees have been an essential element of Native American life.  They have historically played a central role in Ojibwe myths and legends, a key element to Native American life. “Trees were often assigned human-like personalities [in myths, legends, and their worldview]. Even today some Native Americans see the maple as a friendly tree that enjoys human companionship… Ojibwe shamans are said to have exceptional hearing and can detect the mournful wailing of a forest trees wounded by axe or saw” (Frelich, p104). As a result Native Americans have done everything in their power to avoid hurting living trees, though they did use birch trees frequently for many aspects of life, which forced them to cut down trees for their own devices. They use bark from birch trees for a variety of different purposes, as birch trees are extremely abundant in the forests of Minnesota. With birch bark they would craft eating utensils, canoes, containers, and wigwams (small, dome-shaped houses).  They used birch for the roofs of the wigwams, rolling it up and taking it with them on each move and reusing it with each new shelter (Sultzman).                           

Nevertheless, their reciprocal relationship allows them the right to take as long as they give something back.  The Ojibwe have a very strong connection to the animals of the forest as well because in order to hunt, the Ojibwe must live among the animals, understand them, and think like animals. They also associate the four cardinal directions with the four seasons as well as four stages of life—birth, adolescence, middle age, and old age, connecting the human life to the natural world (Norrgard, Environment).             

All this being said, one can’t look past the idea that Native Americans, living within the environment for hundreds of years previous to European settlement, must have had some impact on the land.  Some believe that Native Americans left little trace of human impact on pre-colonial forests while others stipulate they may have made greater changes than regularly thought.  “Early Native Americans manipulated their surroundings but not for the same reasons as did European Americans. Several thousands of years of living close to the land allowed Native Americans to establish the customs and practices needed to avoid the depletion of life-sustaining fauna and flora. There was no profit motive! In addition, Native Americans had spiritual connections to the forest” (Frelich, p 102).  Native Americans thought of themselves a mere slice of the entire web of life, they were not superior to other life forms or facets of the natural world but a counter-part to them.  A common native American belief is that after death all human beings return to the land to become one with the earth.  Sometimes they return as a tree or an animal, creating a truly cyclical life cycle with the earth as primary care-giver (Frelich).                                     

Some speculate that Native Americans had more impact on the land than most believe.  Fire may be the biggest source of impact the Native Americans inflicted upon the land (you can read more about fire disturbances during pre-settlement timeshere).              

A Cherokee writer and scholar Jace Weaver states,     

“We are not Moses coming down from Sinai with the Ten Commandments of environmental protection. Indians have been stereotyped far too long by the environmental movement as those with the mystical, ancient wisdom that alone can save the planet. Rather we presented and represented the honest and extremely difficult struggles of indigenous peoples to meet ecological challenges confronting them. Though traditional knowledge and ways play an important part in these battles, so do all the tools of technology, modern modes of communication, and the simple investment of time and sweat” (Saleem, p31).                            

Yet from what we know of Native American worldviews and ideas towards the natural environment, one can speculate that Native Americans did everything in their power to co-exist with the land and animals in a peaceful, preservative way.