Kincentric Ecology: Indigenous Perceptions of the Human-Nature Relationship PDF

October 2000 TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE 1327 Ecological Applications, 10(5), 2000, pp. 1327–1332 q 2000 by the Ecological Society of America KINCENTRIC ECOLOGY: INDIGENOUS PERCEPTIONS...

October 2000 TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE 1327 Ecological Applications, 10(5), 2000, pp. 1327–1332 q 2000 by the Ecological Society of America KINCENTRIC ECOLOGY: INDIGENOUS PERCEPTIONS OF THE HUMAN–NATURE RELATIONSHIP ENRIQUE SALMÓN1 Department of Anthropology, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado 81301 USA Abstract. Indigenous people view both themselves and nature as part of an extended ecological family that shares ancestry and origins. It is an awareness that life in any environment is viable only when humans view the life surrounding them as kin. The kin, or relatives, include all the natural elements of an ecosystem. Indigenous people are affected by and, in turn, affect the life around them. The interactions that result from this ‘‘kincentric ecology’’ enhance and preserve the ecosystem. Interactions are the commerce of ecosystem functioning. Without human recognition of their role in the complexities of life in a place, the life suffers and loses its sustainability. Indigenous cultural models of nature include humans as one aspect of the complexity of life. A Rarámuri example of iwı́gara will serve to enhance understanding of the human–nature relationship that is necessary in order to fully comprehend the distinct intricacies of kincentric ecology. Key words: ceremonial cycle; Chihuahua, Mexico; human–nature relationship; indigenous land management; interconnectedness; iwı́gara; kincentric ecology; Rarámuri; Sierra Madres; Tarahumara. INTRODUCTION Wachi (the Place of Nurturing) is located in the eastern Laguna Indian, author, and poet Leslie Marmon Silko Sierra Madres of Chihuahua, Mexico. There are ap- notes that human beings must maintain a complex re- proximately 60 000 Rarámuri who continue to live a lationship with ‘‘the surrounding natural world if they traditional lifestyle of horticulture, gathering, and ag- hope to survive in [it].’’ To Silko, humans could not roforestry. have ‘‘emerged’’ into this world without the aid of Rarámuri spirituality was historically influenced by antelope and badger. The Lagunas’ sustained living in Jesuit Catholicism, yet the ceremonies, rituals, and the arid region of the Southwest could not have been manners of giving thanks to the land remain primarily viable without the recognition that humans were ‘‘sis- pre-Columbian. ters and brothers to the badger, antelope, clay, yucca, The northern Sierra Madre Occidental, the homeland and sun.’’ It was not until they reached this recognition of the Rarámuri, represents a biologically rich zone of that the Laguna people could ‘‘emerge’’ (Silko 1996). contiguous montane woodland, which reaches north Leslie Marmon Silko elegantly expresses how in- from southern Mexico nearly to the international border digenous people in North America are aware that life (Felger et al. 1994). The complex geography, topog- in any environment is viable only when humans view raphy, and elevational changes result in the astounding their surroundings as kin; that their mutual roles are amount of biodiversity in the region. At least eight essential for their survival. To many traditional indig- physiognomic vegetation types can be found in the re- enous people, this awareness comes after years of lis- gion. These include montane evergreen forest, oak-co- tening to and recalling stories about the land. Silko niferous woodland, tropical deciduous forest, oak sa- notes that, ‘‘I carried with me the feeling I’d acquired vanna, chaparral, shortgrass prairie, subtropical thorn- from listening to the old stories, that the land all around scrub, and subtropical desert fringe (Felger et al. 1994). me was teeming with creatures that were related to It is suggested that the Madrean region of northwest human beings and to me’’ (Silko 1996). This ‘‘feeling’’ Mexico houses two of the riches floras of Mexico, survives and is reviving in indigenous people today. which ‘‘ranks as one of three top megadiversity centers My culture, the Rarámuri, also known as Tarahu- in the world’’ (Ramamoorthy et al. 1993). It is esti- mara, occupy one of the most biologically diverse re- mated that 4000 vascular plant species are found in the gions in the world (Ramamoorthy et al. 1993, Felger region, of which 150 are endemic (Felger et al. 1994). et al. 1994). Our homeland, a region we call Gawi In the Rarámuri region of the central Sierra Tarahumara alone, as many as 1900 plant species can be found Manuscript received 26 January 1998; revised 30 April 1999; (Felger et al. 1994). Many varieties of insects have been accepted 9 June 1999; final version received 3 August 1999. For reprints of this Invited Feature, see footnote 1, p. 1249. identified, along with 65 species of reptiles and am- 1 Tribal affiliation: Rarámuri. phibians, of which 17 are endemic. Between 260 and E-mail: Salmon [email protected] 295 species of birds breed in the region, and many more 1327  1328 INVITED FEATURE Ecological Applications Vol. 10, No. 5 species migrate to or visit the area. Ninety-two different to the place with which the Rarámuri live. Rituals and mammals roam the area, including several that are rare ceremonies, the language, and, therefore, Rarámuri or threatened. thought are influenced by the lands, animals, and winds The region is also rich in useful plants. Eighteen with which they live. Iwı́gara is the total interconnec- races of pre-hispanic crops grow in the Sierra Madres tedness and integration of all life in the Sierra Madres, (Felger et al. 1994). They include species of Agave, physical and spiritual. To say iwı́gara to a Rarámuri Lepidium, Hyptis, and Panicum. Other plants used for calls on that person to realize life in all its forms. The medicine and food include species in the Cactaceae, person recalls the beginning of Rarámuri life, origins, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, and Solanaceae. and relationships to animals, plants, the place of nur- Wild relatives of domesticated plants occur in the area, turing, and the entities to which the Rarámuri look for including species of Agave, Cucurbita, Phaseolus, Pru- guidance. nus, and Solanum. A way to delve deeper into the concept of iwı́gara It is no accident that the Rarámuri homeland is bi- is to examine how it is reflected in a traditional ritual, ologically diverse, as we have managed this region for yúmari. Yúmari songs often make references to sewára, at least 2000 years (Zingg 1940). About 350 different flowers. In one specific yúmari song, reference is made plant species are used by the Rarámuri for food and to sumati okilivea, the beautiful lily. Yúmari dances medicine. Mestizo populations in the area recognize and songs are performed to heal people as well as an- and use only about 40% of those used by the Rarámuri imals and the land. During yúmari ceremonies, the (Salmón 1995). These numbers reflect the strong re- women are asked to dance. Women do not dance except lationship and connection that the Rarámuri maintain for yúmari. The women dance in a continual iwı́ (cir- with their environment. cle), while two male singers and chanters dance within In 1935, when William Bennett and Robert Zingg the moving circle. The songs ask that the land be nour- were conducting anthropological fieldwork in the Si- ished and that the land will nourish the people. The erra Madre, the vast majority of Rarámuri were em- land is nourished by the results of the ceremony, which ployed in traditional lifestyles and traditional manage- brings rain. As the songs are performed, the iwı́ con- ment (Bennett and Zingg 1935). Today, I estimate that tinues to turn. The iwı́ represents the fertility of the ;50% of Rarámuri men work in some form for Mex- land. Iwı́ can convey other meanings, however. It trans- ican and Mestizo commercial operations. This em- lates roughly into the idea of binding with a lasso. But ployment may involve logging, mining, or ranching. it also means to unite, to join, to connect. Another Although many men work in nontraditional occupa- meaning of iwı́ is to breathe, inhale/exhale, or respire. tions, it is seasonal work and coincides with times of Iwı́ also makes reference to the Rarámuri concept of the year when their crops do not have to be tended. soul. It is understood that the soul, or iwı́, sustains the Therefore, the men still spend much of their time in body with the breath of life. Everything that breaths traditional agriculture. Most Rarámuri women will not has a soul. Plants, animals, humans, stones, the land, work outside the home. The women and children spend all share the same breath. When humans and animals much of their time caring for livestock. I estimate that die, their souls become butterflies that visit the living. up to 95% of the Rarámuri population still practices The butterflies also travel to the Milky Way, where past traditional land ways in some form, including speaking souls of the ancestors reside. the language and participating in ceremonies. Iwı́ is also the word used to identify a caterpillar that weaves its cocoons on the madrone tree (Arbutus sp.). KINCENTRIC ECOLOGY: SHARING BREATH The implication is that there is a whole morphophys- WITH O UR RELATIVES iological process of change, death, birth, and rebirth Indigenous languages express abstract concepts re- associated with the concept of iwı́. Iwı́ is the soul or lated to the land differently than does the English lan- essence of life everywhere. Iwı́gara then channels the guage. Consequently, the term ‘‘kincentric ecology’’ idea that all life, spiritual and physical, is intercon- would be meaningless to indigenous language speakers nected in a continual cylce. Iwı́ is the prefix to iwı́gara. (Martinez 1994a). However, speakers of indigenous Iwı́gara expresses the belief that all life shares the same languages can express the concept of kincentric ecol- breath. We are all related to, and play a role in, the ogy in traditional terms. Kincentric ecology will be complexity of life. Iwı́gara most closely resembles the further illuminated through the Rarámuri concept of concept of kincentric ecology. iwı́gara. The following description of iwı́gara will re- As another example, the Rarámuri term numatı́, or veal the complexities of the indigenous perceptions of things of the natural world, are relatives, but in a re- self and culture intertwined in the web of life. alistic sense. In a previous world, people were part The Rarámuri view themselves as an integral part of plant. When the Rarámuri emerged into this world, the life and place within which they live. There is many of those plants followed. They live today as hu- among the Rarámuri a concept called iwı́gara, which mans of a different form. Peyote, datura, maize, morn- encompasses many ideas and ways of thinking unique ing glory, brazilwood, coyotes, crows, bears, and deer  October 2000 TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE 1329 are all humans. Rarámuri feel related to these life-forms crease population ‘‘abundance, diversity, growth, lon- much as Euroamericans feel related to cousins and sib- gevity, yield, and quality to meet cultural needs’’ (Mar- lings (Levi 1993). tinez 1994a, b). As an example, some corn is selected The natural world, therefore, is not one of wonder, for its ability to produce naturally occurring sugars, but of familiarity. The human niche is only one of a which enhances its fermentation qualities in making myriad of united niches that work together to continue corn beer. Ecologically, this is a sound practice because the process of iwı́gara. If one aspect of the lasso is the corn beer is a necessary element in keeping the removed, the integrity of the circle is threatened and Creator strong and bringing the rain. Another example all other aspects are weakened. A certain attachment involves the practice of moving individual species of results from knowing that some of your relatives are edible chenopods from their natural habitat to the edges the life-forms that share your place with you. This be- of agricultural fields. The greens come from fields lief influences one’s sense of identity and thought/lan- where the breath (iwı́ ) of the field is considered strong. guage. In translation, this means that the population of the The physical, social, spiritual, and mental health of greens is abundant. the Rarámuri are closely related to the cycle of cere- The concepts of kincentric ecology, or iwı́gara, are mony adhered to by the culture. Onoruame is the cre- at the heart of Rarámuri land management philosophy. ator and provider of corn (Zea mays) and life. Corn is It is iwı́gara that guides agriculture, medicine, and for- a staple food of the Rarámuri. It is eaten raw, made aging. The use of plants for healing and for food offers into tortillas, used in soups, and as tamales. As a med- a fundamental relationship from which the Rarámuri icine, the meal itself is sprinkled onto patients as a view themselves as participants in their natural com- blessing. The tassels are used in a recipe with other munity. The Rarámuri understand that they were placed plants to cure dysentery and for kidney problems. Most here as caretakers of their land, but also to aid in the importantly, the Rarámuri owe their emergence into the health of the Creator, who works hard each day to pro- world to corn. It is believed that the Rarámuri emerged vide for the land and its inhabitants. from ears of corn after a great flood and the destruction For the Rarámuri, caretaking translates to practices of a previous world. such as transplanting edible greens to corn and bean Therefore, in order to honor Onoruame for his gifts fields. The greens become easily available for the peo- and for life, the Rarámuri are obligated to prepare and ple and, in return, become more abundant through the consume their traditional corn beer, known as batari- cultivation and irrigation that occurs alongside the corn ki. Batari-ki is usually drunk only during the special and beans. Caretaking also means that only the longest corn beer festivals, called tesguinadas, which are an pine needles collected for making pine-needle baskets integral part of most Rarámuri events, including reli- are selected. The shorter ones are left to be collected gious festivals, ceremonial dances, and curing rituals next time; the collecting enhances new growth of the (Salmón 1991). needles just as pruning does to fruit trees. Therefore, Through the ceremony, ritual, dances, and songs as- caregiving is a method of using the land while en- sociated with batari-ki, Rarámuri connections to the hancing it. Creator are strengthened. Rain is assured and, there- Rarámuri women use several natural materials for fore, the life of the land and the plants, animals, and weaving. Sotol (Dasylirion simplex), yucca (Yucca de- people. An important cycle of existence is assured with cipens), and beargrass (Nolina matapensis), comprise the consumption of batari-ki. More importantly, a the three most widely used basket materials, along with maintenance of the relationship with their world occurs pine needles. There has been a large tourist demand while they continue to fit harmoniously into it. It is a for Rarámuri baskets since the Chihuahua-Pacifico continuous interconnected cycle of breath and life. As Railroad opened the region to tourism in the 1960s. will be seen, Rarámuri land management is one facet Baskets are sold on a daily basis along the railway, in of a need to continue the complex cycle of breath that the numerous gift shops in the region, and to the traders enhances the land. who ship them by the railcar load to the United States. It would seem that overharvesting of weaving materials KINCENTRICALLY MANAGING THE LAND might be a hazard. Yet the materials, found in the pine Over the centuries, methods of land use were de- forests and along the walls of the barrancas (canyons), veloped that adhered to a kincentric understanding. are carefully managed. This is due largely to the col- Horticultural and agricultural techniques included se- lection philosophy influenced by kincentric ecology. lective coppicing, pruning, and harvesting, gathering, Traditional harvesting of these basket-making materi- cultivation, transplanting, vegetative propagation, sow- als is periodic. Only the intermediately aged leaves are ing, discriminant burning, and weeding (Bye 1976, collected, which sustains the health of the plants and 1981, Martinez 1993). Some plant populations and in- suppresses sexual reproduction in favor of vegetative dividual plant species were intentionally selected ‘‘in progation (Bye et al. 1995). accordance with ecological principles’’ in order to in- As previously mentioned, part of the traditional man-  1330 INVITED FEATURE Ecological Applications Vol. 10, No. 5 agement regimen for basket materials involves burning. Through conversations and careful observation, how- Burning is employed in the management of other plants ever, it is possible. An elder Rarámuri consultant often as well. The understory of oak groves is burned to allows me to accompany him on his plant-collecting retard new growth of oak and other trees and plants forays into the mountains near his community in Chi- that would compete with the existing oaks. This results huahua, Mexico. He prefers to collect some of his me- in higher yields of acorns and also in some fruit-pro- dicinal plants from a particular rincón, or corner, of a ducing shrubs such as chokecherry (Prunus capuli) and large arroyo. He collects from other favorite locations manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens). as well, all of which he says are places in which the Overharvesting is an enduring concern in the Sierra best plants grow. Tarahumara, where arable land is cherished and where Walking to his rincón, we passed by several plants the pressures of logging and narcotrafficking are mak- of the same species that we were intending to harvest ing sustainable horticulture tenuous. Yet for centuries, that day. When we reached his rincón, there was an up to the modern period, the Rarámuri have managed abundance of the particular plants. About a bushel was and harvested the Sierra and barrancas in a manner collected, with little impact on the population. When that is sustainable. Pockets of small fields grew and questioned as to why we did not collect the plants that continue to grow in the bottomlands and arroyos of the we passed on the trail, he asserted that ‘‘those plants Sierra, while milpas (terraces), some at 45 8 angles, pose are not right for harvest because they are in the wrong in bright green contrast to the oak forests along the place.’’ Later examination revealed that the populations upper reaches of the barrancas. In its strictest trans- of plants that were passed were sparse in number when lation, ‘‘milpa’’ means cornfield. But to the Rarámuri, compared to those that were eventually harvested. milpa is a concept of optimal land use that does not There is an understanding that harvesting threatened destroy the land. The milpas are usually placed at lo- populations is not ecologically sound. Yet, he would cations where they take best advantage of runoff or are not explain the situation in this manner. He suggested near existing springs. Because of their small size, usu- that the iwı́gara in these low-population areas is ally less than 12 3 12 m (40 3 40 feet), the milpas ‘‘weak’’ and must, therefore, be allowed to be strength- impose less on the native plants and require less tilling ened before the plants there are of any use. In further that erodes native soils. Making optimum use of arable conversation, he explained that collecting the plants in land is a skill that has flowered from centuries of a the rincón was good, because thinning them out ac- relationship to the Sierra and from a philosophy of tually helps the iwı́gara in the other plants to strength- iwı́gara borne from the place. en. He mentioned that their roots become entangled, Wild edible plants are treated with the same respect thus weakening their breath. In addition, he mentioned as the medicinals. When collecting wild onions, Allium that the plants like to be near each other because they lingifolium, the Rarámuri often select the larger bulbs, share their breaths. Experience told him which popu- leaving the smaller ones in the ground, thus promoting lations were harvestable. a second harvest. In addition, the Rarámuri use digging Rarámuri land management represents a tradition of sticks to harvest the bulbs. The ground in which the conservation that relies on a reciprocal relationship onions grow is continuously disturbed, encouraging with nature in which the idea of iwı́gara becomes an further growth of the plants and decreasing the com- affirmation of caretaking responsibilities and an assur- petitive perennials. A symbiotic relationship exists be- ance of sustainable subsistence and harvesting. It is a tween the Rarámuri and the onions. Disturbance of the realization that the Sierra Madres is a place of nurtur- sod and selective harvesting encourage the populations ing, full of relatives with whom all breath is shared. and assure a harvest of onions (Bye 1976). Today, in the Sierra Tarahumara, logging, mining, In return for Rarámuri care, the land provides a cor- grazing, and other extractive industries are on the rise. nucopia. Sepé, or wild greens, are collected by nearly As a result, the biodiversity of the Sierra Madres is all Rarámuri to augment the daily diet. Sunú, corn, is threatened. Loss of forest canopy due to logging is a staple eaten at nearly every meal. The Rarámuri grow decreasing the availability of useful plants as well as beans, potatoes, squashes, wheat, and a variety of other animals. The Rarámuri of 60 years ago supplemented products, both Old and New World in origin. Another their diets with many edible plants as well as deer. side effect of Rarámuri management of the Sierra is Today, deer hunting is almost unheard of and people the reservoir of medicinal plants that are potentially complain of having to travel farther for edible greens valuable outside the Sierra. The Rarámuri employ ap- and medicinal plants. Both mining and logging have proximately 350 different plants for medicine and food resulted in the cutting of dirt roads that crisscross the (Salmón 1995). The land also permits the raising of Sierra and generate erosion problems. goats, sheep, chickens, and pigs. Some Rarámuri raise Another threat to the biodiversity of the Sierra is cows and horses. increased grazing as Mestizo ranchers encroach on Rar- How the Rarámuri embody the concept of kincentric ámuri lands. Grazing is not a new practice in the Sierra. ecology in their minds is more difficult to document. Spaniards introduced sheep and goats to the Rarámuri  October 2000 TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE 1331 during the 17th century, but the Rarámuri adopted this social, and mental health depends on the ability to live addition to their lifestyles and diets and made it their harmoniously with the natural world. Indigenous iden- own. Sheep and goats furnish the Rarámuri with cloth- tity, language, land base, beliefs, and history are per- ing, food, and weaving materials. In addition, the an- sonifications of culture that regulate and manifest the imals furnish manure which adds to Rarámuri methods health of the human as well as the natural world. It is of increasing the productivity of their fields. When the understood that a person who harms the natural world animals are not grazing and adding manure to Rarámuri also harms himself. fields, they are allowed to graze commonly held hill- History, identity, language, land base, and beliefs sides and pastures. They are constantly moved so as connect, secure, and regulate the human–nature rela- not to overgraze any one area. tionship. To indigenous people, history does not remain Despite the environmental threats to the Rarámuri in a linear past. History is continuous and, more im- homeland, the diversity of both flora and fauna remains portantly, contextual. Cultural history is the origins of rich. The Sierra is a valuable seed bank for ancient humans and nature. For many cultures, their origins are strains of domesticated plants. Strains of panic grass a result of relationships to animals, plants, etc. The (Panicum texanum, P. fasciculatum), amaranth (Ama- Abenaki believe they were created from ash trees. The ranthus palmeri), and other edible greens, as well as Lenape say that humans sprang from a ‘‘great tree.’’ corn, beans, and squashes, continue to be harvested. In The Mayans and Rarámuri believe they came from addition, teosinte and tripsicum, thought to be the pro- Corn (Caduto and Bruchac 1995, Salmón 1995). The genitors of maize, survive in the Sierra. Although deer Hopi owe their emergence into this world to a spider, are less numerous, they survive in the Sierra along with a spruce tree, a pine, and a stalk of bamboo, which black bear, ocelots, puma, eagles, hawks, and many functioned as ladders through the sipapu into the Fourth other mammals and birds. World (Courlander 1971). The land base is often a central subject in nearly all RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMANS AND THE indigenous stories of historical origins. They often NATURAL WORLD mention how they emerged in one way or another from Indigenous cultures of North America include human the land. The land base, however, is the land to which communities in their cultural equations of nature. To they claim a relationship. It may be the land on which indigenous people, humans are at an equal standing they now live, or a historical, or even mythical place with the rest of the natural world; they are kindred to which they claim relationship. Nevertheless, the life- relations. In addition, indigenous people believe that forms that occupy the cultural land base are direct rel- the complex interactions that result from this relation- atives to the culture. ship enhance and preserve the ecosystem. It is under- The concepts of identity and language are connected stood that human practices such as burning and pruning to indigenous peoples’ concepts of self. Words shape promote new growth of shrubs, trees, and grasses. This thought. Thought is an expression of spirit. Many in- attracts animals such as birds to sprouting trees and digenous people feel that both humans and other life- shrubs, and mammals such as deer and elk to grass- forms are essentially spirit and matter. Both are man- lands. This concept of kincentricity with the natural ifestations of the interdependency of humans and na- world is what is being referred to as ‘‘kincentric ecol- ture. Self-identity is a result of a developed relationship ogy.’’ to the environment as it is perceived by the culture. The natural world is referred to in various ways by Cultural perception stems from language and thought. indigenous languages. The Yoeme of Sonora, Mexico The human–nature relationship intertwines to both the and southern Arizona use the terms huya ania to de- land and cultural histories. scribe natural areas outside the boundaries of their vil- To all cultures, beliefs form and explain the human– lages (Evers and Molina 1987). The term roughly trans- nature relationship. Beliefs help a person recognize his/ lates to mean nurturing life. The Rarámuri use the idea her link to the natural world and his/her responsibility of gawi wachi, the place of nurturing, to describe the to ensure its survival. No person is truly connected to Sierra Madres (Salmón 1995). The Mid-Columbia Riv- the natural world or to his/her culture if he/she does er Indians use the Sahaptin term tiicám, which means not maintain physical, social, spiritual, and mental ‘‘the land’’ (Hunn et al. 1990). No matter the terms, health; together, they form the breath of life. Breath is they all make reference to the complex flow of life with the matter and energy, which indigenous people believe which they and their ancestors have lived interdepen- moves in all living things. Maintaining a balanced and dently for centuries. Nearly all indigenous cultures pure human breath also ensures the purity and health share a set of structures, (expressions, metaphors, con- of the breath of the natural world. cepts) that describe their links to the natural world With the awareness that one’s breath is shared by all (Cajete 1994). surrounding life, that one’s emergence into this world Indigenous people believe that they live interdepen- was possibly caused by some of the life-forms around dently with all forms of life. Their spiritual, physical, one’s environment, and that one is responsible for its  1332 INVITED FEATURE Ecological Applications Vol. 10, No. 5 mutual survival, it becomes apparent that it is related LITERATURE CITED to you; that it shares a kinship with you and with all Bennett, W., and R. Zingg. 1935. The Tarahumara: an Indian tribe of northern Mexico. University of Chicago Press, Chi- humans, as does a family or tribe. A reciprocal rela- cago, Illinois, USA. tionship has been fostered with the realization that hu- Bye, R. 1976. Ethnoecology of the Tarahumara of Chihuahua, mans affect nature and nature affects humans. This Mexico. Dissertation. Harvard University, Cambridge, awareness influences indigenous interactions with the Massachusetts, USA. Bye, R. 1981. Quelites-Ethnoecology of edible greens—past, environment. It is these interactions, these cultural present, and future. Journal of Ethnobiology 1:(1)109–123. practices of living with a place, that are manifestations Bye, R., A. Garcia, E. Herrera, J. Reyes, K. Orpiwel, and F. of kincentric ecology. Mancera. 1995. Arts/crafts exploitation of Beargrass and Sotol. Pages 36–55 in Projecto de Recursos Tarahumara. Technical Report, Phase Two, World Wildlife Fund and CONCLUSIONS Biodiversity Support Program (USAID). Native Seeds SEARCH and Sonoran Institute, Tucson, Arizona, USA. This essay presents an indigenous perception of ecol- Caduto, M. J., and J. Bruchac. 1995. Native plant stories. Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, Colorado, USA. ogy, referred to as kincentric ecology. Kincentric ecol- Cajete, G. 1994. Look to the mountain: an ecology of indig- ogy pertains to the manner in which indigenous people enous education. Kivaki Press, Durango, Colorado, USA. view themselves as part of an extended ecological fam- Courlander, H. 1971. The Fourth World of the Hopis. Uni- ily that shares ancestry and origins. It is an awareness versity of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. that life in any environment is viable only when humans Evers, L., and F. Molina. 1987. Yaqui deer songs: Maso Bwi- view the life surrounding them as kin. The kin, or rel- kam. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona, USA. atives, include all the natural elements of an ecosystem. Felger, R., K. Dahl, B. Burns, R. Bye, M. Fishbein, S. McLaughlin, G. P. Nabhan, S. Nelson, H. Suzan, P. War- Indigenous people are affected by and, in turn, affect shall, and M. Wilson. 1994. Northern Sierra Madre Oc- the life around them. A cultural model of kincentric cidental and Its Apachian outliers: a neglected center of ecology is presented that illustrates indigenous rela- biodiversity. Drylands Institute, Tucson, Arizona, USA. Hunn, E. S., with James Selam and Family. 1990. Nch’i- tionships with the natural world. The cultural model of Wána ‘‘The Big River’’: Mid-Columbia Indians and their nature includes humans as one aspect of the complexity land. University of Washington Press, Seattle, Washington, of life. USA. Levi, J. M. 1993. Pillars of the sky: the genealogy of ethnic In terms of indigenous land management techniques, identity among the Rarámuri-Simaroni (Tarahumara/Gen- interactions resulting from kincentric ecology enhance tiles) of Northwest Mexico. Dissertation. Harvard Univer- and preserve the ecosystems with which indigenous peo- sity, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. ple have lived for centuries. Indigenous land manage- Martinez, D. 1993. Managing a precarious balance: wilder- ness versus sustainable forestry. Winds of Change 8:(3)23– ment systems reflect the kincentric relationship that in- 28. digenous cultures maintain with their natural resources. Martinez, D. 1994a. ‘‘Karuk tribal module for the Main Stem Finally, it must be mentioned that when ecologists, River watershed analysis: Karuk ancestral lands and people as reference ecosystem for eco-cultural restoration in col- land managers, environmentalists, and conservationists laborative ecosystem management. ’’ Issue 41. Prepared by speak and write about endangered species and their the Karuk Tribe of northern California under the Auspices potential loss, they rarely mention the loss of human of Cultural Solutions for the U.S. Klamath Nation Forest. Martinez, D. 1994b. Traditional environmental knowledge cultures that work to enhance their homelands. Cultures connects land and culture: American Indians serve as the such as the Rarámuri represent a group of people that link. Winds of Change 9:(4)89–94. maintain and nurture their place through their tradi- Ramamoorthy, T. P., R. Bye, A. Lot, and J. Fa, editors. 1993. Biological diversity in Mexico: origins and distribution. tional land management practices. They maintain the Oxford University Press, New York, New York, USA. environmental integrity of the Sierra Tarahumara, Silko, L. M. 1996. Yellow women and a beauty of the spirit. which would quickly decline, we believe, if the Rar- Simon and Shuster, New York, New York, USA. ámuri culture were to disappear. Fortunately, Rarámuri Salmón, E. 1991. Tarahumara healing practices. Shaman’s Drum 24:34–45. culture is viable despite modern encroachment. Their Salmón, E. 1995. Cures of the Copper Canyon: medicinal educational system ensures that the beliefs and tradi- plants of the Tarahumara with potential toxicity. Herbal- tional land practices are being transferred between el- gram 34:44–55. Zingg, R. 1940. Report on archaeology of southern chihu- ders and children, which ensures the integrity of the ahua. Contribution Number 1 of the University of Denver, Sierra Madres. Center of Latin American Studies, Denver, Colorado, USA. View publication stats