Indigenous Traditions of Conservation & Battling Colonial Thought

One meaningful experience I had from our learning community was participating in an outdoor lab where we tapped sugar maple trees for sap. Although the lab was to introduce us to our community’s sustainability efforts, I found an interest in the Indigenous traditions and their relationship with the land.

Amanda Krause, Oakton’s Naturalist, shared with our class that the Indigenous people used the same seasonal techniques to gather sap. Their practice consisted of tapping maple trees during the end of winter, so late February to the beginning of March. Amanda mentioned that this time of year is effective for gathering sap since the stored sugars move upward to supply the newly growing leaves with energy in preparation for spring growth and flower blooms. The sugars then thaw during the fluctuation of temperature (freezing at night but warmer temperature in the day), creating more pressure inside the tree.

The Indigenous people used the maple trees to harvest sugar for their own uses, but also to release the growing pressure inside. Trees were also used to create other tools and materials such as birch bark baskets, which demonstrate traditional ecological knowledge passed down between generations. However, this knowledge may not just be technical like teaching others how to weave a basket, or how to tap a tree, but it allows for storytelling connecting the land to the people and the environment to human cultures. I was able to connect these long-standing traditions to reciprocity themes from our class. I learned that their beliefs influence their connections with the land, and that when Indigenous people use its resources, they also respect and care for it as a relative would. Caring for the land means holding reciprocating relationships with nature, but also between us humans. Communities should work with one another, care for the land and for the people of the future instead of continuing to extract the resources that belong to the land and dehumanizing other people.

Traditional Anishinaabe map sap collecting baskets made from birch bark.

From our learning community, I discovered that when the mainstream media or news outlets focus on "environmental issues or challenges" they often almost exclusively present individual solutions such as recycling, lowering our personal carbon footprint with transportation choices, or refraining from using AI because of the single-use effects on water and energy. Although we should consider partaking in these actions, greenhouse gas emissions of large industrial companies or the agricultural sector’s unsustainable and unethical forms of production also contribute to the climate crisis at a much greater scale. On the other hand, traditions of the Indigenous peoples of North America demonstrate that sustainability and conservation efforts should come from individual people and communities caring for the land and resisting injustice together.

Kyle White, a philosopher introduced to me during our class, wrote about climate change and its similarity to colonial displacement in part of his book Indigenous Climate Change Studies: Indigenizing Futures, Decolonizing The Anthropocene. Not only were the Indigenous people stripped from their physical land, but also from aspects of their culture and many were forced to change their beliefs. Through class discussions, I learned that climate change creates and increases vulnerability for minority groups including women and Indigenous communities. One example from the beginning of the semester was the climate crisis of the California Wildfires, where the most affected populations were mainly from Black or Latino neighborhoods. Through this ideology of renewing Indigenous knowledge, we can learn to fight environmental injustice, and the colonial past rooted into institutions in the United States.

Indigenous communities have largely been continually present in the Midwest, and even on Oakton’s campus as well. One way Oakton College, as an institution, tries to fight colonial ideologies is by recognizing Indigenous people and their land. For example, the Oakton website shares a land acknowledgment which states that the Des Plaines campus was inhabited by people of a Potawatomi settlement near the river. Although recognition is a small step towards decolonial thinking, there are other ways of strengthening our relationship with the Indigenous people.

Furthermore, the reading “Indigenous Resurgence and Co-resistance” by Leanne Simpson also targets the importance of revitalizing indigenous traditions and working locally. Supporting Indigenous people, and their life does not just mean recognizing them, but also promoting spaces where Indigenous communities can continue to practice their traditions of conservation, reciprocity, sustainability, connections with land, and to continue to share their culture with one another. One of many quotes that stuck with me from our discussions was “get in where you fit in”, which demonstrates that we all have a role to play in caring for our environment but our actions should start within our community.

One of the outdoor classrooms on Oakton's Des Plaines campus where students learn about Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge and the history of people and the land.

Sustainability and conservation are not just about lowering emissions or recycling as individuals, but also learning from Indigenous traditions and their beliefs on reciprocity and community strength. During the worsening climate crisis, we should continue to reflect on our role in society and how we will contribute to revitalizing the land and our relationships with others.