Ecological Harassment

From NarratingLandscapes

According to Tim Ingold, there is no dualism between self and environment, nature and culture. What do exist, however, are relationships. In Tim Ingold’s worlds, this results in a synthesis of the human being: “not as a composite entity made up of separable but complementary parts, such as body, mind and culture, but rather as a singular locus of creative growth within a continually unfolding field of relationships” (Ingold, 2000, p. 4-5).

In this case, my “self” extends into the environment (our language is clearly flawed for this kind of description) and the environment is a part of me. Which means that destruction of nature/the environment, such as that taking place on UBC's South Campus, is simultaneously a destruction experienced bodily by the person in relationship with that environment. We humans experience this destruction emotionally as feelings of loss, anger, anxiety, depression, fear, feelings of isolation, and self-blame and guilt. This list of emotional responses to landscape change is based on a list compiled by the UBC Equity Office to describe the emotional impacts of harassment and discrimination (e.g. sexual harassment), without reference to ecological harassment.

Perhaps ecological harassment is inevitable, whereas sexual harassment should never take place. However, the degree of destruction and the processes of negotiation and healing used to mitigate ecological harassment are within our control and unique to each culture. For instance, according to Gavin Wright, UBC Farm Staff, preparing the soil for agriculture is seen as a destructive act by some First Nations groups. Gavin shared with us his experience of participating in a thanksgiving ceremony at which tobacco and ochre were placed in the four corners of the Urban Aboriginal Community Kitchen Garden Project plot at the UBC Farm. The tobacco and ochre were gifts to the earth, recognizing that by farming the land “We are opening Mother Earth” (Wright, 2008). According to Felice Wyndham, she has also experienced thanksgiving ceremonies with other Indigenous peoples for the earth in recognition of the fact that agriculture damages or tears open the land (Wyndham, 2008). These ceremonies teach us that the earth is our kin and in damaging the earth we damage ourselves. Thanksgiving ceremonies are one approach to acknowledge pain and bring about healing in our relationship with the land.

Works Cited

Ingold, T. (2000). The perception of the environment: Essays on livelihood, dwelling and skill. London: Routledge.

Milton, K. (2005). Emotion (or Life, the Universe, Everything). The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 16(2), 198-211.

Wright, G. (2008). UBC Farm Tour. July 30, 2008. Julia Ostertag.

Wyndham, F. (2008). UBC Farm Tour. July 30, 2008. Julia Ostertag.

UBC Equity Office. http://www.equity.ubc.ca/discrimination/impact.htm

Emotional Responses to Landscape Change: Table

Emotional Anthropology

--Julia 07:50, 19 August 2008 (UTC)