Native lands - Eric Brummett

 I felt as though this weeks topic was interesting. When it comes to speaking about native lands and culture in America, some forget that they were here first. They had their land ripped from them by colonist from the east to west and were moved to reservations where they had to learn the land all over again. I enjoyed our guest speaker because it is refreshing to hear from the author of one of our readings. It helps me better understand his personal goal and writing the piece and how his background and experience lead to the finished work. I liked how he brought up how the elders of a certain tribe were mad at the building of money making facilities like a Casino on the land. To me it is important to remember that these Casinos aren't praised by all on a reservation. It takes away from their culture, invites in outsiders who may not have respect for their home, and is bad for the surrounding environment. The reading that really caught my attention this week was "Malheur occupation in Oregon: Whose land is it really." I feel like it is crazy that people are still removed from land or that people want to destroy natural reserves. The reason for natural reserves is to make sure there is nature left for future generations, it is to keep human development in check so we don't destroy massive ecosystems. At the same time, Native lands taken years ago by a government that was blinded by culture differences at the time, should be in a grey area. I have a friend who lives on the Morongo Reservation and there is still land there, it is not some crazy development like a suburb (Besides the Mall that's over there and the casino but that wouldn't be in every reservation), and they still have a live off the land mentality. This means that it could be a win win, Natives in Oregon het their land back and it stays preserved as well as lived on just like it was intended. This weeks discussion and topic was great and for me it created somewhat of a Segway into exploring what I want to do in my research project which expands on how human pollution lead to policies to help protect what is left of nature.

Comments

  1. David BiggsJanuary 19, 2021 at 9:49 AM

    cool! one suggestion might be to look into the history of "cap and trade" in California and how it relates to mitigation of damage due to emissions. A bit policy wonkish and relatively recent, or look at California's fight to clean up its air from the 1960s.

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