Native Lands

 This week's discussion and readings on native lands was one that I found to be very informative, fun, and interesting. I particularly enjoyed our discussion on the cultural science aspect of Native American life and the benefits that have been bestowed on the land through these practices. It brought up the topic of whether or not western science and cultural science could play a role in working hand in hand and I personally believe that it could. Traditional science is all about trial and error, experimenting with different ideas and question bright forth. If it could be fused with cultural science, from people who live on the land or are from there they already have personal experiences and an understanding of the climate of the land in question. They could provide solutions to the questions that traditional scientists would be asking and work together to bring about a more healthy land that will reap benefits for the wildlife living there as well as for crops. 

I also found the conversation about private and federal land to be very interesting as well. The land that belonged to the native people should be theres and respect is of upmost importance. The cultural science aspect ties into this as we mentioned in class, as Native people that know the land would burn areas in order to enrich the soil and grow more crops yet the government would stop them. I find this to be a huge issue because these people know their land better than anybody else and it should only be up to them to engage in practices that they have been doing for hundreds of years without government interference. 

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