Our body, our earth: Cree people's connection with Mother Earth.

• Author: Cardinal, Joel
• Position: Essay

i remember walking through the fields of the Canadian Plains on many occasions with my father. On one occasion, we were going to pick sweet grass blades that had pink roots and a distinctively sweet smell. I observed that, prior to my father picking the first blade of sweet grass, he reached into his tobacco pouch and grabbed a pinch, laid it on the ground beside the sweet grass he was about to pick, and closed his eyes as he made his offering to Mother Earth. The sincerity of the process was completely natural in that moment.

We live in a time where the dominant interaction between the Earth and people is one-sided, with no reciprocity. Throughout the centuries, the notion of Manifest Destiny was used as justification for this one-sided use of the land and its resources; political and religious leaders were able to claim their exploitative practices as their divine right. Growing up in my Cree community where traditional interaction with the Earth is based on respect is in stark contrast to these dominant world views.

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Traditional Cree values are difficult to articulate because the ideals are easily associated with contemporary socialist and environmentalist perspectives, and people are inclined to frame Cree values based on these perspectives. While there are similarities, the distinction is that pro-environmentalist perspectives are ideals that people strive to incorporate into their lifestyles, whereas for Cree people, it is part of our traditional lifestyle, with no distinction between the way we live and our ideals.

Reminiscing about the times my father took my brother and me hunting provides me with another example of giving back to the land. Every time we made a kill, our father gave us a part of the animal to give back to the land as an offering for having taken from it. It was interesting for me to realize later in life that providing an offering while hunting is not typical mainstream behaviour. Only through analyzing the experience do I now understand how my father's action was based on our innate connection to the land.

This connection is illustrated not only through our practice of reciprocity but also through our spiritual interaction with the land. In the sweat lodge, a spiritual ceremony where Cree people cleanse their minds, bodies, and spirits, we are taught to put our hands on the Earth if it gets too hot for us. This shows an intrinsic connection to the land and its inherent...