Indigenous Sustainability Worldviews
What Can We Learn From Indigenous Sustainability Worldviews? How Can These Be Applied Today?
Overwhelm:
The state of our ecosystems and environment within our planet is suffering. The way we live today is destroying our home, and we all know it.
When thinking about this whole concept of sustainability and what we can do, it sometimes feels intangible and distant, and when you realise the sheer complexity of the situation, it becomes incredibly overwhelming…Paralysingly overwhelming.
Issue:
The constant desire to acquire more material things, accompanied by our “lifestyle patterns of convenience and a throwaway mindset” is driving our modern economies. Yet, this has also come at the cost of a 60% reduction and degradation of Earth’s ecosystems in the last 50 years. (Fierro, 2011)
With finite resources on the earth, our consumption lifestyles are not aligned with the long-term preservation of our home, accelerating humanity’s inability to live on a healthy planet.
But ultimately, it’s not about saving our planet, it's about saving us.
Indigenous Worldviews:
So, if the traditional custodians of our land were able to live over 60,000 years in Australia and around the world without doing any significant damage to the ecosystems, what were they doing right?
Since those times, we have seen extensive advancements in technology and human development, yet how have we brought ourselves to such environmentally dire circumstances?
Have we lost sight of what really matters?
These questions have many solutions that are complex. And yet, the Traditional Peoples' mindset and focus on intergenerational equity had allowed them to coexist within the bounds of nature for so many years. They believe that “the stewardship for maintaining a healthy country is synonymous with maintaining their own health,” where they must live a harmonious lifestyle to survive. (Fischer et al., 2020)
Yet there is great disparity between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous worldviews. The Indigenous and Traditional Peoples “place humans within the system and are actively part of it, whilst the Western system places humans outside of the environment and views it at something to control.” (Fischer et al., 2020) It was all about safeguarding and protecting the land, rather than acquiring from it. They believed, that if you look after our country, our country is your Mother, it will look after you.
The Indigenous and Traditional Peoples used land management strategies such as the Law of the Hunt and Law of the Harvest to ensure they could achieve intergenerational equity. The Law of the Hunt states that animals are dedicated to specific seasons for breeding, and during these seasons, you are not allowed to hunt them, you must only take when they are in abundance. Similarly, The Law of the Harvest states that you should only take what you and your family need and no more. (Sydney Olympic Park, 2020) By following these laws, it allows time for the natural systems to regenerate, ensuring that they can last for many generations to come. (Throsby and Petetskaya, 2016)
What can we learn from their sustainable practices and worldviews?
There can be similarities found between SDG 12 (sustainable consumption and production) and Traditional land management practices. It revolves around “doing more and better with less” and “reducing our waste.” (United Nations, 2015) The Traditional People’s philosophy when it came to food was to only take what was needed in order to allow natural systems to thrive, a sustainable approach.
Today, our self-indulgence and consumption habits are creating large amounts of waste as well as masking what really matters. So, what if there was a better way to live that was more meaningful for us, and more sustainable for future generations?
SDG 12 highlights that reducing your waste can help as a consumer. By being intentional and thoughtful about bringing into our lives only what adds value, we immediately reduce our waste and need to acquire more, as we increase the value of our material possessions. Further, by being informed and trying to choose sustainable options we can collectively place pressure on businesses to adopt sustainable practices.
Consuming less and more intentionally also gives ourselves the space to focus on the more important things in life, something that is easily forgotten in our busy, chaotic lives. At the end of the day, when all is lost, what really matters? To me, that is my own health (physical, mental & spiritual), it is my relationships and community, and it’s the positive impact I want to have on the world. That positive impact is our ability to contribute to something bigger than ourselves. To be a part of moving society forward. To helping achieve intergenerational equity.
This is not a silver bullet solution to climate change and our environmental issues, but I believe it is a compounding factor that can help reduce large amounts of waste and help us focus on what really matters again. Just like all climate solutions, it is a piece of the puzzle.
As I get clearer on these concepts, the complexity of this issue is still a bit overwhelming, because unfortunately there is no one solution that will fix all the problems. Our economic growth model is directly degrading the environment and it’s a model that has been built off the back of conspicuous consumption.
When it comes to individual vs systemic change in order to push the needle on climate change, systemic change will always have a bigger impact. But the reality is, one cannot function without the other. We know systemic changes such as a circular economy and decoupling economic growth with environmental degradation is extremely important…but it feels so distant and out of reach.
However, just like the Aboriginal and Traditional Peoples' worldview and land management practices, what if we brought into our lives only what adds value? What if we allowed ourselves to focus on what really matters?
I believe it starts with us. Individual change helps us make the “distant and intangible feel personal and makes us feel part of a collective whole.” (Singh, 2020) It gives us the hope and courage we need to change the systems. One step closer to a sustainable future.
References
Fischer, M., Maxwell, K., Nuunoq., Pedersen, H., Greeno, D., Jingwas, N., Blair, J., Hugu, S., Mustonen, T., Murtomaki, E., Mustonen, K. (2020). Empowering her guardians to nurture our Ocean’s future. (1-26).
Sydney Olympic Park. 2020. Ecosystems at Risk. https://www.sydneyolympicpark.com.au/Education/School-Programs/Stage-6-Ecosystems-at-Risk
Throsby, D., & Petetskaya, E. (2016). Sustainability Concepts in Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Cultures (120-125). https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-cultural-property/article/sustainability-concepts-in-indigenous-and-nonindigenous-cultures/00C9321FC8ED4EA427B66A787CBAEE61
United Nations. (2015). Responsible Consumption and Production. SDG 12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/12_Why-It-Matters-2020.pdf
Fierro, C. (2011). Consumerism vs Sustainability Debate on Consumer Ethics and Innovative Practices Promoting Sustainable Business, 6-10. https://www.academia.edu/1259068/Consumerism_vs_Sustainability_Debate_on_Consumer_Ethics_and_Innovative_Practices_Promoting_Sustainable_Business
Singh, C. (2020, April 22). Individual action versus systemic change: lessons from COVID19 for climate change. https://socialsciences.nature.com/posts/66491-individual-action-versus-systemic-change-lessons-from-covid19-for-climate-change