Intertwining Life and Land

While reading Native American Studies by Kidwell and Velie, I was struck by the relationship, almost kinship, with the land and nature surrounding the Native American people's. From the detailed observation of the celestial movements to the fables and lore that tie the people to the wealth and harmony of nature. While much of Western civilization and culture has been involved with the destruction or replacement of the land, Native American culture is based more firmly, and more logically, in the symbiotic relationship with the land.
There is a deeper understanding of the respect and knowledge of the land that is clearly important when our very survival is tied to it. It seems that too often in Western culture we forget how dependent we are on the land, believing ourselves above the throes of nature. We seem to have created an unrealistic view in which humanity can overcome nature's power through technology. We have lost the logical understanding of how desperately our lives our tied to the world in which we live (though there does seem to be a definite, and very positive, movement away from this sort of thinking). Many Native American cultures have spent generations studying and understanding and living with the world around them. For example, many tribes have extensively studied the cosmos to the point that they recognize the coming and going of the seasons by the movement of stars, constellations, and planets. This study has allowed them to create a sense of time that moves cyclically, as opposed to the Western ideas of time, which are linear. Through a cyclical study of time, the Native American culture can adapt and learn from their past mistakes because time is constantly repeating, as opposed to constantly moving forward and away from the lives and events of our ancestors. Through a cyclical idea of time, a person would be better equipped to deal with certain events or even anomalies occurring in the world. Passed down through history are the fables and lore that allow a person to approach and survive through certain repeating or similar events. For example, the position of a certain constellation may signal the beginning of a growing season, however, the weather or conditions are not yet suitable for such activities. A person with a proper knowledge of the land and the stars would be more aware that such an anomaly was occurring; perhaps noticing that the ground is still frozen or there are signs of drought when there should be tillable land and plentiful rain, according to the stars. Even the slightest warning would allow this person to better prepare for what could months of hardship.
The idea here is that humanity is dependent on the land around them to survive and thrive and if there is a more solid and tangible idea of our dependency, not our supremacy, of nature, then perhaps we could come to care more for the land and save it from further destruction. In short, we need to recognize a balanced relationship with nature and view it as more of a being, rather than just a property in which to exploit for our own advances.