Indigenous Resistance and Racist Schooling on the Borders of Empires: Coast Salish Cultural Survival

In “Indigenous Resistance and Racist Schooling on the Borders of Empires: Coast Salish Cultural Survival”, Michael Marker brings to light the destruction of the natives culture when Europeans came to America; more specifically the separation of the Coast Salish people who inhabited the bored between the USA and Canada.

Because of these artificial boundaries now placed on the land the Coast Salish people first inhabited, the sharing of culture became increasingly difficult. However, unlike many natives who fell victim to the assimilation of the Europeans the Coastal Salish people fought back. They rebelled against the Europeans educational systems when they placed the Coastal Salish kids into public and private schools and slowly tried to remove their indigenous culture. The natives were able to retain parts of their culture through rituals and ceremonies. 

Sustainable food at Warren Wilson College

I called my brother on Wednesday to wish him a happy birthday. At the time I was thinking about my homework assignment, and I remembered that the school he graduated from, Warren Wilson College was very progressive in environmentally friendly ways of living. I did some research on their website and found this information about their Dining Services,

“Food Alliance
Food Alliance certified foods are produced in season by local farmers including green and red peppers, green beans, sweet corn, squash, apples, apple cider and potatoes.

For the past several years, Sodexho has sought to utilize local and regional farmers and producers for procuring in-season products for its operations nationwide, making sustainable goods available to its customers at campuses, schools, health care facilities, and corporate accounts, with units receiving up to 40 percent of their produce from local growers.

In order for farmers to meet Food Alliance standards for production of sustainable items, they must agree not to use genetically modified products, cannot utilize hormones or fee additive antibiotics in livestock production practices designed to reduce pesticides, conserve water and protect the soil, operate in a manner that protects adjacent wildlife habits, and offer safe and fair working conditions for their employees.”

http://www.warrenwilsondining.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=33

http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~elc/sustainability/food_systems.php

Environmental Ethics Artifact

                The “artifact” that I discovered that deals with Environmental Ethics is the Spotted Owl of the Pacific Northwest.

            For hundreds of years the northern spotted owl, a dark brown owl with white spots, has inhabited the “old-growth” forests (forests that have aged for long a time without disturbance therefore exhibiting unique characteristics) of the Pacific Northwest. The northern spotted owl feeds off the plant life created by fallen and decaying timber on the forest floor, and lay their nests inside these old trees. However, the timber that serves as home for these owls is also the primary source of timber for the multi-billion dollar logging industry. According to a study by Claire Andre and Manuel Velasquez over the last 150 years, only 10% of the forests remain because of the heavy logging. Paired with the declining forest is the decline of spotted owls, and scientists estimate only 2000 pairs survive today.

            This is a tough issue and a perfect example of the dilemma of Environmental Ethics. On one hand is the protection of these animals and their habitats and on the other is the means of making a living for loggers and their families.  However, I think that we have to look at the overall picture. Spotted owls are a very important species and are considered indicator species; they serve as a gauge how healthy an ecosystem is. The declines of the spotted owls indicate the demise of other species like elk and flying squirrel. It is vital to the whole web of interdependent relationships that the forests are maintained.

            Loggers should strive to develop new ways of obtaining the necessary timber (if that’s possible), or create new jobs in place of their old ones.

http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v4n1/homepage.html

Environmental Ethics

The “artifact” that I happened to discover is actually a person named Holmes Rolston.

Holmes Rolston is a distinguished professor of Philosophy at Colorado State University, and he is best known for writing Environmental Ethics. In the book Holmes describes Environmental Ethics as,” a systematic account of values carried by the natural world, coupled with an inquiry into duties toward animals, plants, species, and ecosystems.” Holmes is a leading motivator in encouraging people to think about environmental ethics. In his book he uses actual examples of ethical decisions in encounters with nature; Encounters with plant life, endangered species, and threatened Eco systems. He also applies his theory of Environmental ethics to social, public, and business policy.

          It is important that more people adopt the philosophies of Holmes Rolston and become better stewards of the planet. If consumer society begins to view nature in a moral way—consuming and using resources in ways that is harmful to nature and people—then society can work towards being more sustainable and living in harmony with nature instead of leaching of it’s resources.