Berkley Center

New Zealand is known for its stunning physical beauty and environmental awareness. This perception influenced my decision to take environment-related courses at the University of Auckland—an attempt to learn the ways of the Kiwis. Over the semester, I have been introduced to many concepts relating to environmental and resource management, sustainability and eco-consciousness. Some of these have been new ideas; most I have already learned. Yet, there is a definite difference in New Zealand related to the overall mentality and value of the environment and its conservation, especially with the indigenous people, the Maori. It is this perspective that has particularly piqued my interest.

At its core, the Maori belief is that humans are descendants of nature—we were created from Tane, the son of Earth and Sky. Our aunts and uncles are, among other natural features, the Forests, Soil, Mountains, and Sea. Based on this tradition, Maori believe that humans are intimately connected to the natural world. We are simply a small piece of a larger, complex, intertwined web. This is a very different worldview than the anthropocentric perspective that most of us hold. But why do we not share this appreciation for the natural world? In Christianity, it was claimed that God created us from the earth, the soil, the dust of this land—very similar to the Maori idea that we were formed from the son of Earth and Sky.

However, this origin of humans has not instilled in Christians the same environmental consciousness that is implicit in the Maori belief. From the Maori worldview, this initial connection to the land implies that we have a responsibility to maintain the well-being and stability of our natural surroundings. Yet, despite creation from the dust of our planet, many Christians do not embrace a reverence for their origin. They view the earth as a resource to be exploited rather than an entity to be conserved. This divergence has severe implications for the overall health and stability of our natural resources and environment. One perspective promotes sustainability and recognizes the fine balance between humans and their surroundings. The other promotes exploitation for the benefit of humans and, ultimately, environmental degradation for economic gain.

Maori have lived on the land of New Zealand for hundreds of years. Their utilization of the natural resources of the country recognizes the fragility and transience of the environment. Interestingly, our own indigenous communities in the United States, the Navajo, Apache, and other Native American tribes, also share this worldview. It is the same for indigenous communities across the globe, from Thailand to Papua New Guinea to Peru. These communities have been dependent on the planet's natural ecosystems for hundreds of years and have, consequently, developed a culture, belief, and understanding that respect the environment and promote sustainability. These populations do not have to drastically manipulate the environment to meet their needs. They harvest rainwater rather than build massive dams and irrigation canals. They know which crops to rotate to ensure the proper nutrient balance in the soil to maximize their harvest instead of becoming dependent on a concoction of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. They understand how many fish can be caught from the sea this year to make sure that the marine population remains stable for years to come. These are the people who have survived on our planet for hundreds of years.

Clearly, indigenous communities have done something right. Although these groups may not be prosperous in terms of money, they have something that is much more valuable: wisdom to understand how to balance with their surroundings. The worldview that humans are simply a part of an interconnected system has led to the sustainability of indigenous peoples. All of our “knowledge” that allows us to “advance” and “grow” from the technology, genetically modified crops, infrastructure, pesticides, international trade, and medicine cannot hold a candle to the local wisdom that indigenous communities possess. It is this wisdom that has sustained human populations for years, and it is from this wisdom that our civilizations originally developed. Yet we cast aside this heritage, this comprehension of the core of human existence, of the intricate workings of the Earth and of the relationship between man and nature and substitute it with machines, computers, and technology.

It is a dangerous path that will only lead to further exploitation for economic gain at the cost of environmental degradation. Worst of all, we may lose or disregard the precious knowledge that our indigenous populations hold. It is time that we return to our roots. As humans, we have the power and the responsibility to maintain our planet and ensure the sustainable use of its resources. We must remember that we are made of the same atoms and molecules that form all life on this planet, and that we eventually return to the land to give life to yet another set of organisms. We are a small part of a grander ecosystem, a cycle of life in which we exist from dust to dust.