| Imagine the Rocky Mountain West a thousand years ago. Valleys were filled with vast herds of buffalo and elk and antelope chased by wolves and Indians. Occaisonal groups of teepees dotted the landscape. There were no fenced off hay fields or cattle pastures, or cities, or highways and freeways... Imagine living as an Indian and going out with a fall hunting party. It's better than playing in the Superbowl with all of your best friends! With only God in the stands you are exhilerated. You know the playing field. You plan your attack. You keep an eye on eachother. You take care of anyone who gets hurt. You party when its all over. This is for real--the wealth and well being of your family depends on the success of your effort... You may only live to 35 years, but you have children and they have grown to take your place. You raised them, and taught them your history and how to live on this land. Part of you is in them and they will carry on... Look at me here in this "wilderness." Nothing I have comes from the land around me--it's all plastic and metal. It feels out of touch, alien to this landscape. I am clothed with wonders of the petroleum age, instead of with fur from the animals I share this land with. Is it really convenient and light weight? Instead of sparking a fire with two sticks and tinder, I carry a stove, a gas container and a lighter. I fear disease in the water and carry a filter. How long would I make it if I were cast naked into the wilderness? What would I eat and how would I find or catch it? How would I clothe and shelter myself? Would I collapse in lonliness and dispair and cease to stir?... I quest from peak to peak until my body is seized by exhaustion. Is this wilderness? Where are the Grizzlies, the Wolves, and the Buffalo? Why is it only "wilderness" above nine thousand feet? Parks and wilderness are set aside and we are forbidden to live on them because where we do live we destroy the natural environment. How did we get so out of touch? In our expansion west on the North American continent, we reduced a herd of 70 million buffalo to only 700 in one century. By many means we nearly exterminated the native peoples of this land (one of which was giving them blankets contaminated with small pox). How do we exonerate ourstlves and justify our way of life? |
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