This blog is to serve as a space for sharing, reflection, and analysis of different topics and issues that are raised in our Culture, Religion, and Environment Anthropology class. I look forward to sharing my thoughts and reactions with fellow classmates and anyone else who is interested....please feel free to comment and share your thoughts and feelings about any issues that are discussed in this blog!
We are very fortunate to be taking a Culture, Religion, and Environment class in Hawai'i. There is an attitude towards the environment here that is very unique and seldom found throughout the rest of the world. This attitude manifests itself through a DEEP sense of love, responsibility, and strong attachment for the land and the ocean here in Hawai'i. Many of us share this sense of aloha 'aina, but many MANY more still don't. It's up to us who care to set a positive example for others. More importantly, if we see someone mistreating the earth, we have to stand up and raise our voice. This can be anything from hollering at someone who flicks a cigarette butt in the ocean, all the way up to protesting the military and their misuse of the land. We're not perfect, and some things are easier to stand up to than others, but we should always strive to do better for the earth.
Another reason we're fortunate to take this class in Hawaii is because we have a unique opportunity to learn from a culture that literally loves and reveres the ground beneath our feet. The entire island of O'ahu (and the other islands as well) is like a living classroom that can instruct us about culture, religion, and environment, if we open ourselves up to it. There is cultural information encoded all over the landscape of O'ahu. Hawaiians named places and physical features for very deliberate reasons. When we research and learn how these places got their names, and the stories and traditions associated with different places, the land starts to take on new life and meaning. It's something that's fascinated me since I've lived in Hawaii.
It wasn't too long ago that Hawaiians had achieved one of the most productive and sustainable relationships with the environment that the world has ever known. Hawaii looked like a very different place before the West arrived. I look forward to learning how Hawaiians and other cultures around the world balanced their livelihoods with their environment. Hopefully through learning and sharing our own experiences, we can discover steps we can take to heal and improve our own relationships with the environment.
Thank you for listening. I'll post again soon!
