Concepts of nature

I created a post a few years ago about what is “The Environment”? I’m working on updating this post. I’ve integrated it into the open textbook (freely available) Introduction to Sustainability. Based on some recent learnings and realizations, I have been challenging my view of this even more. This led me to an article by Reed, Brunet, McGregor, Scurr, Sadik, Lavigne, and Longboat (2024): There is no word for ‘nature’ in our language: rethinking nature-based solutions from the perspective of Indigenous Peoples located in Canada.

I won’t go into nature-based solutions in this post. I’m interested right now in different conceptualizations of nature. I’ve had a few students who have, in their conversations with others, been translating sustainability and sustainability concepts into other languages. Rarely is it straightforward. To me, this emphasizes the importance of culture in all of our sustainability-related conversations. Part of this is what nature is and the relationships between humans and “nature.”

In the article, they found that the Indigenous Experts they interviewed mostly indicated that there was no direct translation for nature. This, as explained by one of the participants, is because nature isn’t really a “thing” until we other it or separate ourselves from it. Once it is viewed as separate, then you can name it. This is in part because many Indigenous languages are verb-based. This means that things are less common; everything is “in motion.” It is more about connection and relationship and this isn’t easy to translate into English as a noun-based language. This also comes up in Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s and Dr. Jennifer Grenz’s work. They both discuss how using verb-based language changes how we relate to the world around us “it makes tangible the relationality of our world. It eliminates the distance created by naming ‘things'” (Grenz, 2020, p. 2).

Both Grenz and the Experts interviewed by Reed and colleagues discuss how, when we view humans as part of the systems, then we have a reciprocal responsibility to take care of the land, water, and living beings, just as they take care of us. Thus, there is also no concept of pristine nature without human influence because humans are in relationship with everything around us.

I’m curious where this sits for you. Does this idea of relationship make sense? Is it foreign to you? How does your culture view the relationships of humans with those around us?