American Indians of Sierra Nevada, Research Paper Example

The history of American Indians has left a mark on the growing environmental movement. The Sierra Nevada is still a prominent Indian tribe located in California. Indian’s are considered the ‘original conservationists’ because they are the people who have left no mark upon their land. “The Indians were, in truth, the pioneer ecologists of this country,” said Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall. (1) However, it is important to understand that the Native American practices are not based upon environmental ethics. Their spiritual connection is not notorious for messing with the history of Indian resource use. The myth has allowed environmentalist to patronize American Indians, criticizing their heritage and mandating resource conservation. The history of the Indian’s institution is nonexistent, depriving the Natives of understanding how to conserve their natural heritage. Indian’s have their laws, rules and traditions that guide their society. American Indians have been forced to utilize evolving and complex institutions in efforts to survive the hostile environment and to conserve the scarce natural resources.

American Indians have historically understood the importance of their incentives right. The spiritual values and personal ethics are vital in their society, but those characteristics are limited to communal and private property rights. “For many thousands of years, most of the indigenous nations on this continent practiced a philosophy of protection (first) and use (second) of the forest,” says Herb Hammond in the Sierra Club book Clearcut. “In scientific terms, we recognize that their use of the forest was ecologically responsible–meaning that it kept all the parts.”(2) the rights of the land and resources are limited to the basis that the Native American’s use their resources wisely and in turn are rewarded good stewardship.

It is difficult to determine the modern property rights and context of the law. Indian tribes had their own formal government structure, and it regulated their own modern nation. They were traditionally made up of many different independent tribes or groups that centralized their focus on their traditional practices. They at times would join together for ceremonial purposes and for big hunts. The Indians had the strict structure of their tribes despite their lack of modern institutions. The American Indians were able to create significant wealth for themselves because their institution had no government restrictions on their personal properties. The Indian Tribes in Sierra Nevada provides a historical example of how rights granted with the property directly influence humans and their interactions with the natural environment.

The Indian lands changed considerably over time. It went from almost completely communal property to restricted reservations. The granting of private ownership provided great difficulty in enforcing what took place on it. The Indian property was owned by tribes or clans, not by individuals. The history of the indigenous practices regarding the dynamics, diversity, and the functioning of the Sierra Nevada communities was determined by the tribe or chief. There is also a significant amount of intervention to the nature of the models of human culture. The Native Americans have historically influenced the Sierra landscapes over the past few decades.

The knowledge that the Native Americans provided set historical ideals for the quality of plants, animal species, composition, density, and abundance. It occurred for long periods of time prior to the governmental involvement in land management. The Indians were able to produce successful land-use for thousands of years, with their productive and diverse ecosystem. The traditional knowledge sets a historical starting point as to what changes and been lost since aboriginal times. “Contemporary Native cultures still maintain some of the traditional practices, and these may serve as analogs for testing alternative wildland management strategies, restoring endangered ecosystems and species, enhancing the productivity and biodiversity of wild lands, and maintaining culturally significant plant resources for the perpetuation of native cultural traditions.” (3) The government’s desire to maintain land would be better served if the mechanics and intricacies of the native people’s ecosystem practice. It would provide an ability to see how history has changed the practices of the Indians.

The Native American population was distribution land in Sierra Nevada based on cultural and environmental factors. The settlements have drastically changed through history as did the variable terrains, availability of water, access to tool stone and biotic richness and diversity. The traditional use of land while complying with local society created great difficulties with the capacity of maintaining the population levels. Each Native American camp or village required significant change to maintain their living expectations and to grow the necessary resources for living. The settlements inevitably began to strain the environment as the land lessened, and the tribes grew.

The Native American tribes in the Sierra Nevada has changed in the many aspects of the hunting camp to the hundreds who live in a bigger village. They also utilized intermediate groups that change in size for their purposes and the seasonal encampments. The protohistoric and prehistoric Sierran people were placed in different village communities that each had their own name, chief, and tributary settlements. The central locations of the communities were located near major streams for the survival of both the people and the land. The way that Native Americans lived off the land in California still offered a higher level of environmental protection than that which has been offered by the governmental regulation.

The estimates of the indigenous populations in California must be estimated with limitations. The population continually fluctuated over time, and the environmental changes created a much different method by which the estimation was determined. Historical documents provided by the Office of Indian Affairs and the U.S. War Department may not accurately reflect the population that lived in California. The growth of massacre, warfare, starvations, conversation, and exposure took a significant toll on the lives of the Native Americans. It is estimated that the forces destroyed about 75 percent of the indigenous population.

The restoration and management of Sierra Nevada provided objectives for protecting water resources and soil, preserving biological diversity, and maintaining wildlife habitat. The prehuman ecosystem is self-sustaining and intact based on the historical research of the practices of the Native American people. Native Americans in specific regions provides a visual understanding of the natural environment and the native people in the Sierra Nevada. The horticulture practice increased the vegetation and the environmental potential in the region. The change in environment has been challenged as history has evolved.

It is important to look at the historical impact of the Sierra Nevada and the contribution that the Native American people played in it. The land that was given to the Indians was free from governmental control and allowed the natives to maintain it the manner they saw best. It challenged the government and their desire to become actively involved in the preservation and conservation of the environment. However, the cultural practices created far better outcome for the Indian’s land, than that of the government. Native American’s history has always put them in a position where they live off the land and the resources they can produce. It is important to understand that the Native American policies hold the people to a higher standard where they protect and care for their land. It is of historical importance to see how the cultures of indigenous people can teach the government how to make the environmental changes in the future.

Indians were dependent upon their land for survival through means of hunting, fishing and even harvesting. Without the state moving in to regulate the Sierra Nevada, the hunting grounds would lead to overhunting. The regulation of the state governed the practices despite their terms of spirituality and religion. Speck stated that ownership let to “the maintenance of a supply of animal and vegetable life, methods of ensuring its propagation to provide sources of life for posterity, the permanent family residence within well-known and oftentimes blazed property boundaries, and resentment against trespass by the family groups surrounding them who possessed districts of their own.”(4) Native American norms and customs regulated their harvest, as well as when and where to hunt. However, California has their own dictation for property preservation that, at times, infringes on their own practices.

It is believed that Indian countries have enough an abundant amount of resources. The resources would have lasted longer by adhering to the tribe’s rich heritage. Turning towards the ideas of good stewardship would have preserved the land far better than the historical changes that have been inflicted by the non-Indian environmentalist. The history of the Indian culture and its institution has provided vast lessons for the environment in California. Native American’s have a tremendous amount of assets available on their reservations. They have created an environment to assert sovereign claims to their wildlife and fish on the reservation.

The nineteenth century created treaties that the Indian’s rely upon. As a result, the courts have granted the Native American rights to a vast amount of resources. They have rights to fish where non-Indians are restricted. Wisconsin has granted special hunting privileges to Native Americans on the public lands. In Alaska, they are granted the right to hunt polar bears and walruses without any regulation. The changes in the governmental regulation have in an indirect way created a potential for a decimation of the wildlife population. The historical change associated with the regulation of the Native American lands and its environment has evolved to a point where it can pose significant dangers to the California environment.

American Indians have been forced to utilize evolving and complex institutions in efforts to survive the hostile environment and to conserve the scarce natural resources. The historical changes that have occurred within the environment has directly affected Native Americans and their living practices. Despite California’s effort to regulate the ability for one to live off the land, there is still a scarcity of resources that present. The Native American population has continually faced challenges with their land and their own survival. The institution that they build centuries ago has evolved to a point where their practices directly influence the environment in which they live. The American Indians have lost a significant amount of land, and it has directly strained their resources. Sierra Nevada once was thriving with Native Americans, and the population has drastically decreased. Preserving the environment is vital not only for Native American survival, but for the survival of all individuals.

Bibliography

Birckhead, J., T. De Lacy, and L. Smith, eds. 1992. Aboriginal involvement in parks and protected areas. Canberra, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press.

Devall, Bill. 1993. Clearcut: The Tragedy of Industrial Forestry. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books and Earth Island Press.

Speck, Frank G. 1939. Aboriginal Conservators. Bird Lore 40: 258-61

Williams, Ted. 1986. Don’t Blame the Indians: Native Americans and the Mechanized Destruction of Fish and Wildlife. South Hamilton, MA: GSJ Press.