How did the attitude of Native Americans and white settlers toward nature differ?
1 Answer
Native Americans might be considered to have understood the synergy between nature and their own lives better. The European mentality towards nature was one of utility, resource and ownership.
Explanation:
First, I would caution about some of the labels bandied about. Also, even by geographic region (and the Americas are HUGE!) not all attitudes were common. The European mentality towards nature was one of utility, resource and ownership. Of those, it really is the ownership one that was most foreign to Native Americans at the time.
We may say that Native Americans understood the synergy between nature and their own lives better. But then, they often used it equally wastefully, and the “understanding” could be better attributed to a more primitive lifestyle than a philosophical choice.
Europeans at the time, including the settlers saw nature as a (unlimited?) source of materials for use in making their lives more comfortable.
The key differentiating mindset was about ownership. Europeans held a concept of personal (and State) ownership of areas, materials, and even other human beings! Native Americans held a concept of territory, but did not understand or value the concept of personal ownership, possibly apart from household items.
That is one of the reasons “sales” of land were so much abused. The Native Americans may have thought that they were making a trade for USE of some of their territory – more of a lease than a purchase. Europeans expected it to be a binding, permanent OWNERSHIP.
This misunderstanding resulted in much of the conflict between “settlers” and Native Americans when the indigenous peoples did not recognize the “ownership” of the settlers.
