Environmental Exhortations

From p 162-169 of A Language Older than Words, by Derrick Jensen
An interview with Bruce Stewart, Maori writer:

If we are to survive, each of us must become kaitiaki, which to me is the most important concept in my own Maori culture. We must become caretakers, guardians, trustees, nurturers. In the old days each whanau, or family, used to look after a specific piece of terrain. One family might look after a river from a certain rock down to the next bend. And they were the kaitiaki of the birds and fish and plants. They knew when it was time to take them to eat, and when it was not. When the birds needed to be protected, the people put a rahui on them, which means the birds were temporarily sacred. And some birds were permanently tapu, which means they were full-time protected. This protection was so strong that people would die if they broke it. It’s that simple. It needed no policing. In their eagerness to unsavage my ancestors Christian missionaries killed the concept of tapu along with many others.

To be kaitiaki is crucial to our existence. So while I am in agony for the whole planet, what I can do is become kaitiaki right here. This can spread, as people see this and say, ‘We can do that back at home.’ Perhaps then everyone can, as was true in our Maori culture, become caretakers of their own homes. Children will say to their parents, or to others, ‘I’m sorry, but you can’t do that here.’

I’m more of a practical man, so rather than write papers about being kaitiaki, I just do it. I don’t trust words. I’m frightened of the intellectualism that can insulate us from action and turn the problems and solutions into puzzles or fantasies. As Maori we already have the words, the concepts. But we can’t rest on what our ancestors gave us. The work has got to be done.

Part of this work must be done by artists, philosophers, educators, and others who can articulate and perpetuate the Maori way of living, people who can help us untangle ourselves from the pakeha, the Europeans. And as a pakeha yourself there are many important things that you, too, can articulate. From your knowledge and from where you live. But I hope to think any piece of art spurs us into action. I want to believe in sustainability. Now. Not in the future. Not some distant day. Now.
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We also need patches of native bush full of native birds and animals, cathedrals where man is not as important as he makes himself out to be, where he instead recognizes himself as a small part of the big family. If we were to make those spaces of harmony available within walking distance from every house, so everybody was a kaitiaki, we would change the world. That’s the plan I’m working on. If everyone nurtured a seedling and planted it they would be building their new church. And I’m in a rush.
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Little nurseries like this are springing up everywhere. And they’re done not by the government but by ordinary people. That’s why they work. People come here when we’re planting, to get their little seedlings. And you see the children come back. The children are more aware than their parents, and the younger children know more than the older ones.
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We are suffering from a great illness, and the way to get better is to serve others. We should all be in service. It makes us well. I serve the birds and trees, the earth, the water.

Anybody can do it. They can do it in their way. It’s action time.

What strikes me about this is that unlike a lot of native traditions (and I'm not knocking the groups that take this stance) where the people look down on the white, new-age, trippy-hippy, flakes who are trying to adopt trappings of a culture they have no deep understanding of, what Stewart is doing is explaining the Maori history and philosophy, and saying, "Go, take it, run with it, make it your own." Which is really the only hope for any given patch of greenery. As long as anyone remains who does not adopt the mentality of kaitiaki, what little natural resources that are left are in mortal danger. Stake out your patch and defend it.