Living in Kindness and Compassion (Linda Thompson)
Part 2 of 4, from Reflections on BRAIDING SWEETGRASS, a special edition of AllCreation.
The guidelines of The Honorable Harvest, derived from the teachings, stories, and spiritual beliefs of the Indigenous People, are recounted by Robin Wall Kimmerer in her book, Braiding Sweetgrass. She testifies, as both a Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology and a citizen of the Potawatomi Nation, that the harvest of the "immigrant culture" has become dishonorable.
Acknowledging that our replacement culture must write its own stories of relationship to the Earth and its human and more-than-human inhabitants, she hopes that the stories of the immigrant culture will be tempered by the stories and wisdom of those who were old on this land long before we came. (p.334) May it be so.
What makes an Honorable Harvest?
Kimmerer declares a harvest as honorable when it sustains the giver as well as the taker; when it recognizes the beings who are harvested as nonhuman persons vested with awareness, intelligence, and spirit. When we ask before we take, when we gift in return, when we take only what is needed, and never more than half in order that life may continue. When we recognize that killing a "who" demands something different than killing an "it." (p.189, 178)
The words of Chief Luther Standing Bear (Teton Sioux c1858-1939) even more beautifully define humanity’s relationship to the more-than-human world:
From the Great Spirit there came a great unifying life force that flowed in and through all things – the flowers of the plains, blowing winds, rocks, trees, birds, animals – and was the same force that had been breathed into the first man. Thus all things were kindred, and were brought together by the same Great Mystery.
The animals had rights– the right of man’s protection, the right to live, the right to multiply, the right to freedom, and the right to man’s indebtedness – and in recognition of these rights the Lakota never enslaved an animal, and spared all life that was not needed for food and clothing. The Lakota could despise no creature, for all were of one blood, made by the same hand, and filled with the essence of the Great Mystery. (Native American Wisdom, pp.43, 44)
These same spiritual principles are espoused by many of today’s environmental organizations. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), is an activist non-profit with local and global reach. They and their volunteers have launched extensive efforts to advance the rights of all animals, in part, by awaking our culture to the realization that animals have inherent rights of life and that we as humans have ethical and moral responsibilities to ensure those rights. While concerned for the welfare of all animals, including pets and wildlife, PETA particularly advocates for those animals used in laboratory research and for animals factory-farmed for human consumption. Calling for the end of life oppressive practices and advocating a VEGAN and plant-based life-style, PETA lobbies governments, corporations, and public and private laboratories to cease oppression and adopt humane practices consistent with “the right to live, the right to multiply, the right to freedom.” In truth, these rights endow all life, and are not ours to deny. “The Earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof.”
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Linda Thompson is a lifelong Christian who grew up on a ranch and has a special relationship with the land. She is a member of the green team at First Baptist Church, Austin, TX., and a career librarian. These pieces were originally written for the First Baptist newsletter, April 2022.. See more of her writings here.
