Page 206 - Encyclopedia Of World History

556 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

likelihood and impact of disease. For example, the Chero- The European Tradition
kee assumed that disrespectful treatment of killed deer and the Natural World
could lead to crippling illness. Similarly, the Anishnabe The invading European tradition, derived primarily from
(Chippewa, Ojibway) peoples apparently developed the English and Scots cultures, had a very different relation-
Mediwiwin healing society and related ceremonies in ship with the natural world, especially as a result of the
response to diseases they associated with wildlife, but the Renaissance and the “rationalist” tradition, which worked
diseases were more likely the results of pre-Columbian to separate itself from any association with the natural
contact with Europeans. world, except as a source of resources for exploitation.
Not only humans suffered as a result of the introduc- Protestant Christian sects that appeared in western
tion of these diseases. Many natural populations of ani- Europe toward the end of the Renaissance (during the
mals, including deer, caribou, moose, bison, and beaver, Reformation) developed philosophical traditions that
on which indigenous peoples depended as sources of offered no encouragement for investigation into the ways
food and clothing, also experienced massive die-offs of God’s creatures. God had given humans “dominion”
from west of Hudson’s Bay to the Rocky Mountains dur- over nonhumans, providing sufficient justification for
ing the latter part of the eighteenth century.These deaths any action regarding the natural world.
probably resulted from disease introduced by Europeans Europeans regarded mountainous country as unpleas-
through their domestic animals. It is worth noting that ant and dangerous, and forests were considered to be
these die-offs were primarily among ungulate popula- even worse.That these places were wild, hence untamed,
tions, which would have been most susceptible to the was sufficient to trigger terror and hostility in Western
ungulate-borne contagious diseases characteristic of Europeans.The “wild” (natural world) was so unreason-
Europe and Asia. New World carnivores, such as wolves ably fearsome that encroachment of wild creatures into
and bears, appeared relatively unaffected by these ill- the human domain was highly alarming.A bee flying into
nesses but suffered as a result of loss of their ungulate a cottage or a bird rapping at the window was enough to
food supplies. frighten people.The English House of Commons rejected
In addition to the impact of disease,additional damage a bill in 1604 because a jackdaw flew through the cham-
was inflicted upon natural populations of animals when ber during the speech of its sponsor.
indigenous people began to destroy animal populations This difference in response to the nonhuman (natural)
because of apparent antipathy toward animals, who were world continues to manifest itself in contemporary
assumed to have broken their covenants with humans by responses to animal-borne disease in the present day.
infecting them with disease.Thus,one ironic consequence These responses are often extreme in comparison with
of the introduction of nonhuman-derived diseases was the the actual threat posed. The most egregious response in
destruction of cultural traditions based on respect for non- recent years has been the slaughter of hundreds of thou-
humans. Most, if not all, indigenous cultures of North sands of farm animals, particularly in the British Isles, in
America had philosophical traditions as a part of which response to minor outbreaks of hoof and mouth disease
nonhumans were regarded as creator spirits, and the and the sporadic and highly unusual occurrence of so-
concept of relatedness was based upon ecological rela- called mad cow disease.
tionships. It has been argued that the devastating impact In the case of hoof and mouth disease, the threat is
of introduced disease on these cultures caused them to almost exclusively economic.There is little evidence that
turn on their nonhuman relatives, leading some tribes to hoof and mouth disease represents any serious threat to
be willing to wipe out local populations of beaver, deer, human health. Still the economic threat is deemed suffi-
bison, and wolves in order to trade furs for European cient to destroy hundreds of thousands of animals,
trade goods and metal. mostly because the possibility exists that they may have