Polluting The Nottoway Indians

Canada, like so many other countries in the world continues to deal with many different environmental resource issues. Throughout our history, one of the issues affecting our country has been the treatment of our First Nations people. For the purpose of this paper, the focus will be on the safe water crisis facing Canada’s First Nations communities. The Oxford Dictionary (2016) defines a crisis as a time of great difficulty or danger. The research included will help clarify the reality of the Canada’s First Nations safe water crisis. Despite some improvements over the past few decades, many of our First Nation citizens still lack access to safe and clean water. Our reserves have water that is contaminated, difficult to access or toxic because of outdated and faulty treatment systems. (Klasing, 2016) This safe water crisis is in need of immediate attention. It is Canada’s responsibility to provide the right to clean and safe water for all of its citizens.

Before reading Changes in the Land by William Cronon, I was never interested in the history and the transformation of our land but after reading this book, it helped me realize the deeper meaning of how we, the people of the world, has the power to change the formation of land. I agree with the book’s conclusion because Cronon provided me with informative and persuasive text evidence. In the text book it’s quoted, “But native peoples in the precontact Americans transformed their world on grand scales as well” (Innovations and limitations 11). This quote compares to the quote in book, “…Natives in New England,” he wrote, “They in close noe Land, neither have any settled habitation, nor any tame Cattle to improve the Land by, and soe have noe other but a Naturall Right to those Countries” (Cronon 56). These two quotes prove that the Natives wanted to improve the land while the Europeans wanted to focus on changing the land and their lifestyle. I didn’t seem to detect any bias from the author because he seems to maintain the integrity of the historical events that led to the profound ecological changes in the environment. His evidence includes personal accounts of travelers and early naturalists, legal records, ancient stands of timber, and mere microscopic changes. He did plenty of research of the topic and he made sure to give credit to the people who provided him with logical information. William Cronon studies American environmental history and the history of the American West. Cronon's research seeks to understand the history of human interactions with the natural world: how we depend on the ecosystems around us to sustain our material lives, how we modify the landscapes in which we live and work, and how our ideas of nature shape our relationships with the world around us. His first book, Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England (1983), was a

Doing so will help citizens to expand their conceptions of the land and begin to appreciate it’s many resources. Which is equally significant when one considers the recent climate changes and negative effects of human pollution of the earth. Some opponents argue that intrusions of sacred Native American land and that harnessing natural resources from said land is irrelevant in today’s day and age. But it must be argued that this assertion is false and that current events such as the recent standoff at Standing Rock Reservation over crude oil pipelines in North Dakota have proven that this issue is still alive and well in American society.

There were two world altering centers of invention: the Middle East and central Mexico. All the inventions in the Middle East traveled all over Africa and Eurasia but the Americas had to do everything on their own. The America’s excelled mostly in agriculture and nearly half the grown today were developed in America. The Indians were very good at exploiting the land. Instead of just taking the land how it was they would shape it to what the needed primarily by burning it. When the Indians were gone all the areas they had made into savannahs became forest. A growing number of researchers believe that Indians had a large impact on the environment around them especially the jungle. Many people believe that the Amazon rainforest is an area totally untouched by man when in fact it is believed to have been either directly or indirectly created by human. Indians were also the keystone species of their environment and when they were gone it caused a huge shift in the ecological system. The population of many animals exploded,

Mancelona, a small resort town in Antrim county Michigan, is currently experiencing the effects of one of the largest toxic plumes in the great lakes state. The toxin Trichloroethylene (TCE), a solvent used to degrease metal parts, was discovered in the local water supply fifteen years ago. The manufacturer, Mt. Clemens Metal Parts, disposed of the waste after use by dumping it into the ground out back behind the plant where it leached into the ground to the water table. This uninformed method of disposal had been going on for decades. The plume is now six miles long by one mile wide in parts and is estimated to migrate 300-400 feet per year. Many residents are concerned and fear little is being done to rectify the damage and clean it up. TCE

Article: Several thousand snow geese have died after a snowstorm forced large flocks to take refuge in the toxic waters of an old open pit mine in Butte, Montana. Now BP-ARCO and Montana Resources, who are responsible for the toxic Pit, face fines. But a bigger question remains: How do you clean up a toxic mess like this, and why hasn’t the EPA forced action?

Cleveland and other cities Factories dumped pollutants into the lake and the waterways and fertilizer and pesticides from agricultural runoff without much government oversight. Waste from city

The Article "Polluting pumkins: There's more to fear than witches and goblins" was written to inform the reader of the possible negative effects that come from rotting pumpkins. As per tradition, thousands of pumpkins were carved into jack-o'-lanterns as a common way to celebrate the Halloween holiday. Resent studies have shown that the plethora pumpkins are actually contributing to global warning and the author of the article shows slight bias towads the side off the study. For those who are skeptical towards the existance of global warning their veiws really didn't show through in the editorial. At the end of the article, the author gives the reader another option instead of just letting the pumpkins rot in landfills, releasing the believed

“The more clouds in the sky, the more people will die”, are the words of a young child in Sarnia, Ontario. The first thing you notice about Sarnia is the smell of rotten eggs, but it is not rotten eggs you are smelling. That would be all the chemicals that are polluting the air from all the industries that have been developed. The air pollution has been described as the the worst air in Canada. Aamjiwnaang is a first nation tribe that is located in Sarnia, Ontario. Their territorial grounds is near a Chemical Valley that is made up of forty percent of Canada’s industries. There is about “sixty oil refineries and industrial strips that over see the St. Clair River”. These industries have severely impacted the environment by releasing toxic fumes into the environment resulting with an impact on the health and habitat and wildlife.

When we look at the fish along the Strait we seem to see the same results. In a study done on Toxic Contaminants in Dungeness Crab (2014), they found mercury and PCB’s or Polychlorinated Biphenyls in multiple different species of fish, two of the species being Chinook and Coho, which is consumed by community’s along the Sound (Carey, Niewolny, Lanksbury & West). PCB’s were used for electrical equipment in the past. The manufacturing of PCB’s was stopped in 1977. However, there is evidence that shows PCB builds up in the environment ("PCBs"). This shows the impact waste can have decades after it has been mitigated, and why it is important to stop any further damage.

American history is in a process of continuous change when it comes to ideas, infrastructure, and of course, land. While many argue against the idea of the detrimental effects environmental destruction, numerous events in history have known to show otherwise such as in the Columbian Exchange, the Industrial Revolution, and Westward migration.

Additionally, Royal gives clarification for Native Americans’ positive stereotypes. He explains, “ But this is far from modern concepts of ecology. Native Americans in fact overhunted deer and beaver even before the arrival of the white man, and did not seriously try to preserve the resources in the vicinity of their villages. As a result, the typical woodland village, having exhausted local soil and game, had to move on average every eight to 10 years” (Royal 47). Although the Native Americans did not destroy the environment like Europeans on such a large scale, they are not trying to protect the environment either. This opposes the stereotypes that Native Americans are model ecologists. Royal also examines the inhumane sides of Native American tribes. Royal reveals, “The

John Bowlby (1907 – 1990) was a British psychologist most known for his work developing Attachment Theory. Bowlby initially graduated in 1928 at age 21 from Trinity College at Cambridge going on to gain various postgraduate degrees. Bowlby spent most of his early career working with children at various institutes such as the London Child Guidance Clinic where he worked as a psychiatrist. It was not until 1946 that the beginnings of his theory were laid down when he joined the Tavistock Insititue, researching the effects on young children when separated from primary caregivers (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2016). Bowlby’s work was gradual with his theory slowly developed with three main papers published in 1958, 1960 and 1963 that outlined his Attachment Theory (Holmes, 1993).

Humans are the largest influence on environmental changes, for better and worse. Multiple viewpoints exist on how environmental issues should be treated. The European colonialists approached land as a means of property and entitlement and in contrast, Native Americans saw the land as an equal and free of ownership; both of these ideals are a result of their different views of culture and nature.

The Earth is very, very important. The land that connects to the Earth is also important. The land is our life so we should take care of our land. This is why we have this amazing bond with the land that we are living on. Every person on Earth shares the responsibility to do as much as they can to preserve the planet’s finite natural resources today and for future generations.