SOLUTION: FIU Modern American Cultures and Pre Columbian Societies Paper

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Preservation of Nature

Student’s Name
Institution
Date

PRESERVATION OF NATURE
Introduction
Nature conservation measures in modern America today differ a
lot from the pre-Columbian approaches. This paper aims to compare
the two scenarios and come up with insights from the two cultures. The
issue carries importance in creating awareness on ways of interacting
with nature in a win-win situation. The natives believed that taking
care of nature was the best survival policy. They had cultures and
belief systems that guided them on the best ways to interact with the
environment. The issues in this paper can be used in the creation of
ways of interacting with the environment sustainably.
Methods
The research involved interviewing experts on pre-Columbian
cultures and environmental preservation. Questionnaires were also sent
to various individuals on their views regarding the two approaches. I
also analysed class work materials to gain insights on nature
preservation activities. Historical documents served as the main source
of information for this work. Environmental organization’s websites
were also used to come up with the following information. Earlier
research articles were also used as sources of information. Books on
environmental and cultures of the native people were also used. Other
people and organisation’s research findings also informed this work.
Research articles were searched through google scholar.
Results
Environmental conservation measures during the pre-Columbian
era usually depended on their culture and belief system. Their ways
we’re different from the modern American perspective (Adamson et al.,
2018). Their modes of survival also influenced how they interacted
with the environment. Unlike in modern America, pre-Columbians
believed that almost everything in the environment, including plants,
animals should be conserved. They also believed that inanimate objects
like rocks and shells had spiritual influence. As a result, those who
gathered, hunted animals or farmed, were required to obey certain laws
and conduct special rituals to show reverence and respect to their
spiritual world. Cherokee hunters who killed deer in the Georgia and
Carolina uplands, for example, begged the creatures to forgive them
(Demora, 2018). Indian men in many cultures never consumed the first
game animal they captured because they assumed the animal’s kin
would become enraged and refuse to be killed. The Green Corn
Ceremony, which was associated with the maturation of maize, was
one of the most well-known rituals (Adamson et al., 2018). To honor
the grain providers and launch the new year with a clean body and soul,
southern Indians danced and fasted. They also washed their homes,
created new fires, and even forgave neighbors’ who transgressed them.
Those in the South practised seasonal agriculture, adjusting their
diets and gathering strategies to adapt to changing seasons. Indians in
Florida and everywhere else along the coastal plain depended on fish
caught with nets, spears, or hooks and lines. They did this when large
runs of shawd, herring and mullets flooded the rivers from the ocean
(Silver, 2008). The natives ate more deer, bear, and other game

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PRESERVATION OF NATURE
animals in the autumn and winter. Since they needed a large number of
game animals, Indians also lit ground fires in forests.
They did this in an attempt to establish brushy edge environments
and open areas that attracted wild animals. The open areas hence
served as good hunting grounds. The fire was also used by the
indigenous people to scare deer and other game into areas where they
could be conveniently dispatched. Southern Indians created a
sophisticated agricultural system primarily centered on just three crops
(Silver, 2008). Beans, corn, and squash were the major crops due to the
abundance of rainfall and very long seasons. Natives used stone axes
and fire to clear farmland.
Then, in the hills mostly beneath the dead and dying trees, native
farmers planted corn, beans, and squash together. According to all
accounts, the three crops thrived in such circumstances. Cornstalks
served as “poles” for the beans to climb, and broad-leaved squash
p…