Abstract:
When we talk about indigenous cultural practices we are in fact talking about responsibilities that have evolved into
unwritten tribal laws over millennia. These responsibilities and laws are directly tied to nature and is a product of the slow
integration of cultures within their environment and the ecosystems. Thus, the environment is not a place of divisions but
rather a place of relations, a place where cultural diversity and bio-diversity are not separate but in fact need each other. The
most important aspects of cultural bio-diversity are those that integrate people, (the human relationship), with the ecosystems
found within their environment. Some indigenous practices had cultural importance at the time they were being practiced,
(arranged marriages, etc), but most indigenous practices, such as fishing, hunting and gathering have a much deeper
ecological management role. These indigenous practices maintained the balance within nature, the environment and the
ecosystems. I am not talking about the morality of the cultural practice, but rather the cultural practice of responsibility to
bio-diversity. It is from this perspective that we begin to realize that the realm of cultural diversity and bio-diversity are not
separate from the environment but rather connected through our relationships with the ecosystems. This is cultural biodiversity;
a practice which has been developed and nurtured over millennia; in the Nuu-chah-nulth language “Hishuk
Tsawalk”, everything is one, everything is connected.
In today’s world, laws have been created around “the human relationship aspect”. Unfortunately, these laws have established
a system that leaves humans outside of nature or makes us believe that we are dominant over the environment or a cancer on
this earth. We have even created a set of consequences for any broken human relations within this system: fines, prisons,
institutions, etc. On the other hand, indigenous peoples have lived within the “law of nature”. It is within this boundary that
our indigenous systems of justice, tribal laws, societies and cultural practices developed and have turned into the indigenous
rights of today.
