How does the “social relation’ to the land benefit the peoples of a region? Why is this important not only for the people but the land itself? (my hypothesis)

The ‘social relation’ of the People of a specific region is symbiotic. The People see the Land and its inhabitants as relations, cousins, if you will, therefore caring for the land is like caring for Family. This benefits the land in the preservation of ecosystems and the recognition that humans leave a footprint that must be gentle, or the livelihood of BOTH parties is at risk. (Thesis)

This is evident in Delicia Dagua’s story about the song of the peccaries. She recounts the teaching of her ‘Uncle Elias Andi’, who told her when there was no meat to be found and the animals had gone, to sing this song. When he died, the forest went silent. “Even the Toucans were silent” (4:49).

Delicia decides to try singing the song to bring the animals back, and her family and tribe laugh at her. But they make the ayahuasca and she proceeds to drink it and sing the song. The next morning, her brother went to fish and they heard a shot, and were surprised when he returned with a fat peccary.

However, that night as she dreamt, Delicia was admonished by her Uncle and another compadre who had died. They told her the people there were only going to sell them for money, and didn’t care about the animals, so they ”sent them away to the west”, but her song had turned them back to the east.
The spirits had led the animals away so the enemies could not get them. (Thus upsetting the balance of the forest). Since then, she had not returned or sang that song.

In Black Elk’s time, the same was believed of the Buffalo. The Buffalo represented more than food, but everything that was required, even shelter. Thus, the Buffalo was “called” by the Council and the leader by using the smoke of the red willow. Then scouts were sent to find the herds. This prayer and ceremony was given to them by a Sacred Woman who came to the people and gave them the pipe to remember their connection to all that lives.

“And as she sang, there came from her mouth a white cloud that was good to smell. Then she
gave something to the chief, and it was a pipe with a bison calf carved on one side to mean the
earth that bears and feeds us, and with twelve eagle feathers hanging from the stem to mean the
sky and the twelve moons, and these were tied with a grass that never breaks. "Behold!" she said.
"With this you shall multiply and be a good nation. Nothing but good shall come from it. Only
the hands of the good shall take care of it…” (Black Elk Speaks, "Offering the Pipe," Pp.4)

Both tribes see the inherent relativity between the animals and their livelihood, and the need for balance. They understand that those who would exploit the land without proper honor or respect are “bad” and mean harm to the world as we need its blessings and fruitfulness for our survival. These lessons are interwoven into so many stories and actions that the Indigenous peoples actively partake in. There is no separation. These are also examples of the #2 commonality in Native Religions – that remembering the land, visiting the land, and treating it as a “living relative” is the only way for the Land to endure….and thus for the people to endure as well.

Anthropology of Religion was my favorite class.