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4.2.1: Indigenist Ethics and Land Ethic

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    350661
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    Many Indigenous communities had long held such land ethic worldviews, as noted in the first chapter of this book. But Kyle Powys Whyte (Patawatomi) argues that we acknowledge "differences between Leopoldian and Indigenist ethics" for three specific reasons (2). Whyte notes the similarities in the ethics but asserts that 1) "Leopold’s own work does not provide a model of environmental stewardship that many Indigenous peoples would identify with or find useful"; 2) "Leopold’s history of ethics is based on a narrative the plot of which goes in the opposite direction of the narratives many Indigenous peoples would provide of their ethics"; and 3) "to prioritize Leopold as the interpreter and translator of Indigenous ethics" can "grant unsubstantiated and even offensive privilege to Leopold in relation to Indigenous ethics" (2). Putting Indigenist ethics into conversation with Leopold's land ethic enables broader consideration of land, the real and the conceptualized, in environmental studies.

    Indigenist Ethics and Leopold's "Land Ethic"

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    4.2.1: Indigenist Ethics and Land Ethic is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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