As humans unveil new technology everyday, there are benefits and harmful
aspects to the environment. It is evident; however, that the general trend in technological
advances, the environment experiences the negative externality. Notwithstanding,
alongside the harm are invaluable advantages that have shifted the human experience
away from simple day to day subsidence and survival. (Of course blunt survival tactics
appear where people are born into poverty or a government oppresses them into such a
state.) Nevertheless, fortunate human across the globe lack the necessity to survive and
are free of Darwinian natural selection. We (humans in the category described previously)
amiably consider our way of life as the epitome of civilization, and any deviation away is
sub par and primitive. These definitions themselves, however, are more ambiguous than
we would like to think.
12,000 years ago, human populations had migrated into the majority of the
inhabitable regions of the globe from Africa to Australia and the Americas.1 These
peoples organized into small factions and adapted to a modest lifestyle of hunting and
gathering. The essence of hunting and gathering economies is to exploit many resources
lightly rather than to depend heavily on only a few. This method of substance is
primitive by our modern standards, yet it is compelling that some of these cultures
thrived and enjoyed security. They never feared starvation.2 Historian Clive Pointing
observed that hunting and gathering “was without doubt the most successful and flexible
way of life adopted by humans and the one that caused the least damage to natural
ecosystems.”3
Since people all across the globe used hunting and gathering to survive, different
models appeared in various geographical regions due to local resources. Two strong
hunter gather communities were the ancient native peoples of the Pacific Northwest and
the contemporary various Bushmen ethnic groups of South-West Africa. They both have
worked in unison with their environment; scholars argue that there is “closeness of fit
1
http://www.wsu.edu/gened/learn-modules/top_agrev/3-Hunting-and-Gathering/hunt-gathering1.html
Clive Ponting, A Green History of the World. Pg. 20
3
ibid. Pg. 18
2
between hunting and gathering peoples and their environments.”4 Both of these models
provided the populations with sufficient food while remaining in unity with the
environment. Hunting and gathering is in fact a civilized and sustainable method of
living and interaction between humans and the natural environment.
The Kalahari Desert is home to a diverse population of Bushmen, most notably
the !Kung. They live from day to day by harnessing the environment’s flows of energy,
opportunistically taking advantage of the living systems which surround them at any
given time.5 They organize in a small, personal world defined by the band, which
seldom consists of more than 250 people. There are over 84 species of edible plants on
which 23 in addition to hunting 17 of 54 comestible animals.6 They expend small
amounts of time foraging and hunting, on the average two and a half days a week.7 Their
culture lacks the sense of ownership; therefore the members lack adequate incentive for
working harder and longer than others. The !Kung in fact have a “material plenty”. Tools
are easy to make and are composed of natural objects which are abundant; there is no
need for accumulation.8 Their stable food is mongongo nut, that grows on a droughtresistant tree, is highly nutritious and stores well for over a year.9 One Bushman
inquired, “Why should we plant when there are so many mongongo nuts in the world?”
Nature has rewarded the !Kung with this philosophy due to abundance.
Western, modern cultures look down upon the !Kung as savage and uncivilized.
Au contraire, they have a rich culture that provides adaquate food for the group while
leaving large amounts of lesure time. In this leasure time, they partake in many culrual
practices to give meaning to their lives inbetween hunting and foreging expeditions. It
has already been noted that the !Kung do not accumulate materials. Instead, their culture
relies upon knowledge which is passed down as well as upon intelligence which is
4
Coon, Carlton. 1971. The Hunting Peoples. Pg. 388 Boston: Little, Brown, and Company.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%21Kung_people
6
Clive Ponting, A Green History of the World. Pg. 20
7
ibid, pg. 21
8
Sahlins, Marshall. 2000. Culture in Practice. Part I Chapter III: “The Original Affluent Society”. Pg 95
9
Clive Ponting, A Green History of the World. Pg. 20
5
collected and constantly updated.10 They live in an egalitarian society where the group
always benefits over the indivudial. Their religious beliefs exist in animalistic gods and
goddesses, it is perhaps for this reason that they are in profound unity with their
evnironments and expert animal trackets. This society, despite being “obsolete” huntergathers, provides its members with an adaquate life by starndards of nourishment,
leaisure and culture.
The abundant Pacific North-West Coast was once home to another hunter-gather
culture. Pointing noted, “Perhaps most extraordinary development thought took place on
the north-west Pacific.”11 The Haida people boasted a highly developed culture by
modern standards while hunting and gathering. The marine environment provided
bountiful resources of seal, sea lions and otters, and in particular the salmon that returned
to rivers to spawn.12 This large amount of food resulted in more effort for storing and
keeping supplies rather than acquiring and hunting. . In aims to maintain food for the
winters, they would engage in smoking meats and rendering fats to oil during the summer
months. In addition, they carefully exploited the rich redwood forest, constructing large
canoes for fishing and hunting. They meticulously used each part of the animals that they
consumed, from tools to hides and blubber. This could be linked to their cultural beliefs
(which are addressed in the following paragraph).13
The environment provided the peoples of this area with a large abundance of food,
due to this environmental condition, the people adopted many advanced cultural practices.
These are prime examples of a natural environment shaping an early people’s culture.
This cultural practice of storing food due to the environment created an idea of property
within the group. Specialization of labor due to this abundance ensued. With this, trade,
bartering and even money appeared. Their social structure proved to be sophisticated
with villages, chiefs and tradesmen working different professions. Naturally where there
is a surplus food, cultures develop arts, the peoples of the Pacific North-West followed
10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%21Kung_people
Clive Ponting, A Green History of the World. Pg. 31
12
ibid
13
http://www.esd.k12.ca.us/Matsumoto/TM30/history/na/nw/nw.html
11
this constructing large, artistic totem poles to honor their ancestor whom they viewed
with animalistic traits. Common symbols were the bear and salmon that they held
sacred.14 This culture proved to be the most intricate society because this level of social
and cultural organization is very rare in nonagricultural societies. The environment,
providing the people with immense amounts of natural resources, allowed the culture,
arts, and society to flourish into exceptional standards.
These two cultures exemplified the hunter-gather lifestyle in two different models.
Compared to standards of living in many impoverished parts of the world today, these
cultures prevail as better means of subsistence for a group. In retrospect, it may be
simple for modern society to deem their life inferior and primitive, yet they have
established many cultural traits that prove to be advanced. Our lifestyle appears the one
that we need to question. How sustainable is our existence today? The !Kung have lived
and co-habited with their environment for thousands of years counting and the cultures of
the Pacific North-West prevailed until arrival of Europeans. The modern everyday life
seems to place us further and further from the environment in unsustainable conditions.
This ancient lifestyle of hunting and gathering lacks the characteristics of an uncivilized,
brutish existence; oppositely it proved sustainable and sufficient for groups around the
globe.
14
http://www.esd.k12.ca.us/Matsumoto/TM30/history/na/nw/nw.html Shortcut to aim.lnk