An Analysis of the Relationship

between Traditional and Modern

Societies

Tess Osborne 170001880

Introduction to Human Ecology Section 08

 In Introduction to Human Ecology we study the interactions and interrelationships

between man and the environment (McCay 5). In the first section of this semester, we mostly

analyzed the interactions between traditional and modern societies. After discussing multiple

societies we found a trend: traditional and modern societies have different relationships with the

environment, but when they come into contact with one another there is a tendency for

traditional societies to be forced, in at least some aspects, to adapt to the ways of modern society.

The indigenous societies that I will mainly be discussing are the Cree, the New England Native

Americans, and the Shark Callers of Kontu, while the modern societies will be those that both

share Western ideologies and were developed enough to be active members in the global market.

First I would like to discuss and analyze the societies of these three indigenous groups

before they interacted with modern societies. In general, these societies held very unique,

structured rituals that were based upon a reverence of nature. The societies of the Cree and the

New England Native Americans were different but shared many general beliefs. They were both

largely mobile societies, always moving to new areas once they had farmed or hunted for a span

of time to allow the land to replenish. Their concept of property was very different from how

many of us would perceive it today. When property was distributed by the tribe leaders, it was

not the land itself that was given out but rather what was on the land. The Old World concept of

building fences and privatizing land did not fit at all with the tenets of mobility and adaptability

in Native American society. They also held a deep respect for nature, although the specific

rituals to show that respect were dependent on the geographical locations of the tribe. For

example, the Cree live in far north areas of North America, and so they had a great reverence of

woodland animals such as moose, beavers, and especially bears. Southern New England Native
Americans, however, were farmers and so thus valued their agriculture more than the Cree would

have.

The traditional Papua New Guinean society of the Shark-Callers of Kontu also held a

powerful predator in high esteem, although in their case it was the shark. A majority of their

society surrounded the ritual of shark hunting. It was believed that only a chosen group of men

had the magic needed to hunt sharks and they would use various intuitive tools to attract and then

club the sharks to death. If a man brought home a shark successfully, there was a great feast that

contained many highly-structured and specific rituals. For example, it was perceived as

extremely bad luck if an animal defecated on the sand that a dead shark lies on, and there were

many ceremonies that needed to take place or else the spirits would be angry and bestow bad

luck upon the people (The Shark Callers of Kontu).

There is the perception that these indigenous societies had no impact whatsoever on their

environment, which is not true at all. They all impacted the local animal populations and had

various impacts on the local fauna. For example, the New England Native Americans would burn

the forest undergrowth to facilitate hunting, but as a result would also reduce the population of

parasitic fungi and pests-- completely altering the forest ecosystem (Cronon 51). The general

populations of these native societies were relatively small, however, and their belief systems

restricted their use of the land, so while these societies did have an impact it was relatively small

when compared to that of modern societies.

Modern Western society had an incredibly different perception of land than that of the

previously described indigenous societies. They perceived the ownership of land as being

permanent and stationary. One owned the right to his land and thus controlled every aspect of it

(Cronon 76). Western society was more developmentalist which resulted in a necessity to find
new land because they would the work land they had until it was infertile and barren. This was

one of the major reasons why the colonists emigrated from England to the New England.

A defining ideology in modern Western societies was ethnocentrism. According to

Dictionary.com, ethnocentrism is the belief in the inherent superiority of ones own ethnic

group and culture (Ethnocentrism). Granted, the indigenous societies were slightly

ethnocentric as well, but never to the extent that they tried to change other societies ways.

Modern societies, largely due to the missionary aspect of Christianity, often not only regarded

native societies as inferior but also saw it as their duty to teach them their proper way of life

(Tuan 72).

The New England colonists never recognized the Native American way of life as

legitimate and thus never respected their sovereignty. Because the Native Americans did not use

their land to the fullest (Cronon 77) as the Europeans would have, the colonists believed it was

their right to take the land. Christianity was also used as a reason for conquering other societies.

Not only did it result in their perception of Native Americans as savages, but when the Native

Americans began to die from diseases such as smallpox that were introduced by the Europeans,

the Europeans saw this as God supporting their cause from the heavens (Cronon, 86).

When modern societies came into contact with traditional societies, the traditional

societies usually had to adapt to the modern. Ethnocentrism played a large part in this tendency

because often modern societies perceived the indigenous as being inferior and thus took it upon

themselves to change them. Often they would succeed to an extent because they had superior

weaponry and materials, and in the case of the New England colonists they also brought with

them many contagious diseases that wiped out the Native American population. Specifically, the

Cree were forced to consent to some of the modern ways of life, but they have also done their
best to keep their traditional culture alive. For example, in 1975 they conceded to the

construction of a hydroelectric plant on their land, which reduced the size and quality of their

hunting ground, because they recognized that they not only needed the money but they also

needed to consent to some propositions if they wanted their opinions to be considered legitimate

(Krauss 27). Simultaneously, however. they have structured their school systems to only teach in

their traditional language for childrens first three years and some families take their children out

of school for a period of time to teach them how to live off of the land as their ancestors had

(Cree Hunters of Mistassini). It is important to recognize, though, that they were largely able to

do this because the Canadian government recognized their sovereignty. The same cannot be said

of the New England Native Americans and the Shark Callers. The Native American population

and culture was so decimated by disease that by the time they had joined forces against the

imperialistic Europeans, it was too late. The intense farming practices of the colonists completely

altered the New England ecosystem, reducing the available resources for the Native Americans.

They had no choice but to enter the world markets such as the fur trade and struggle to not only

survive but maintain their culture. In Kontu, Christianity was introduced to island, which

contradicted the traditional religion in Kontu. The children became more fascinated with the

Western world (in school they learned English and constantly desired Western goods) and less

interested in their traditional culture-- resulting in it largely dying out (The Shark Callers of

Kontu).

The transition of traditional societies in the modern world was generally detrimental for

the indigenous societies because it resulted in a loss of the traditional culture. Suddenly these

societies found themselves forced to exist in a world they could not understand and thus was

very difficult to adapt to-- particularly when their sovereignty and way of life were not respected.
Many of these societies were maladapted to the modern economic world and to the societal

standards. Often today there exists problems with depression, alcoholism, and lack of education

in these societies (Reynolds 30).

It is not necessarily bad when two societies come into contact, as long as the cultural

diffusion is mutually beneficial. Initially both the New England Native Americans and the

colonists benefited from each others presence; Native Americans got weapons while colonists

learned how to survive. But cultural diffusion can become problematic when one society

attempts to control another. Although I only focused on these indigenous groups, this trend of

forced adaptation has occurred in many other instances as well. For example, the documentary

Survival in the High North described how in the 1970s the environmental organization

Greenpeace spread fake video footage depicting traditional northern hunters as cruel savages,

and thus manipulated the general public's pre-existing ethnocentric biases. As a result, many

laws restricted the indigenous peoples hunting tradition and disregarded the importance of

hunting in their society (Survival of the High North). While I fully support cultural diffusion, I

believe it is important to be aware of the ethnocentric, imperialistic tendencies of modern

societies so that we do not continue to eliminate sacred traditional practices.

 Bibliography

Cronon, William. Changes in the Land. Hill and Wang, 1983.

Cree Hunters of Mistassini. Directed by Tony Ianzelo and Boyce Richardson, 1974.

"Ethnocentrism." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2017.

Krauss, Clifford. Will the Flood Wash Away the Crees Birthright? Introduction to Human

Ecology. Pp. 26-27.

McCay, Bonnie. What is Human Ecology? Introduction to Human Ecology. Pp. 5-13.

Reynolds, Brad. Athapaskans Along the Yukon. Introduction to Human Ecology. Pp. 28-35.

The Shark Callers of Kontu. Directed by Dennis ORourke, 1982.

Survival of the High North. Directed by Edda Sverrisdttir and Magns Gumundsson, 1989.

Tuan, Yi-Fu. Our Treatment of the Environment in Ideal and Actuality. Introduction to Human

Ecology. Pp. 71-76.