Chapter 7- Natural Resources- Stephanie Gronewold

A quote stated by Jimmy Jackson an ojibwe spiritual leader says " Plants,animals, grasses, and flowers don't need us but we need them." To me this is true because we need all of these things to survive. While they do not need us in order to survive. In the chapter it states that Native Americans have always been linked with Nature and the world around them. The Native American people used the land to ensure their long term survival focusing on more than one crop at a time. To me this seems like a pretty smart idea because what if one of these crops did not make it then they would always have another one just in case.
1971 U.S. District Court decision in a case brought up by Leech Lake Reservation upheld tribal members rights to hunt and fish throughout their reservation without state interference, and with this many of the tribal communities are exerting control over the hunting and fishing rights on their reservation. Why if the land belongs to the Native Americans did the United States government think they had a right to enforce laws on the land? In the 1837 treaty it included lands in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The portion of land involved with the treaty in Minnesota was just over three million acres. Twelve ojibwe bands signed the treaty getting their rights to hunting, fishing and gathering in these areas . A part of the treaty gives the Native Americans the right to spear and net fish and the right to regulate their own resources without state interference. Why if we had this treaties did it take us so long to keep our end of the bargain?
To me the fact that during the 1970's the Native American reservations were left without funding is something very disturbing because of all the things that the United States government promised the Native Americans, they were unwilling to help. Basically leaving the Native American people to fend for themselves. So by 1993 there were many serious environmental problems on the reservations. To me the fact that the government just left the Native American people alone before they knew that different things would have a dramatic effect on the land.
When the chapter states that the underlying issue is sovereignty the right to make their own decisions on how to protect their land this to me is so true because the Native American people and the United States government have been fighting about this for so long. After being ignored for so long the Native American reservations are finally getting the help they need. What would Native Americans of the past think of what we are doing to the land today? Would they be upset that we are wasting the land, not using it for our survival leaving it to rot because we as people are to lazy to use it. I really like the way that this chapter ends it says " We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we rent it from our children."- A Native American leader said this.