mksenyak’s Recent Comments

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  traditional hunting

  As a white man I cannot tell you what it's like to grow up Inuit, or in a race of marginalized people continually pushed to the edge by people who "know better." I can tell you that having spoken with some native peoples, and knowing some of the deep-rooted traditions, hunting of certain animals cannot easily be ceased.

  It's easy for some of us to ask: "Why don't they stop hunting polar bears if they're endangered?" Many native cultures are centered around hunting large mammals, where the life is respected and the death is a sacrifice in the greater circle of life. Just like how certain native peoples were "given" by white folks the rights to whale in certain spots through treaties, because of their tradition and culture, and now due to commercial whaling and excess by other folks, the native culture of sustainable whaling is being attacked. If native peoples are hunting polar bears in sustainable ways, the rest of us need to look elsewhere and start regulating our actions that are destroying habitat, through climate change and drilling.

  Vegetarianism/veganism hasn't really been mentioned in this conversation, but I feel like it might be the underlying voice of some, so I just wanted to say, in this case, as with others, it should not be the driving force for getting native peoples to stop hunting. The choice to not eat non-human animals is a privilege of people that are mostly: white, middle/upper-class and living in westernized regions. The majority of the world does not have that option of privilege. Life demands too much more.

  We are all animals, and animals eating other animals is natural life at its most basic. When it's done ceremonious and with respect, like by sustainable native practices, it's because of the human conscious. It does still exist.

  Here's an interesting link I found on the original issue:
  http://www.arcticpeoples.org/2008/01/17/polar-bears-are-t ...
  On Polar bears threatened, but drilling in their habitat still OK, says Interior posted 1 year, 6 months ago 13 Responses

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  Gov't: The tool of big business

  The fact that a firm is being hired to defend those products from regulatory action is just another jarring example of how dire our situation really is this day and age. Respecting life as sacred is not something the powers that be understand.On Congress investigating industry's role in bisphenol-A health studies posted 1 year, 6 months ago 3 Responses