A Side Note-Wolves in Alaska- How Do Animals and People Co -Exist if We Both Need to Eat?

State of Alaska / ADF&G / Division of Wildlife Consdervation
http://www.wolfsongalaska.org/wolves_bears_Mcgrath.htm

It seems that many Alaskans rely on moose meat to survive. There are no grocery stores near them. It is hard for most Americans to understand that Alaska still has wild places where there are no malls. Being a hunter for some is the way to survive. McCain's VP pick of Sarah Palin, a hunter and proponent of the arial shooting of wolves, made me look at the larger picture of what hunting means to many Alaskans. I also think of it in the context of eating meat vs. vegetarianism and animal cruelty.

I was surprised to hear that Buddhists eat yak in Tibet. I thought Buddhists were vegetarians. I heard a Buddhist lama say it is for survival. In the mountainous regions of Tibet fruit and vegetables don't grow. We all need to eat to survive. Birth, life and death happens to us all. Life is not always "pretty." What does this all say about moose hunting and the arial shooting of wolves? What does this all say about our relationship to wildlife and farm animals? Since I am one of "those radical environmentalists " these are hard questions to look at honestly.

First of all. Hunters kill their own food. Many of us go to markets and could not hunt if our life depended upon it. Many of us are hypocrites to criticize hunters.

Secondly wildlife management is a tricky thing. Sometimes herds of animals have to be thinned out for the sake of the environment and other species. Hunting helps to do this.Our relationship to nature and animals has changed so much due to modern life and our trips to the supermarket rather than to the barn.

Then there is the act of destroying a life. In killing a sentient being against its will there is some element of cruelty unless you believe that in the cosmic scheme animals sacrifice their lives so people can live. It is some kind of moral scheme that my mind cannot comprehend.

No matter how I look at the opposing views I still lean to the side of vegetarianism and will continue to alter my diet to this end. But I am not so quick to judge the Alaskans. We all need do what we have to sustain our selves. My biggest problem with hunting is that many hunters do not have respect for the animal's life. We need to have great respect for the animals who die to sustain us like the American Indians did.


"Animals in the Plains Indian World View

Interactions with animals, particularly the eagle and the buffalo, are inextricably interwoven with the sun dance of the Plains Indians. The roles assigned to them relate to the animals place in the world view of the society in which this ritual is a major event, and reflect intimate human relationships with the natural world that differ from those typical of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. The animals who share the Plains environment are viewed as wise and powerful. They possess most of the same capacities human beings have and in some ways exceed them. Beliefs about creation indicate that certain animals existed before people did, and were in communication with the Creator. They advised the Creator and helped in bringing humankind and even the earth itself into existence. Animals are intermediaries between human beings and the supernatural forces. All living creatures are part of a single interrelated community. Each one has its own part in this web of life, which is envisioned as a circle rather than as the linear hierarchy with humankind at the top that pervades western thought. Jamake Highwater, a writer of Blackfeet heritage, emphasizes the "sympathetic undertone" of the native Americans' relationship to the world around them, and explains their belief in the solidarity of life as an expression of kinship (1981, p. 69)."

read the rest

http://www.psyeta.org/sa/sa1.1/lawrence.html


I have also heard the idea that as human beings evolve in spiritual consciousness we will have less need to eat animals. As we evolve our physical bodies will energetically transform and our dietary needs will be different. The idea of a world where no animals are treated inhumanely( factory farming, arial hunting etc) and killed for our benefits is a dream I hope will someday be true. Maybe that is not how life works. But I am an idealist. This is my hope.