Forest fires, melting glaciers, species extinction – the symptoms of our ecological crisis are omnipresent. But what if the real cause lies deeper than fossil fuels or plastic packaging? What if the core of the problem is hidden in our most basic assumption about nature itself: in perceiving the world as a dead “resource” to be managed, exploited, and optimized? Indigenous worldviews offer a radical and healing shift in perspective. They invite us to experience nature not as an “It,” but as a “Thou” – as a living partner, a relative, a teacher. This article explores how this ancient perspective can heal not only our ecology but also our psyche and our sense of the sacred.
The Two Worldviews: An “It”-Relationship vs. a “Thou”-Relationship
The Jewish philosopher Martin Buber distinguished between an “I-It” and an “I-Thou” relationship. This distinction hits the nerve of the matter. The modern, Western view has largely pushed nature into an “It” position: an object of research, a raw material depot, an “environmental” challenge to be solved. Indigenous worldviews, on the other hand, almost universally cultivate an “I-Thou” relationship with the entire living world. The mountain, the river, the bison, the corn – they are subjects with their own will, history, and holiness, with whom one can and must enter into dialogue. This difference is not philosophical hair-splitting but the root of our actions.
Three Pillars of a Partnership Relationship with Nature
1. Everything is Animate: Animism as a Foundational Attitude
At the core of many indigenous traditions is not an abstract theology but the experiential certainty that the world is alive and conscious. This is often called animism. It does not mean that every stone has a little face, but that everything is ascribed an inherent intelligence, a “soul,” or a “spirit.” This perspective changes everything: one does not fell a tree without asking the tree spirit for permission and giving thanks. One does not hunt an animal without showing it respect and acknowledging its gift for the survival of the community. Nature is not a “thing” but a community of persons.
2. Reciprocity: Giving and Taking in Balance
If nature is a partner, the relationship is based on mutuality – on reciprocity. One does not simply take; one exchanges. Before taking (berries, medicinal plants, wood), there is often an offering: a sacrificial offering like tobacco, a prayer, a song. This practice ensures, according to traditional understanding, not only ecological but also spiritual balance. It is an act of humility and acknowledgment: “I am not alone, I am part of a web that nourishes me, and I give something back to strengthen the web.” It is an economy of relationship, not exploitation.
3. Responsibility for Relatives: The Ethics of the Extended Family
The famous Lakota phrase “Mitakuye Oyasin” – “We are all related” – encapsulates this ethic. This kinship includes not only humans but all living beings. If the river is your relative, you do not poison it. If the forest is your family, you do not clear-cut it senselessly. This extended kinship ethic creates an intrinsic, emotional motivation for protection that goes far beyond rational environmental arguments (“we need the forests as CO2 sinks”). One protects what one loves, and one loves what is recognized as family.
How We Can Cultivate a “Thou”-Relationship with Nature Today
- Start with One “Relative”: Choose a non-human being near you: a specific tree, a garden bird, a bush. Take time each week to visit it consciously. Observe its changes. Imagine you are getting to know a new neighbor. This practice trains the perception of nature as a subject.
- Practice Ritual Gratitude: Integrate small rituals of thanks into your daily life. Pause for a moment when drinking water and thank the water. When eating, direct a thought to the earth, the sun, and the hands that grew it. This transforms consumption into conscious exchange.
- Ask Before You Take: Before picking flowers, gathering mushrooms, or even taking a special stone from the path, pause. Ask inwardly for permission. Pay attention to your gut feeling. This trains intuitive perception and respect for the autonomy of other beings.
- Learn the Stories of the Land: Research the deep history and original names of the place where you live. Which Indigenous peoples lived here? What stories are connected to this river, this mountain? This roots you in a deeper, storied understanding of the place.
- Act Out of Love, Not Duty: Engage in environmental protection not (only) because you “should,” but because you have learned to love a particular species, a forest, or a river as a “relative” worth protecting. This emotional bond is the most sustainable driving force.
For Whom Is This Shift in Perspective Healing?
- Environmentalists at risk of burnout: Those who experience their work as a hopeless struggle against an abstract “climate problem” and are searching for a more fulfilling, meaningful motivation.
- People with Nature-Deficit Syndrome: Those who feel inwardly empty and disconnected from the world and seek a profound, spiritual reconnection.
- Parents and Educators: Those who want to teach children a natural, respectful, and loving relationship with the Earth that goes beyond mere factual knowledge.
- Critics of a purely technocratic “Greening”: Those who sense that solar farms and electric cars alone will not heal the soul’s wound of our alienation from nature.
- Everyone who feels they live in a “disenchanted” world: Those who yearn for wonder, sacredness, and a living, speaking world.
Frequent Questions and Objections
Isn’t this romanticizing and unscientific?
Science brilliantly describes the functioning of the world (the “how”). Indigenous worldviews address its meaning and our place within it (the “why”). They are complementary. Newer scientific fields like deep ecology or ecopsychology also confirm that an emotional and spiritual bond with nature is crucial for mental health and sustainable action. This is not about romanticism, but about recognizing a deeper reality of interconnectedness.
Can we live like this in a globalized industrial society?
We will not all become hunters and gatherers. But we can transfer the fundamental attitude into our modern world. We can demand that companies be “partners” of the ecosystems in which they operate. As consumers, we can ask: Does the manufacturer of this product treat nature as a partner or a resource? We can cultivate the “I-Thou” relationship in our local environment. The transformation begins in consciousness.
Does this mean we can no longer use nature at all?
On the contrary. Partnership includes use through respectful exchange. Indigenous peoples used nature intensively – but according to the rules of reciprocity and with the goal of long-term preservation of the partner. The problem is not use, but one-sided, ruthless exploitation without gratitude, responsibility, and the will for balance.
Conclusion: The Invitation to Dialogue
The ecological transformation we need is more than a technological and political one. It is a relational-ethical revolution. It calls us to step out of the monological stance of the owner and manager and enter into dialogue with the living world. Indigenous worldviews hold up a mirror to us: As long as we treat nature as an “It,” we will continue to destroy it, no matter how green our technologies are. However, if we learn to address it as a “Thou” – as a partner, relative, and teacher – then protection, gratitude, and sustainable action arise not from coercion, but quite naturally from the love and respect one shows a beloved counterpart. Nature is not waiting to be saved. It is waiting to be spoken to again.