In this chapter, McCully discussed the importance that plant species of all kinds, from flowers to weeds to grasses, hold for humans and other organisms, and how ecosystems such as prairies or grasslands are often seen as barren wastelands, but that they are critical ecosystems themselves. We often overlook this fact since we are only concerned about the potential benefits that nature has to offer us, but it will stop supplying us if we do not take a serious look at the effects of our actions on our environment, which seem to grow monumentally every day.
Similar to the discussion in chapter eight, which was titled “Forests for Trees”, McCully mentions how “nature could be tunneled, quarried, mined, leveled, straightened, drained, and diked; wild lines – like wild men – could be subjugated and domesticated” (McCully 103). The comparison to slavery is a very heated topic, so I do not want to discuss it without generating some sort of controversy, but the main point that she is trying to get across is that we torture nature for its secrets and once one portion of it is drained dry of knowledge, we do the same thing to other areas. On the other hand, Native Americans lived harmoniously and equally with nature; it was considered something to cooperate with, since it was vital to understand the balance between its effects on their livelihoods and the effects they personally had on it. Parts of forests that were chopped down would be replanted or burned down to clear weeds, underbrush, or other undesirable plants, and trees that held some sort of spiritual or geographical purpose would be revered and preserved. European colonists instead sought to extract precious oils and herbs to create precious elixirs in a strictly economic sense. The fact that a plant like sassafras was treated as a cure-all and exported by the ton (McCully 101) demonstrates how companies were willing to profit from stripping nature until nothing was left; even more remarkable is that it was thought to be a panacea for just about every imaginable disease, but one does not need to be a scientist to understand that this is impossible.
On a more positive note, I was amazed by how hundreds of species came over unintentionally to the New World from Europe and possibly Africa and Asia by attaching to the clothing or shoes of the colonists and then being spread by wind or birds all over the continent. Of course, some plants and animals were brought over on purpose, but how else could one explain how bluegrass, which is now a symbol of the state of Kentucky and closely associated with country music, is actually of European origin? Even though nature has been extremely impacted by human activities, it is true that it has shaped and influenced our culture, and it would be wonderful if we as a whole can get together and reach an equilibrium point that satisfies our needs and protects our environment at optimal levels.
