As I read through this week’s reading titled, “Land of the Lenapes,” I began to compare and contrast the Lenape society and lifestyle to our modern day society in North America.

One of the first things that struck me about the Lenape tribes was the fact that they were the first group of people I’ve learnt about of who have made an active effort to change their habits and way of life in order to be more environmentally conscious. In the Lenape legend which prefaces the chapter, the Lenape chiefs interact with the animals and promise to respect and honor nature; as a result, it is said that from then on the Lenapes have always shown the “utmost respect when hunting or upon killing an animal for food.” Overall, the Lenapes were very resourceful people, only taking from nature exactly what they needed to survive. When hunting, they tried to use as much of the animal remains as they could in order to minimize the amount of waste created; from animal hides, to tusks, bones -and even organs – it is clear that the Lenapes truly made an effort to respect the earth around them.

In addition, the hunter-gatherer lifestyle that the Lenapes led was, generally speaking, a more environmentally friendly way of life whether they recognized it or not. While they may have made many active efforts to become more ecological, the fact that Lenapes were hunter-gatherers indirectly caused them lead more sustainable lives as well. The nomadic lifestyle itself is one that entails traveling and resettling frequently. Hence, because the Lenapes were constantly moving around, they were never settled in one place long enough to really disturb the environment permanently. There was no overhunting or worry that a certain animal or plant would become extinct. Similarly, the soil was never completely stripped and depleted of its nutrients, nor was the ground ever overworked.

The Lenapes attempt and push towards a more eco-friendly way of living immediately reminded me of the current push in awareness of greater environmental issues. In today’s day and age, the lifestyle we live as Americans is drastically different than the Lenapes. People generally do not pay attention to how much waste they are creating; we are not as resourceful and conscious as the Lenapes and we tend to overindulge and overuse our resources. At the same time, as the prospect of global warming has become a matter of importance in the past few years, so has the prospect of leading a more eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle.There have been many groundbreaking efforts to promote a “greener” lifestyle, eco-friendly product and an education in topics such as global warming, I don’t believe there has been enough of a fundamental change in our lifestyles.

As a result, there is a lot that can be learned from the Lenape lifestyle.Whether we are hunter-gatherers or nomads isn’t important. However, the fundamental lesson of respecting nature is eternal, and instead of exploiting and taking advtage of our natural resources, we should learn to preserve them, like the Lenapes, and protect them for years to come.