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Olea Stevens
Sustainability
Defining Landscape
October 21, 2013

Landscape: Alive, Demanding and All-Encompassing
Landscape can be defined in many ways. It may be the sky above, or the ground beneath
your feet. It may be the birds in the trees or the fish in the sea. It could even include cars and the
people who live across the street. Definitions are relative. What matters more is ones own view
of landscape and reasons for believing so. Acclaimed Native American author Leslie Marmon
Silko has a unique and very personal outlook on landscape. She believes that landscape is
everything. It is alive and demands our respect, love and interaction in order to maintain balance
and ensure continued life.
Silkos landscape is all-inclusive. As she (1986) states, it is the land, the sky and all that
is within them... (p. 2) including humans. Landscape is everything. John Muirs (1916)
observations in Mans Place in the Universe agree with this comprehensive view; he claims the
universe would be incomplete without manalso incomplete without the smallest
transmicroscopic creature (para. 5). There are many different types of life on Earth, yet each
one is necessary for the vitality of the Earth as a whole. We are all her [the Earths] children,
(Silko, 1986, p. 7); how could the Earth prosper if one of her children was ill or missing?
The cycle of life is a key topic in Silkos essay. The Pueblo people believe that
everything originates from the Earth and in the end will return to it (Silko, 1986, p.1). People are
intimately intertwined with the landscape. People are all from dust, and they shall all return to
dust. This could explain why it is traditional to bury the dead. In todays world, there are two
options when dealing with the body of someone who has passed: burial and cremation. The first
method will place the body directly in the ground where it will eventually decompose into the
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earth. The second method involves the combustion of the body, which will result in new
chemical compounds which will, over time, return to the Earth. Everything begins and ends in
the Earth. Just as in chemistry everything is made up of specially arranged atoms, so too in
Silkos opinion is everything made of dust (1986, p. 2). Everything is part of the landscape.
As Dan Flores (1998) relates in his essay the basis of landscape is not the land itself, but
the interactions between the people and the land (p. 33). Relationship is a key element in
landscape. It is the difference between space and place. It gives a space character and spirit.
Flores (1998) stresses that the downfall of the European view of nature is the idea of separation
(p. 35). If people see themselves as separate from the environment, then they will not value and
respect it as much as it deserves (Flores, 1998, p. 35). This supports Silkos (1986) view on
landscape because she states that the human and natural worlds are so intertwined that in
many of the Pueblo narratives, it is impossible to determine which came first, the incident or
the geographical feature that begs to be brought alive in a story (p. 4). William Cronon
(1995) adds that people who see themselves as separate form nature are likely to practice
irresponsible stewardship of the environment (p. 10). However he also states that people must
continue to be aware that the natural world lives independently of the human world, and humans
should in no way be accredited with its creation (p. 15). Only with this awareness will humans
truly be able to appreciate the wild around them as a place free of society where one can
rediscover oneself, and bask in awe of natures power.
Landscape truly is something to be admired. All at once it is beautiful, awe-inspiring, and
humbling. It demands love and respect from those around and within it. The environment will
continue to thrive independent of the human world, but its spirit will be lost without a strong
connection to humans. Silko (1986) professes that humans must love and respect the Earth
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because the earth loves all of us regardless (p. 7). If people do not appreciate nature and all it
does for them, then there can be no hope of sustaining life. The Earth needs humans just as much
as humans need it. To maintain a healthy world, humans must learn to respect this and give back
to the natural world.
In order for humans to survive, the human and natural worlds must be kept in balance
with one another. Both worlds coexist with one another, and if they are not in balance, then both
will collapse. Silkos (1986) describes an arroyo near the Laguna Pueblo which has taken many
vehicles throughout the years (p. 6). The arroyo cannot be blamed for these incidents, however.
It is a part of the world, and needs no reason for its actions. Perhaps the arroyo senses an
imbalance between the two worlds and in taking the automobiles only seeks to restore that
balance. The people of the pueblo have come to respect the arroyo and regard it with caution but
not with malice for the grief it has caused. Instead, by claiming so many cars, the arroyo has
gouged an even deeper connection between the human and natural worlds (Silko, 1986, p. 7). It
has humbled humans and proved that the natural world is in some ways more powerful than the
human.
The key to survival is to make the best out of the resources at hand (Silko, 1986, p. 5).
The Earth offers many resources to humans, but they are merely for use, not abuse. In order to
sustain life, humans must sustain resources, so that future generations may continue to utilize
those same valuable resources without fear of depletion. Water is the abundance of life. Silko
(1986) mentions the spring near Paguate as being critical to life in the area (p. 5). She also points
out that Pueblo cultures designate their Emergence places as being small natural springs (Silko,
1986, p. 5). It is apparent that water is a sacred resource to the Pueblo people, as well it should
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be. Water is one of the most precious elements on earth, and should therefore be cherished if life
is to continue.
Silko expresses the importance of storytelling in Pueblo culture. Stories are an oral
history for the people, and many of them are centered on specific pieces of land (Silko, 1986, p.
4). The landscape is a character because the climax or turning point in the story depends on a
particular rock formation or ravine. Silko (1986) recounts the story of Yellow Woman and the
giant who nearly ate her (p. 4). In the story, the Hero Brothers save her just in time, cutting out
the heart of the giant and throwing it far away from them. Today, Silko claims there is a huge
boulder where the heart is said to have landed (p. 4). The landscape certainly has character.
Ernest Dimnet (n.d.) once said that a book, like a landscape, is a state of consciousness
varying with readers (para. 8). Marmon Silkos idea of landscape is very accurate; landscape is
everything around and within. It is alive and powerful and demands our attention and care.
Landscape is humbling, inspiring and always changing. However landscape is a broad concept
which differs with perception. In all cases, it is amazing and full of character. Everyone must
take in the landscape with their own senses and decide for themselves what it means because just
as Silko (1986) expresses about stories, the truth live[s] somewhere within the web of
differing versions (p. 4).






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References
Cronon, W. (1995). Uncommon ground: Rethinking the human place in nature. New York, NY:
W. W. Norton & Co.
Dimnet, E. (2013, September 1). Ernest Dimnet quotes. Retrieved from
http://thinkexist.com/quotes/ernest_dimnet/
Flores, D. (1998). Spirit of place and the value of nature in the American West. A sense of the
american west: an anthology of environmental history. Albuquerque NM: University of
New Mexico Press.
Muir, J. (1916). Mans place in the universe. A thousand-mile walk to the gulf. New York, NY
and Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, Riverside Press Cambridge.
Silko, L. (1986). Interior and exterior landscapes: The Pueblo migration stories. Yellow woman
and a beauty of the spirit: Essays on Native American life today. New York, NY:
Touchstone.