308 LEMIRONMENTAL EtHICS Pod 20 Second, every individual thing, of every “grade” —rock, plant, animal, human, ‘angel—has, necessarily and essentially, a relationship to God who created it Nothing can be created by any agent without a prior idea, a “blueprint,” ofthe creation in the mind of its creator. So God has an idea of each thing. God does not know only what is universal in each thing—ic., its species—God knows, singular things, in their singularity.*® St. Thomas asks whether it is lawful to curse any creature. To curse is to Aesire another's evil. He concludes that it would be pointless to curse an animal ‘As showed above, we cannot share friendship with animals because we cannot Wish good for them, since they do not choose their good, but seek it naturally, Likewise, we cannot wish evil to them. “But to curse irrational beings, considered as creatures of God, ia sin of blasphemy." To commit the sin of blasphemy is to disparage God’ s goodness.” It indicates that the things that God has made are due acertain respect because of their maker, Whatever means we take tothe conclusion that all teing is good; to harm any thing beyond the order of nature—-to kill an animal or plant except to satisfy vital needs, for instance— is to blaspheme, to offer an insult to God, the fountain of being, To say that nature can reflect God, and thus serve as a means to knowledge of God, is to say more than that nature has instrumental value as a teacher of ‘humans. “God is inal things, and innermostly."®! This view is not pantheism: God is not all things. However, because all things are beings, of one kind or another, and because God is Being itself, all things resemble God—distantly, analogically, but nevertheless truly, It goes without saying that Thomism is not the only basis for a holistic ecophilosophy. I would not make the claim that i is the best basis. Neverthe- less, itis a basis. For the sake of accuracy, St. Thomas's position must be more realistically evaluated. Moreover, as Richard Sylvanand David Bennett point out, the Church is a transnational organization,® with the ability to transmit an ecologically sound doctrine widely. Such a doctrine could be based on the following Thomistic principles. First, being is good in all its manifestations. ‘Natural things have intrinsic value. (We might say that for St, Thomas, is and ‘ought are two different ways of looking at being.) Second, the world is an organic unity, in which each part plays a role. Third, diversity is itself good, both as an expression of being, and because diversity enables the functioning ‘of the whole. The upsaot is a requirement of respect—for being, for life, and ‘for the world order. ot © Richard Sylvan and David Rennes, The Greening ef Ethics (Cambridge, U.K. end Teeton, ‘USA: White Horse Pres and University of Asiaooa Peso 1994), 9.217, Beyond the Ecologically Noble Savage: Deconstructing the White Man’s Indian ‘Sandy Marie Anglas Grande* examine the implications of stereotyping adits intersections with the pole tele facing Nnerieantndan commons. Speifial. examine he YB: {eatin of dans ecologically ob svage, bo employed andefteby tnvironenalss, trough the lenses of copalune and toca pychoog feroecives and hen ing it wine context fs bode alr nu. pe ia te nblesrop stereotype ofisn eed promot the envionment isapenain onetilesr immersed inthe plc andotoicl arate of themote projet Fal ener the igh and ore porta be ahr ‘StWalve Amarin peoples timate define for themselves eisespectve Mente and deine. ‘ras the strangeness of Indians that made them visible, not thet humanity. —Vine Devon! Since the original inhabitants of the Wester Hemisphere neither called hem. felis bya sngle term norundersood thenslver aia cllectiv i, the dea and the mage of he indan mst be White conception Roser P, Berkvorsn Je? INTRODUCTION ‘After five hundred years of colonization, American Indians remain virtually invisible and relatively absent from the collective consciousness of most Ameri ccans, In this way, we remain distinct from other subjugated groups whose images have become more integrated in “mainstream” depiction's of American life ‘and who have had more success in complicating and re-humanizing their subjectivities. Incon‘rast, American Indians remain locked in the canfines and this time of multicultural evi ME 0801 “ropa in Eactin and Haman Desopmet Coy Calls, Water, Mt Grande’ aearch fens aloe etal molticsltralis environmental edueation,and Ameri Cone aac an machete eno ps spss he ssi te Raenal Aston of EvonmentHoesonn Veneer Code rete algae ay tweet me Both ad, Dnalé Hopes. an Be ‘Stor engence hurrve fr pl comments ogee ine Blosndr, Weak You Listen: Mew Tribe Now Taf New York Macla, 197), xs Robert F, Berkhoter Jr The White Man's Indian: Images of the American Indian from Conba ihe Prese w YrtWinoe Bo 17909. 07208 ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS vot. 21 America, we are typically accepted and recognized only in our crudest form:— as generic, buckskin clad warriors and exotic maidens, This relative invisibil- ity and inaccessibility undoubtedly contributes tothe fact that Indians remain, ‘among the most studied peoples in the world; or as Vine Deloria Jr. contends, that we continue to be objectified and constructed as “the primitive unknown | quantity.”? Robert F. Beikhofer Jr author of The White Man's Indian, argues that mainte- nance of the image ofthe American Indiana a “primitive unknown quantity” has been alagely unconscious and deliberate project to contol and exert power over Native American peoples. tis a project with dep historical roots and enduring contemporary ramifications through which he white world has dominstedinpere, by constructing the image of American Indians to be whatever they negded itto be, For instanc:, Berkhofer contends that long before European imperialism ‘eached the shores of Jamestown, stereotypes of Indians had already been formed from accounts of earlier explorers, and he questions whether ang, 0 what degree, these early images predetermined the actions of the colonists, iting, the civilized agrnst savage, the Christian against the godless. To illustate how such images were contrived to serve the interests of power, namely that of tae | "settlers." Berthofer offers the following excerpt from Goode News From | Virginia (1613) in which a Virginian minister, Alexander Whitker, fst capital |izes upon the image of the “bad Indian” to advocate the ease for Christian conversion, and later inthe same document, employs the image ofthe "good Indian” to prove them capable of conversion: i Theis priest. reno other bt such sour English witches are They live ‘sakd in odie sift aba of thi snnedeservedna covering Tir ames are asnakeds tir be They etem vie oie, deceive and teal ses Instr he vel cachet them Botitany of should midds tau peopl ueapbl of ch Seely ye et such men tow ha hy a fae ils ne ae ofthesemen..‘orthey ee efboielasestongandveyamaie hore tndestanaing craton, ich ofspehenen,sdicne mther eae, sub in htt ceaings exquisite fn tei Inventions, and indontous ee labor,* + and ina " While this passage is clearly just one excerpt from one minister, itis a microcosm of the history of genocide and colonization in which “success” was. largely dependent upon white control of the frames by which Indian people eredefined. Essentially, Berkhofer argues that when the rush to secure subsidies for continued “exploration” was at hand, it was important for whites to paint 3 en, 9.37. Beskhofer, White Men's Image, pp. 19-20, alt 1999 BEYOND THE ECOLOGICALLY NOBLE SAVAGE: 209 ‘a picture of the “New World” as inhabited by subhuman entities in need of ‘eradication, Thus, a the height ofthe invasion, the image of Indian as primitive, ‘bloodthirsty warrior was widely employed as fuel forthe escalation of war. AS feats mounted and the futility of the genocidal campaign became apparent, however, there arose a greater need for Indians to be viewed as savages in search of salvation, making way forthe new and improved “save the man kill the In campaigns jerkhofer's central thesis is thatthe image of American Indians has histori- cally coincided with the concurrent state of Indian-white relations; in other ‘words, the ies and continues to serve the “polemical and creative needs ‘of Whites."® fle argues that the depictions have vacillated between noble and ignoble depeftding onthe prevailing “acceptance or critique of White civiliza- tion,”* so that when white civilization isin favor, Indians are deemed ignoble, andiwhen whit civilization isin disfavor, “Indian-ness” becomes the elix’)For instance, the sustainability of a white-dominated society is currently being deeply questioned by scholars and activists from various corners (i. femi- nists, environmentaliss, multiculturalists) all of whom have helped to set in rmotiona pervasive critique ofthe dominant culture. True to Berkhofer's thesis, in this time of relative discontent, images of the good Indian have been resirrected and imported into consumer culture writ large. Noble, Dances- With-Wolves, and Earth-loving, Pocehontas-like subjectivities have flooded the market as commodified indicators of the growing ambivalence toward the modern projec.” Such images appear to interject into the modern-technolog cal world af fusion of the uncomplicated primitive utopia, an image that has now become about as dear to the modern zeitgeist as the American Dream. Ththis article, explore the implications ofthe mostrecent resurrection ofthe image ofthe “good Indian” and the ways in which it serves the current “polemical andcreative needs of whites." In an effort tounderstand why such “needs” have remained aconstant element ofthe American psyche and consciousness, turn the insights of cognitive and social psychology, established Wester disciplines. ‘These disciplines’ differing views of the socal and psychological function of ‘images provides a foundation by which to examine the ways in ‘image of Indian as ecologically noble savage has been employed by i to serve the various needs of that community) Finally, 1, reassertthe right and more importantly the authority of Native Amerigan peoples to alimaely define for cursclves our respective denies and destin's. Bid 2 The tem modem project hee refers to that particular ideological social constuction of modernity that afsein Western industrialized nations, peifcally the United States, around the turn ofthe century, where all of reality was divided into inner experience and outer word and Stove objectivity ted elance Became the new ith310 NVIRONMENTAL ETHICS wo a IDEALIZATION AS DEHUMANIZATION: FUNCTIONS OF STEREOTYPE Coonmrve PsvcoLocy «pet clan nr sing ‘human need” to simplify any given “complex stimulus environment.”* They error isa small price to pay for general efficiency."® Atthe core of the cognitive view isa sense that as “inevitable tion and judgment” and not necessarily as perverse manifestations of ore} r onan satio iudice the nobility and authenticity of nature which they [whites] see in Indians and ‘want—they want to be pure and natural.”! Douglas J. Buege suggests yet ‘third motivation emergent among environmentalists. He writes: yee are peoplcouttherelivingthelives tat webelieve we houl live possbe leaders Inthis instance preserving the image of Indian as noble savage seems toelp relieve the cissonance and anxiety experienced by environmentalist and oter members ofthe dominant culture dsstisied with he envionment impact of ‘modern society and offers “hope” agninstits “inevitability.” wouldals argue at such environmentalists are complicit inthe domination of Indian peoples, * Russel Spears etal, The Social Pryce patil Sa i Peychology of Steeonyping and Group Life Ofer: Blackwell, * hid. 4 Kenneth Gergen, The Saturated Se Dilemmas in a Renate it in Identity x Contemporary Life New Yor: ‘Vine Dele J Red Earth, White Lies (New York: Serbner, 1995, p20. "Douglas I Buege, “The Ecologically Noble one logically Noble Savage Revisited,” Environmental Ethics 18 Pelt 199 BEYOND THE ECOLOGICALLY NORLE SAVAGE: an not only to allay their fears and anxieties about the overdeveloped world, but falso to secure their place within it, In other words, as long as there remains “ primitive” communities to study and research, there remains opportunities for environmentalists to advance their careers. While most researchers conduct their work with the best of intentions—to call attention to issues facing indigenous communities—it should be acknowledged or understood that such ‘work often does more to serve their own needs (academic notoriety, promotion, ‘nd tenure) than it does the needs of those communities. ‘While the cognitive view of the functions and motivations of stereotyping offers some insight to the endurance ofthe “noble savage” image, it does litle to critically examine the sociopolitical context within which the stereotype emerges and lacks any critical discussion of the existing power relations between Indian and white society. To suggest that sheer human instinct drives our need to simplify the world discounts the deeply rooted structures of power within ‘which such “needs” emerge(Typically, itis only the powerful within a given society who can afford to proveed in the mode of “general efficiency” and those ‘without who must know and understand the complexities oftheir environment in order to survive) As such, the social psychological perspective, more concerned with socidl context, offers a very different view on the function of stereotypes and reductionist typifications. Social PsycHoLosy Social psychologists argue that since “perception is socially structure stereotyping is a “deliberate and purposeful activity aimed at capturing the ‘Felevant aspects of social reality for certain prceivers in certain contexts"? “Thus, in addition tobeing “functional” and “adaptive,” stereotyping is viewed 4s 2 self-serving phenomena, with a decidedly opportunistic and political dy- namie. In short, Social psychologists recognize that stereotypes Function to “rationalize the current social arrangement." ‘The current social arrangement between Indians and whites continues to be Cone of domination, resistance, and subjugation, Inondes-ta.rationalize the ‘maintenance ofthis arrangement, itserves"ivilized” or white societysamaintsin A the image of Indians as “primitive” peoples living at one with nature. The ) contin subjugation of Indian peoples also ensures the retention of fving reminder, an example ofthe physical and metaphysical distance between “civ “tized and “uncivilized” peoples. Buege, who contends that Native American ‘peoples serve 35 “a yardstick with which we can measure our own progress"? Fefers to Sura P. Rath’s description of how whites employ Native American peoples to conform to their notion ofthe superiority of “civilized” society: ™ Deloria, Red Earth White Lies, p20. Spear, Dhe Social Psyhology of Stereotyping and Group Life, p49. 'S Buege, “The Ecologically Noble Savage Revisited.” p. 76.