On Language, Ecology, and Sense of Place (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

On Language, Ecology, and Sense of Place

By James Treat
August 9, 2011
USA

Anyone who studies traditional ecological knowledge learns to
appreciate the vitality of indigenous languages.

“The way we talk about a place or another entity reflects how we feel,
how we see, how we understand, and most important, how we think in
reference to it,” wrote Tewa educator Gregory Cajete. “Language itself
is a reflection of how we organize and perceive the world,” but it
also “conditions the mind toward particular ends. … Until recently,
the power of language to condition thought either toward participation
with nature or away from it has been largely ignored.”

“Native languages echo the natural reality of a universe that is alive
and creative,” and they are “intimately tied to the landscape that has
inspired their development.”

Access full article below:
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/ict_sbc/on-language-ecology-and-sense-of-place/