Next week we will be departing on our first expedition: a four-day sea kayak trip. As we prepare for this experience, I would like you to continue thinking about "wilderness". For this blog, I would like you to:
1. Visit and read about wilderness at wilderness.net
2. Post a blog entry that includes your summary definition of wilderness (do not copy & paste!).
3. Post a one-paragraph statement with your reaction to the following quote about wilderness. Include if you agree or disagree with this point of view and why.
We did not think of the great open plains, the beautiful rolling hills, and winding streams with tangled growth, as “wild.” Only to the white man was nature a “wilderness” and only to him was the land “infested” with “wild animals” and “savage” people. To us it was tame. Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded with the blessings of the Great Mystery. —Chief Luther Standing Bear, of the Oglala band of Sioux.
Again, be sure to use a word processor to spell and grammar check before posting and to post using your first name. This post is due before class on Friday morning, September 23.
I beleve that wilderness is a place where there should be no influence from humans.
ReplyDeleteI agree whith this quote the "white man" came to amarica and saw this land that was untoutched and full of natural resorses like wood so they began cutting timber because that was the way they were taught. now every body is trying to make up for it by conserving land and trying to make the wilderness look like an inviteing place to be.
-Dallas
ReplyDeleteI think that wilderness is a place where there has been no influence by humans; A place to get away from society and experience nature the way it should be.
I totally agree with the quote except for one part. I think that if the "white" man never came over and influenced nature, eventually someone would've came over besides the "white" man and they would've done the same. I really like the idea of being surrounded by mystery and keeping it a mystery and not disturbing it.
2. Wilderness is a place where it has been untouched or undisturbed by humans. A place where you can look around and not see, hear, or recognize any human involvement. A place where you can reconnect with nature and forget all else.
ReplyDelete3. I agree and disagree with that quote and I will explain why. For Chief Luther Standing Bear he watched everything that he ever knew disappear so I can understand his viewpoint. So yes I do agree with what he said however, I disagree with it today, from my point of view. There are places out there that are still "wild". They are not on the side of the road. You have to get out and discover them. Wilderness does not surround us but it is out there. Sometimes you think you are out in the woods where you would consider it to be "wild" and you find a soda can. Other times that I have been out in the woods I have found trees so large that I cannot even come close to wrapping my arms around them with moss on it so green and thick it looks like a green blanket. No signs of humans, no sounds, nothing but myself. It is almost like time did not exist there. To me that is wilderness. But it is 2011 and things have changed so wild to me might not be what wild was to Chief Luther Standing Bear.
Lisa Leighton
Alex Bradley
ReplyDelete2. For me wilderness is where you can get away from the influence of humans of the 21st century and step back to a way of living that is more simply, where you have to be a little more self reliant and and can enjoy nature that has not been bridled by humans.
3. It is sad but true that but the legacy of people that came here from Europe is not the greatest. We came here from a land that had be used heavenly by people for almost 2000 years. These people came to the shores of the new world and saw bountiful resources but also a land that appeared to untouched. It was inhabited by a people that lived in a way that Europe had not experienced again for almost 2000 years. They saw the land as having wild beast that roamed it. This was all scary to them so they had to subdue it and civilize it and save it for their christian god. Out of this mentality came the idea of manifest destiny. Where the people of America decided that God wanted us to have all the land from sea to shining sea and more. Luckily a few people eventually realized that Wilderness was worth something on its own and in fact was essential for our identity as a nation. We have always wanted to conquer nature and the unknown now however we have found ways to do it while conserving it for generations to come.