I see us in NILAS as endeavoring to re-consecrate our relationships with animals, as well as to other aspects of the natural world. This involves trying to restore bonds of understanding and respect that were definitively ruptured in the Industrial Era, but began to weaken long before, possibly in Neolithic times. In the world of folklore, all living things often interact on a common plane, as animals serve many exalted roles including sages, guides, and protectors of human beings. This is a vision that has stayed with us for millennia, even if it seems largely inaccessible today.

 

Our task, in my opinion, is not basically a matter of reviving old practices or of initiating new ones, though both may at times be involved. It may involve making...

Last week, Nature in Legend and Story (NILAS) co-sponsored an event  at the University of Illinois at Springfield, at which James Bruchac told Native American tales of plants and animals, and I have not often seen a speaker hold the attention of college students and professors so completely. We all know how confusing our schedules in higher education are, where meetings are forever interrupted by classes, and classes by meetings. This time not a single person left before the end of the event. Cathy Mosley and I also presented.

 

This started me thinking about the role of storytelling in higher education. We in NILAS began by trying to convince people that stories of plants and animals are not...

The ways in which people can care about animals are almost as diverse as the creatures themselves. Personally, I wonder if there are really any people at all out there who are actually  indifferent to animals, but many have not managed to identify or articulate the ways in which animals are important to them. My own experience teaching college seems to confirm this. In courses on human-animal relations, I often begin by telling my students something like, " I can't tell you whether or not you should hunt, eat meat, visit the zoo, or clone your pet dog, but I do ask you to consider such issues frankly and honestly." I never sermonize, but I ask my students in every stage to relate the experience of their...