By Chad Hanson (Sept 4, 2020)

 

Muir traveled to Alaska numerous times to learn about the landscape and Indigenous peoples. He formed strong relationships with Native Americans, calling them his brothers, and lived with Alaskan tribes for extended periods of time. In turn, two different tribes bestowed on Muir the honorary chief titles of “great Ice Chief” and “adopted chief”.^[xv]Muir wrote about Native American traditional ecological knowledge and craftsmanship with great respect, observing: “With the same tools not one in a thousand of our skilled mechanics could do as good work”,^[xvi] and he conveyed deep admiration for Native American culture: 

“I greatly enjoyed the Indians’ campfire talk this evening on their ancient customs, how they were taught by their parents ere the whites came among them, their religion, ideas connected with the next world, the stars, plants, the behavior and language of animals under different circumstance, manner of getting a living, etc.”

Thereafter, Muir wrote repeatedly about the intelligence and dignity of Native Americans, and honored how traditional Indigenous peoples lived in peaceful coexistence with Nature and wild creatures, expressing his view that Native peoples “rank above” white settlers, who he increasingly described as selfish, base, and lacking honor.^[xviii] This would become a constant theme in Muir’s writings, as he attacked the dominant white culture’s destructive and greedy ways, and its anthrosupremacist mindset that placed humans above all else and recognized no intrinsic value in ecosystems or wildlife species beyond whatever profit could be gained by exploiting them: 

“These temple destroyers, devotees of ravaging commercialism, seem to have a perfect contempt for Nature, and, instead of lifting their eyes to the God of the mountains, lift them to the Almighty Dollar.”

This is the John Muir who is worthy of honor and respect—the Muir who evolved beyond his upbringing and worked to protect Nature while simultaneously promoting admiration for Native American culture and speaking against racist government policies toward Indigenous peoples in the United States. John Muir is not the only historical figure to have such an arc regarding the development of his character. Many of our most beloved historical figures, including those who fought for civil rights and women’s equality had arcs to their lives too—troubling views or actions at one point in their lives or careers that were later transcended by moral growth. 

As we join together to create a more inclusive and just environmental movement,^[xx] and to bring about needed societal transformations to increase environmental protections, racial equality and social justice, defining people by the trajectory of their lives, rather than by the worst or lowest versions of themselves across the history of their experience, is going to be important. Why? Because we are going to need people to evolve, to become better, if we are going to succeed. John Muir’s evolution as a person can serve as an example of this.

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~~ written by Chad Hanson, PhD, -- co-founded the John Muir Project in 1996. He first became involved in national forest protection after hiking the 2,700-mile length of the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada with his older brother in 1989. During this hike he witnessed firsthand the devastation caused by rampant commercial logging on our National Forests in California, Oregon and Washington.