Cultural identity for hunting peoples is defined by kinship relations with specific animals

Evidence

Harrod emphasizes that these traditions created specific understandings within communities about what it means to be human, and “required that one assume an appropriate relation with the other-thanhuman powers of the world, including the animals” (2000, p. 43). And further, definitions of what it meant to be human—a people’s cultural identity and self-understanding—were specific to their relationships with particular animals within a place. Thus, for the Plains peoples, the buffalo was more than simply a resource for food and shelter, they were members of a kinship system that extended beyond the bounds of human families, and constituted a part of their very being. The same was and is true of whales and other sea creatures for the Inuit, or the alpaca for the Quechua. — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education, 1648

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Indigenous hunting frames taking animal life as an honored ceremonial kinship sacrifice — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 1639; Innu defended hunting as the core of their identity and language — Winona LaDuke, All Our Relations: Native Struggles for…, 323; Being recognized and remembered by wild animals grounds a sense of belonging (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Being recognized and remembered by wild animals grounds a sense of belonging #corroborates (0.90)
• Cultures differ in whether identity derives from relationships rather than from category membership #expands (0.85) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1626
• Relational and collective identity types differ across cultures in meaning and structure #expands (0.80)
• Naming species is a first step toward kinship, not a distancing taxonomy #corroborates (0.80) — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 492
• Animal species loss inflicts spiritual and psychological harm on Indigenous peoples #qualifies (0.75) — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education, 1649