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RELIGION AND ECOLOGY 67
senseless and even detrimental — it also had complex and relevant economic reasons
(Harris, M. 2003). During his work among the Tsembaga Marings in Papua New Guinea
in 1967, Rappaport analyzed cultural and non-cultural elements in a single system, and
demonstrated how this system was sustained by a rite, the so-called kaiko. He found
that this ritual regulated the equilibrium of the system in the same way as natural
ecosystems do: by killing the excess of the pig population, it helped maintain the adequate
state of the environment, and set a limit to the frequency of wars. It thus banished the
threat to the existence of the regional populations, harmonized population and territorial
rates, made trading possible and provided surplus meat for sharing (Rappaport 1968).
In the 1970s, Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff studied the forest and river use of the
Tukans living along the Amazon in Colombia, and how it related to their social structure,
myths, rites and symbols. He ascribed a sort of “environment managerial” function to
the shamans in this complex of relations. Richard Nelson (1983) examined traditional
ecological knowledge, hunting, respect of animals, handling and protection of natural
resources among the Athabaskan Indians (Alaska, Yukon). Biologist Fikret Berkes
inquired into the traditional knowledge, religion and practice as well as use of
environmental resources of the Cree Indians in Canada (1999). During his research in
Thailand (1992), Sponsel compared the Buddhist and Muslim villages in the same area,
with special regard to the differences in the use of the environment by the different
religions (summarized in Borsos 2004, Sponsel 2012).
This upgrading of traditional knowledge and religion has entailed increased efforts
to protect sacred localities (Grand Canyon, Mount Shasta, Stonehenge, Uluru, etc.,
see https://sacredland.org/map/).
Spiritual ecology is thus a line of research within anthropology on the one hand, and
a social, political, and intellectual movement on the other. It is sometimes hard to draw
the line between the two. This is one of the reasons why contemporary spiritual ecology
is mostly interpreted as an applied science: it seeks anthropological knowledge that can
be applied to combat the environmental crisis. This is also a manifestation of a characteristic
of EH: that its researchers are at the same time activists.
Summary
The chapter has reviewed the role of religion in the relationship between human
beings and nature. It has made a point of stressing how an environmentally
conscious rereading of the scriptures might influence this relationship, and how
diverse historical churches and spiritual trends strive to join not only the ecological
discourse, but also the solving of the environmental problems. Using the example
of the dispute on the impact of Christianity, involving Lynn White, the chapter
explored the possibility and effects of a constructive rethinking of responsibility.
It discussed the relations of religion and science in the domain of environmental
issues, and the issue of care, with reference to examples from confessional literature
and religious activism. It also addressed the question of eco-spirituality with
reference to such concepts and phenomena as dark-green religiosity, nature religion,
native faith, and eco-paganism. The latter has links to traditional ecological
knowledge, a theme discussed in more detail in a later chapter.