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THE ENVIRONMENT AND ANTHROPOLOGY 123
In this case, the researcher's aim is to comprehend the fishermen’s cultural model
about nature. She wanted to explore:
“(a) What knowledge do local people have about how and why the climate and the
natural environment change? (b) How and why do local food producing activities
change? (c) How do the fishermen conceive of their relationship with diverse elements
of the natural environment, including weather, climate, the fish, animals and the
supernatural? (d) Are there differences between the two communities in the listed
questions?” (Wiegele 2019: 230)
Fishermen have always been exposed to a certain degree of risk and uncertainty. In
addition to professional knowledge about nature (seasonal winds, patterns of storms
and weather, lunar cycles, fish behavior), the fishermen also use economic and
organizational strategies and kinship networks, as well as good fortune rituals,
magic, and Roman Catholic rites (blessing of ships). These traditional coping
strategies, however, have lost some of their effectiveness owing to growing uncertainty
about the weather. Similarly, the farming community’s previous experiences of
temperature, rain and wind have gradually lost value as usable knowledge.
In this situation, it was particularly interesting how the local cultural model of
nature responded to the changes. The research found that:
— Local people regard the climate and weather as something beyond human
control; people adapt to the changes but they can’t alter the climate.
— Nevertheless, some commented that humans can produce contaminations
that destroy the natural environment and people’s life in it, but they mainly
interpreted it as a local process.
— Some cited Christian teachings to explain the processes (the population is
mostly Catholic), claiming that what had happened was God’s punishment.
Again others attributed it to the dissatisfaction of other supernatural beings
(duwendes, tiny invisible dwarfs or imps living in houses, trees, or under the
ground). In both cases the break in the reciprocal relationship between the
supernatural and humans (breaching secrecy, neglect of prayers, lack of faith
and respect) caused discontent and wrath.’
The dominant interpretation remained the first: these processes were beyond
human competence, nothing could be done about them. To describe the change,
they used the human being as a metaphor; they personified the weather and climate,
saying that the weather was changing because it was getting old, and like old
people, the weather becomes increasingly changeable with time. This means that
both climate and the Earth have life cycles which reach their end one day.
In this cultural model of nature, the main components of nature: people, plants,
animals, weather, physical environment and the supernatural are linked by a
common characteristic, the life cycle, as well as the moods and feelings typical of
humans. Accordingly, everything progresses from birth toward death, including
the Earth, weather and climate, and everything displays the mood and imprint of
this cycle. In short, they conceive of global concepts such as “Earth” or “climate”
on the basis of human concepts.
) The model of the human being as the protector of nature was only cited by those who had some
environmentalist education. Instruction is part of protocol for the strict protection of the coral reefs.