The Indigenous fight against colonial veganism

[Nakandi]

The epic battle between the Grain Eaters and the Meat Eaters

As with everything else, culture and context must be taken into account when dealing with Indigenous communities, no matter how important you think your cause is.
...

"Please understand," the leader of our Siida, Atja, says. "Our climate up here, as you can see, is neither conducive to Christianity or Vegan Evangelism."
She places her hands together, kept warm in well-made seal skin mittens, and continues to talk. "We have heard some of your group's morality already, this epic battle between the grain eaters and the meat eaters."

"For us, as you can see these lands that we have lived on since the world began, these lands will not support most of the vegetation you suggest; the soil is too thin, the permafrost under it too hard and our seasons too brutal.

Our people are a reindeer people: 'What is good for the reindeer is good for us' as our saying goes.

We have lived this way since the Sun, our Mother, gave birth to us, and later, gave us half of the world's reindeer so that they could be tamed. We use every part of the reindeer for survival. You may call it hasrh, we call it home. And we call the treatment of our animals, fair, since we interact with them constantly with our own hands."

One of the excited vegan visitors jumps to his feet, one finger pointing towards elder Atja, "but eating meat is murder!"

She shakes her head, "if you think we are using our climate or our history here as an excuse for murder, then you misunderstand. We are not what you would call colonized or civilized into your ways. We live in a circle. The reindeer die and we consume their flesh and when we die, they consume our bones."
Elder Atja ended calmly, "we are not going to move on the whim of a handful who would rather make demands than listen."

Full article: http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/vegan-challenge/2014/04/indigenous-fight-against-colonial-veganism

[Iniko Ujaama]

Interesting article. Very good lesson and very interesting contradictions. Europeans after centuries of abusing Africans and other people fell in love with "nature". With the rise of white feminism there seemed to be in some quarters are condemnation of physical violence across the board down to the killing of animals for survival. Of course violence and domination continued with regard to those they colonized in many different ways and persisted even under the veneer of environmentalism and vegan evangelism.

"And we sustain ourselves through our Sun's warmth when we go hunting, or lay traps, fetch water and harvest the few herbs that grow here. We have also mastered the art of Reindeer Husbandry. The reindeer trust us now, without us, there would be no reindeer and with no reindeer, there would be no us!"

"Now that you have asked your questions", Atja carries on, "in your veganism, how many of you are actually farmers, pickers of berries or wild mushrooms? Or do you buy your vegan righteousness through a store?"

Very good point. Environmentalism and sensitivity to animal-life has been practiced by indigenous cultures for sometime even while they remain aware of their own needs. I never thought of veganism in that sense though. Enjoying a certain standard of living and under certain circumstances it is easy to call for an all out ban on eating meat without even examining what put you in the position to do so.
Our sensitivity to others must stem from our own sensitivity to and awareness of self. Too often this concern for animals and "nature" overlooks the structural dominance against other humans and therefore helps to perpetuate it.