Reply To: Mon 14 Apr: The Perception of the Environment

Reply to Yaqi by Sabbath Sunday

I agree with you Yaqi on the factor of categories by Tim Ingold ie, ancestry, generation, substance, memory and land. These are common factors but in my opinion, Tim’s approach in this case, he wanted to break down his genealogical and relational models for easy grasping. In this case he identifies land as the common ‘field’ for all to be referred on. I also agree with you on the issue about who should be called an indigenous dweller on a given land. As it is argued by Tim, even those who claim that they were on land before the new settlers (colonialists) must have replaced the original dwellers although not known in history. And of course their claim of identity maybe is encouraged by their oppression and marginalization by modern states.

On Tim’s argument about landscape, it is true that it is always on changing course. However, this is initiated by humans’ everyday activities as they adjust themselves in the environment and also geological and other natural forces are in play, like river and sea action, erosion, earthquakes etc. Much as this process continues, humans, as argued by Tim, have also developed some consciousness towards their environments and attack some kind of passion to it, that’s why the issue of memory, you have also observed, generation and ancestry are elaborately discussed in chapters eight. Thank you for bringing up these issues.