Godoy and others - geodee clark

Aloha Nō:

The reading this week was informative yet insipid in certain sections in the text. While I was reading this research I asked myself on several occasions, why must Indigenous peoples continue to be defined in the parameter of the Western Norm or Western society? Yes I do agree that Indigenous peoples are the original inhabitants of a region, and we equate well-being with quality of life, but being compared with a U.S. standard of any sort will not display an accurate sense of the Indigenous economy.

For me, I viewed Godoyʻs research as a discussion of Indigenous peoples and their land. In the discussion of renewable natural resources and the well-being of Indigenous peoples, one cannot help to save their resources and health (of their people) if they do not have land to cultivate on. The Western idea of Market and Encroachment will definitely effect the well-being of any Indigenous group of people because with market comes capitalistic views and with encroachment comes deforestation of wildlife, forest, and farmlands. I believe when a people are forced into a foreign market to sell their crops or good, they are forced to adapt to an outsiderʻs view of earning monetary income. Indigenous peoples have a different definition of what land means to them, rather then the Western capitalistic definition of land. So, I viewed this reading as a discussion of land and the value it holds (now) that many foreign economic powers are searching for renewable resources; for many resources are quickly being depleted from earth, and the people who can help and have the tools to maintain natural resources are the Indigenous peoples themselves.

The examination of health in this text is interesting because it was difficult for me to understand, I really needed to look closely at the graphs and the explanations of each health issue that was presented. It was quite funny when Steckel indicated that "people can use income to buy luxury items including tobacco and alcohol, which do not directly improve (and may even harm) health." All I could conclude in my head was the introduction of alcohol to the Native Indians in the Americas and how that has negatively impacted the health and well-being of their people and culture. Overall, I enjoyed this reading because it made me critically think and analyze the knowledge that I have on renewable natural resources and the well-being of Indigenous peoples and cultures around the world.