The relationship with nature in Love Medicine

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Love Medicine tells the story of four generations of Native Americans and their relationships with each other, love, and nature. In this post, the focus will be on the latter.

Native Americans have always lived in harmony with nature and valued the importance of nature (Zhang & Wang, 2015, 2632). They have also developed their own traditions that are followed, and Love Medicine depicts them well.

Firstly, the land is sacred to the Native Americans, that is, no one can own the land. Land is a part of nature and closely connected to the people, who must respect it and not take advantage of what the land has to offer. Native Americans only used resources that they needed. (Agharid, 2014) Sadly, once the whites came the Indians were deprived of land. In Love Medicine, the issue is addressed when Lulu recalls with disdain how many times her family has been made to move because the whites wanted the land. Furthermore, the whites have destroyed the reservation once beautiful and fertile with factories and mines. This shows the different attitude towards nature between the Indians and the whites and demonstrates how the Natives are more ecologically aware.

Secondly, the Natives have a deep connection with nature. It can even be said that their identity is land. Once the land is removed, their self-identity is lost. However, the Indians do not believe that one can be separated from nature because ‘human beings are just an equal member of the nature’ (Zhang & Wang, 2015, 2633). Thus, the flora and fauna and people should not be separated. To prevent that, Lulu and Marie decide to join forces to stop the deprivation and deterioration of the land by taking action and coming up with ideas to solve the environmental problems.

Thirdly, the Indians believe in the spirituality of nature. They believe that ‘spirits take the forms of animals, plants, and appear in visions’ (Agharid, 2014). The Indians do not hunt for fun, but for food. Moreover, they respect the animals and ask for forgiveness from them before killing them. Contrary to the whites, the Indians hunt in a way that does not break ‘the balance of the local ecological system’ (Zhang & Wang, 2015, 2634). Also, the Indians pass on their wisdom to younger generations to carry on the traditions. For instance, Lulu learned to love the animals and nature from Nanapush and teaches respect and love for the environment to younger generations.

We all could learn from the Native Americans to cherish our environment. Indeed, ‘their life style seems to be the cure of our environmental problems’ (Zhang & Wang, 2015, 2634). We should be more aware of how we use nature, remember that we are a part of nature and try to live more harmoniously with nature. 



Laura Vahtramäe

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