Mountains Made Alive Native American Relationship With Sacred Land Summary

Mountains Made Alive: Native American Relationships with Sacred Land is an analytical article written by Emily Cousins. As the title suggests, the article discusses the relationship between Native Americans and the land, but it also delves into the relationship that non-Native Americans have with the land. The article begins with a story that is essentially about an American woman who camped on a sacred land for superficial reasons. She didn’t fully understand the significance of the spot she had chosen until she spoke to her Native American friend. The article continues to point out that non-Natives view the land simply as property, while Native Americans view the land as a living, breathing counterpart. I believe that the main purpose of this article is to teach non- natives about Native
American traditions, with hopes that they will eventually view the land as a being that deserves respect.

According to the article, natives believe that land has “life blood,” which is a factor within the land itself that gives them strength. They believe that the land is a living thing that you must work with, rather than try to control. Non-Natives, on the other hand, have no deeper value of the land. They do not strive to coexist or work with the land; their main goal is just to purchase as much as they can for themselves, to be selfish. This was the case with our ancestors, when only men who owned 160 acres of land were allowed to vote, and this is still the case now, as owning private property seems to put you a step above your counterparts. Many Native Americans feel that if people continue to live this way the earth will be destroyed, because if you “own” the land then you can do whatever you want to it. They believe that until the non-natives develop a more natural relationship with the land, the path of destruction that we are currently on, will only get