ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Study guide
items:
You should be
able to describe . . .
á
the
concept of indigenous peoples living in harmony with nature.
á
what
prehistoric Hawaiians did to modify and alter their island environment.
Know the
importance of . . .
á
"founder
effect"
á
population
growth (1250-1650 A.D.)
á
"cultural
transformation of landscape"
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Concept of
Hawaiians living in "harmony with nature"
"works of
Hawaiians, both on land and in the sea, were so carefully planned, engineered
and executed that they enhanced productivity without massive environmental
degradation"
M. Kelly,
Anthropologist (1975)
Kirch
argues that Hawaiians impacted their environment (1982)
"the popular orthodoxy of indigenous
peoples in symbiotic 'harmony' with nature should not go unquestioned"
The Hawaiians
were not passive, they "actively manipulated and modified their habitat . . .
with their transported landscapes, [they] actively transformed the lowlands of
the archipelago over the course of 14 centuries of population growth and
agricultural expansion."
"the
island chain as first viewed through European eyes was a land already
transformed by centuries of intensive exploitation, modification, manipulation,
and frequently, degradation. The vast tracts of grassland that covered the
lowlands cannot be attributed to 'a defect of creation.'"
According to
Patrick Kirch, what actions by prehistoric Hawaiians led to changes in Hawaii's
island environment?
Think /
Write Question
Do you think
words like "exploitation" and "degradation" accurately
describe the impact of prehistoric Hawaiians on their environment?
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exploitation = selfish utilization
degradation = the act of lowering in character or
quality; to reduce in amount, strength, intensity