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Book: Indigenous Religious Traditions in Five Minutes

Chapter: 45. Do Indigenous Peoples believe plants, animals, and waters have personhood?

DOI: 10.1558/equinox.43160

Blurb:

What ethical responsibilities and moral imperatives come with designating other-than-human beings as persons? What does it mean for Indigenous Peoples to regard trees, beaver, or moose as their relatives? This article addresses these complex questions by discussing a few key examples in which Indigenous Peoples have drawn on their own spiritual traditions to fight for the legal recognition of other-than-human beings as persons.

Chapter Contributors

  • Meaghan Weatherdon (mweatherdon@sandiego.edu - mweathe) 'University of San Diego'