“I speak for the Trees”1 the Importance of Relationship in Storytelling
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Kristen Page, Ph.D., Ruth Kraft Strohschein Distinguished Chair; Professor of Biology
I am a Christian Ecologist, and often in my work I find myself trying to convince others of the importance of ecosystems and how we have a responsibility to protect them. When I am teaching or talking with groups about the importance of creation care, I am speaking on behalf of the trees- or the ecosystem. I never feel conflicted about speaking on behalf of non-human creation, even though I am only a student of ecosystems, and I may not fully understand what needs to be communicated. As I reflect on what it means to share in the stories of others, I think that the lessons I’ve learned from “Speak[ing] for trees”2 can inform the ways I speak about others. I am a created part of creation, and I am in relationship with all aspects of ecosystems, and relationship seems to be the key to sharing others’ stories.
I am a scientist, trained in the theory and practice of ecology as taught in the western/European tradition. However, as a teacher and student of ecology and conservation, I have long been interested in Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and how it can complement the western practice of ecology. In my first year of graduate studies there was a mysterious outbreak of a hemorrhagic respiratory infection that led to the deaths of 10 people in the four-corners region of the United States. Because I was a new student of disease transmission (disease ecology), and working in a veterinary pathobiology lab, I took interest in the outbreak. I remember the conversations about the outbreak and the very western approach of hypothesis testing that was being used to determine the source. Ultimately, it was the traditional storytelling of the Diné elders that solved the mystery3 – as it was only a mystery to western science! Generations of Diné elders had told subsequent generations about a pattern of respiratory illness that followed years of increased rain (what we now call El Niño) pre-European settlement, but also including 1918 and 1933. It was this generational storytelling that provided the foundation and direction for the subsequent hypothesis testing that led to the discovery of the Sin Nombre virus. From this moment forward, I was fascinated by TEK and started a lifelong study of how it synthesizes with my understanding of ecosystems as a western-trained scientist.
As I learn more about TEK, I have a strong desire to teach this way of thinking in my classrooms. However, I am not indigenous. Should I teach this traditional knowledge? I worry that in my desire for my students to know that there are many ways of understanding ecosystems by including what I have learned about TEK, I am making my own voice more important than the voices I have learned from. During the CACE seminar (Performing Identity, Authority and Community), I reflected on the implications of telling a story that is not my own. I was significantly impacted by the exercise in which we memorized monologues written by our colleagues. I wonder if I received the story differently because it wasn’t told in the author’s own voice. I wonder if all the stories told were the actual story. Did the storyteller get all the details? Did they relay the sentiment and emotion of the author? I have a feeling that all the stories were not as the author intended, and this is exactly my fear. I do not want to misrepresent the intention of the traditional knowledge holder. I think that it is important for non-indigenous students to learn from indigenous wisdom, and I now understand that the way for me to share this information in the classroom must include the author voices rather than simply my own – and that the best way to do this is through relationship.
Recently, I have been developing a relationship with Christian Indigenous Leaders from the organization, Memoria Indigena. In the week following our seminar, I had the wonderful experience of having a conversation about Climate Change and Climate Action (for a podcast) with two friends, Jocabed Solano Miselis and Benita Simón Mendoza. During our conversation, we considered the importance of sharing Indigenous knowledge, the experiences of Indigenous communities, and the ways that people of Christian Faith (both Indigenous and Settler) should work towards climate action. Having this conversation so soon after the CACE seminar, I was really paying attention to what Jocabed and Benita were saying about Indigenous knowledge and the long history of silenced Indigenous voices. My friends represent voices that have long been silenced or dismissed, and what they have to say is important. If I say it for them by telling their stories, am I at risk of further silencing them? What if instead of telling someone else’s story, I tell the story of my friendship and my relationship with them? I think that in telling stories that come from relationships, we are less likely to assert power over the original author. Sharing stories (or traditional knowledge) from a place of relationship seems an obvious place for an ecologist to find herself. As I work towards convincing my students (and others) that creation care is a calling for all of us, I can still include elements of TEK by speaking of what my friends have taught me. I can share with my students what I have learned from my friends about their generational knowledge and ways of understanding the land, even as my friends continue to gently guide me to a better (if not complete) understanding of a traditional understanding of living as a functioning part of creation - through relationships with each other and creation.
Seuss. 1971. The Lorax. Random House. Chicago.
ibid
Hibbard A. 2024. How indigenous knowledge helped solve a mysterious outbreak. American Society for Microbiology. https://asm.org/articles/2024/october/indigenous-knowledge-solved-mysterious-outbreak accessed 26 May 2025.
[1] Seuss. 1971. The Lorax. Random House. Chicago.
[2] ibid
[3] Hibbard A. 2024. How indigenous knowledge helped solve a mysterious outbreak. American Society for Microbiology. https://asm.org/articles/2024/october/indigenous-knowledge-solved-mysterious-outbreak accessed 26 May 2025.