![The word respect is key to understanding wildlife and environment. If there is no respect then environmental problems arise. Everything in the environment has a place and use by people […]](https://carc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/6076770_s.jpg "The importance of respect")
Excerpts from ‘Voices from the Bay,Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Inuit and Cree in the Hudson Bay Bioregion’; compiled by Miriam McDonald, Lucassie Arragutainaq, and Zack Novalinga; published by Canadian Arctic Resources Committee and the Environmental Committee of Municipality of Sanikiluaq; 1997The word respect is key to understanding wildlife and environment. If there is no respect then environmental problems arise. Everything in the environment has a place and use by people and wildlife. So, damage to any of these causes problems, we learn something about currents, ice, river systems, snow cover, and animals every day and all of these things have to be respected. Respect towards nature is needed in order to have food and a good living. – Lucassie Arraqutainaq, Sanikiluq
We have been told from our Ancestors that all the animals have to be treated properly. Even small animals that live on this planet serve a purpose. Flies, for instance, are annoying but their purpose is to clean up. The shrimp eat decaying matter, and serve as cleaning agents in the sea. – Eli Kimaliardjuk, Chesterfield Inlet; Jack Angoo, Whale Cove
When something in the environment changes you follow the change and look at the area where the change is occurring because when one thing changes everything around it also changes and we, as people, have to change along with it. Respect for the environment, therefore, is very important because it guides us in how we treat the environment. We know that lack of respect can cause a lot of changes. – Lucassie Arragutainaq, Sanikiluaq