I’m sure you are familiar with the “nature versus nurture” debate. We hear it most often when it comes to sports and black dominance. In my experience, most don’t think of the answer to the debate in “either or” terms but rather as a “bit of both”. For example, when it comes to being an athlete, biology is important. It helps to start with a solid physical foundation. However, on the nurture side of the debate lived experience, surroundings, mentorship, and coaching play a critical role in our becoming.
I grew up with a great deal of gratitude and awe for outdoor spaces and all living things. I am who I am because of my family history in a place and the people and the natural world that surrounded them and me growing up. My earliest heroes were mountain and river people and the natural places they loved. The creek that flowed passed my grandparent’s front door and the mountains that closely bordered the town were my earliest teachers. Among other things they taught me humility and gratitude. Awe for our natural world runs in my genes.
Fish were plentiful back then and the mountains were home to a variety of wild game that most of us learned to hunt. We also worked the land—dug roots, grew vegetables and fruit of all kinds—raised pigs, chickens, ducks, and rabbits for food and for sale. Living the small-town country life taught invaluable life lessons about how precious life is and how fragile nature can be. Invaluable lessons I continue to live by.
I spent a great deal of my childhood learning to respect and protect the ground we lived on and the animals we shared it with. Spent countless childhood hours just sitting at the water’s edge in awe of the flow of it and the species of birds that floated and stalked its shoreline. I still find peace and happiness near a river’s edge.
Pops loved hunting and going on long hikes in the mountains. Sometimes we would sleep under the stars and other times in a tent or the back of our family station wagon. Pops loved fishing and camping along rivers and creeks the most. Some of my fondest memories are of him cooking fresh caught trout over a camp fire. He only liked to eat fish when within earshot of the water they came from.
Pops taught my brother and me, by example, to respect the earth and to leave a hiking trail or campsite without a trace. He was always the first to volunteer and to volunteer his sons when there was a river restoration or river cleanup project in the works. He used to say, “You take care of the earth and the earth will take care of you.” To him every day was earth day.
By the time this piece goes to press, another National Earth Day will have come and gone. It’s good that we have a day to volunteer and reflect on our earthly responsibilities. However, I think of Earth Day like I think of Black History Month. Black history should be recognized and celebrated every day. Earth Day deserves the same.
It wasn’t until I left my childhood home, that I realized that not all black people lived as close to the earth as we did. Not everyone grew up using landmarks and compass directions rather than street addresses to find their way. I am who I am because of history, biology and nurture. Together those things continue to influence where I chose to live, my career choices, how I raised my children and how and where I spend my leisure time.
Most of us are urban dwellers now. What was once easy now has to be planned. It has to be intentional. I remember the moment when our first child made the shocking connection between the meat she was eating, and the realization that it was once alive! I remember their deep sadness when a house pet died, even a gold fish. The Circle of Life was something foreign to our urban children.
It is more important than ever that we spend as much time as possible learning about such things as growing our own food, and working and playing in our natural world. Most importantly, we need to take our young people with us when we go or encourage them to go. It could be as simple as spending time in a city park, a walk on the Centennial Trail, time spent in River Front Park or volunteering for a litter pick-up with the Spokane Riverkeeper staff.
My close friend Curtis and I recently gave presentations during School District 81’s Get Connected event at Whitworth University. Our presentation was about encouraging students to find their purpose in green spaces. We shared our personal stories of growing up country and how that has led to a lifetime of service, career choices and advocating for our natural world.
Black professional wildlife photographer, cinematographer, author, and fly angler Dudley Edmonson said it best, “… we can’t expect black people or anyone else to protect or advocate for spaces that they’ve rarely had the opportunity to experience and enjoy.”
Earth Day promotes a mindset and way of being and walking on this earth. Finding gratitude and awe in green spaces was nurtured in me. The first step to becoming a life-long earth advocate is gratitude and awe regardless of one’s lineage or history.
Dr. Bartlett is a retired educator. He retired from Gonzaga University in 2007 and Eastern Washington University in 2020.