The Courageous Witness of the Tree-Huggers

 

                                                               Tree Guardians in India, 1974

If you besiege a town for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, 

you must not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them. 

Although you may take food from them, you must not cut them down. 

Are trees in the field human beings that they should come under siege from you?

                      Deuteronomy 20: 19 NRSVue

From time to time this photo pops up on social media and it gives me cause for pause. 

In 1974, 50 years ago now, a woman named Gaura Devi led 27 of the women from her Indian village where they confronted loggers were about to take down 2,500 trees in a nearby forest. 

According to a description of what was the beginning of the Chipko movement, when all talking failed, and the loggers started to shout and abuse the women, threatening them with guns, the women resorted to hugging the trees to stop them from being felled. The women kept an all-night vigil guarding their trees against the cutters until a few of them relented and left the village. The next day, when the men and leaders returned, the news of the movement spread to the neighbouring Laata and other villages including Henwalghati, and more people joined in. Eventually, after a four-day stand-off, the contractors left.

We all know that the term "tree-hugger" is used in a derisive manner to describe environmentalist and other naive do-gooders, including people of faith, who protest the destruction of trees vital to our survival as human beings. Over the years we've seen countless photos and film footage of confrontations between loggers and those who resist the "harvesting" of trees that have taken hundreds of years to grow, including many in Canada. 

                                                                        Lyell Island Blockade 1985

When we were in Haida Gwaii in June we took a boat trip to Gwaii Hanaas, a remarkable chain of islands forming what is now a Canadian/Haida National Park. It was being clearcut until a blockade of Haida people, including auntie elders, brought it to a standstill and eventually led to a new agreement for protection. Seeing Lyell Island, the site of the blockade was powerful, and being able to view large blocks of clearcut in various locations was sobering. Walking amidst these giants on various trails, was breath-taking and worshipful. We often stopped to thank God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer for the trees, as we do on many of our hikes and paddles. 

Again and again I've noted how often the bible speaks of trees, metaphorically and practically, literally from beginning to end. There is even an instruction to be careful about cutting down trees during conquest. 

Listen Groundlings, the Creator loves trees so surely we should as well!

                                                     Ruth and her new BFF on Haida Gwaii

                                                              A Safe Bear Encounter on Haida Gwaii