I commend you to the third reading speech that I gave in which I talked about that, because everything comes from one's perspective of creation and one's teachings around creation. In the Senate, I spoke about the fact that in our teachings—and this is true for several if not all of the indigenous groups across Canada—human beings were not placed upon the earth in order to dominate the earth and to exploit the resources of the earth. They were placed here to enable us to use them in balance with all other beings of creation.
While we recognize that as a predator species we have an obligation, for survival reasons, to depend upon other species to survive, in the doing of that, in the taking of those lives, we also have an obligation to take no more than we need and to take care of the spirit of that animal, to take care of our own spirit in the taking of that animal. It's a very unique perspective of things. I think it still resonates within many indigenous communities today.
All of us who come from a traditional perspective within indigenous communities often also draw upon the animal world for our spirit names. There is that strong connection to that part of the creation, and to the earth itself. That's not to say that we haven't learned and won't learn how to function within western society, but carrying those traditions and those teachings is an important part of our ability to function in balance throughout this creation.