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In New Zealand, Land and Rivers are People Too

New Zealand has made a determination that Te Urewera, an 821 square mile park, now has all of the legal rights of a legal person.

New Zealand - Te Urewera National Park

Sound crazy? Well really, if you study indigenous people throughout the world, those that we would say in the west are not civilized, you will find that in their relationship to the land, they deemed that all parts of the land were equal to them. Accordingly, they had to show respect for the land, the plants, the rivers and the animals.

Of course, we have, in our civilized society, removed ourselves mentally and physically from the land. We have misinterpreted scripture to allow us to dominate rather than steward the very planet that keeps us alive.

Cudos to New Zealand for listening to the history of the Maori People and becoming a bit more civilized.

Read the full article:
In New Zealand, Lands and Rivers Can Be People (Legally Speaking)
Limited free access; NY Times subscription may be required.

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