from The Practice of the Wild: Good, Wild and Sacred

The first part of the chapter is Weeding out the Wild and the outcome of this section pointed out people supporting the preservation of the sacred and wild places verses the seemingly overwhelming push of people that take and consume these places for profit. He connected his own experience as a person who inhabits where the Southern Maidu used to dwell. They were overcome by gold rush miners. The Southern Maidu had sacred places and lessons from their land that Snyder is confident he can find again.
Snyder presents this tradition of weeding out the wild also known as “spiritual cultivation.” The example of the pigs and cattle, and holy men have their wild weeded out to become more civilized but for cows and pigs this proves to be only a human beneficial scheme because when the wild is tamed and bred out of them more, the more harmful it is to their fitness. Civilized meat animals are easier prey which is ideal among people, where more civilized people are to have more ideal relationships and standing (or class) among people.
Another reason he mentions that adds to why the wilderness gets pushed out by people is that “good” land in agricultural terms may not take into account whether the land is to be left alone for the sake that the land is wild or sacred. I like his analogy that the wild is what “keeps flying, creeping, burrowing in” despite peoples’ taming and culturing.
But at the end of the section there is consciencousness of what’s happening and he refers to it as an “European phenomenon: A reaction against formalistic rationalism and enlightened despotism.” He also said that older traditions and cultures lent help in preserving sacred and wild in both human understanding and the preservation, observation and worship of land. Then a detailed account of help from a politician...
Not only is the conflict from using resources for people verses preservation but also taking into account religious values of different people. Native American churches verses founding fathers’ church (81)
Snyder’s next section is Waterholes. To me the waterholes represent an oasis in the desert. Oasis represents relief; relief in of harshness in a harsh place is powerful and important, and sacred. The waterholes are sacred to the Aboriginals that Snyder visited and studied with.
He experienced a modified tradition that was to suit their mode of travel when Jimmy Tjungurrayi is telling Snyder indigenous stories at high speed while they are in a truck rather then being told at a slower pace when these stories would’ve been told along days of walking.
The section is really an example of one of the older cultures that were mentioned in the first section about how older cultures hold better, tradition to their wild and sacred places. The Aborigines had much oral tradition, and visitations to their land and sacred places. Another oral tradition was their singing that they would have to practice and rehearse with each other.