Question

Given below is an extract from the book, Turtle Island:

‘I pledge allegiance to the soil of Turtle Island, and to the beings who thereon dwell one ecosystem in diversity under the sun...’

1. Who wrote the above lines? [1]
2. How do the lines given above relate to the idea of Deep Ecology put forth by the poet? [3]

Answer 1

1. Author: The American poet and environmentalist Gary Snyder. The lines are from his poem titled “For All”, featured in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book Turtle Island.
2. Gary Snyder’s lines fundamentally mirror the core tenets of Deep Ecology by shifting the locus of value away from human beings and placing it onto the entire ecosphere:
   • Biocentric Egalitarianism: By pledging allegiance directly to the “soil” and “all the beings” rather than a political state or government, the poem rejects anthropocentrism (human-centeredness). It treats all living and non-living elements as possessing equal intrinsic worth.
   • Interconnectedness and Totality: The phrase “one ecosystem in diversity” highlights the Deep Ecology perspective that humans do not stand apart from nature. Instead, they are merely one interconnected thread woven into a vast ecological web.
   • Bioregional Identity: Reclaiming the indigenous term “Turtle Island” to describe North America signals a deep ecological loyalty to natural geographical and biological boundaries rather than artificial, political nation-state borders.