A 'Mother Earth' for us all?
Invoking of phrase and concepts encouraged, already in widespread use
As we sit in time between Mother’s Day and Earth Day, it seems a good time to return to the concept of Mother Earth.
Last week, I sent an email to a dozen Indigenous friends and acquaintances, asking their thoughts on the use of the phrase “Mother Earth” by non-Indigenous people.
As I mentioned in my April 21 post on the importance of “framing” issues in language that conveys desired concepts, the phrase “Mother Earth” carries lovely nuances that acknowledge how the planet nurtures us. It also implies a level of responsibility in returning the favor by caring for our mother.
So, I decided to ask around about the use of the phrase outside of Indigenous cultures.
The responses I received and internet research leave me feeling like its use is generally viewed as positive. At any rate, for good or bad, the phrase permeates popular culture.
Thoughts on invoking ‘Mother Earth’
Here are the responses, listed in the order they were received.
Selso Villegas, executive director of the Tohono O’odham Nation’s Water Resources Department (also featured here):
Excellent article and discussion about what are the proper ways to address another living entity (being), Mother Earth or what we call her, jewed ka:cim.
I believe humans that love her should call her Mother Earth. Mother Earth is a good name all of us here on her should call her.
She is here for all of us, not just a few.
Anthony “Guy” Lopez, Crow Creek Sioux (also featured here):
Use of the term Mother Earth should be universally encouraged by Indigenous peoples and everyone.
I haven’t quite figured out what differences there are when certain cultures identify the Earth as a paternal entity, like the Third Reich’s overuse of the term, the Fatherland.
Noland Johnson, Tohono O’odham farmer and food sovereignty practitioner:
The thing about Mother Earth is a non-issue with me. I don’t use the words much because growing up I never really heard anyone use it.
When I refer to the earth I use sacred grounds or our ground or land. When I use mother I think of my mom who jokes around and who I am most comfortable with and don’t have to be so serious with.
Mother Earth does say so much with just two words. Interesting topic, curious about the conversation.
So the three responses I received were encouraging about the general use of Mother Earth—with the gentle caveat that the term be used as an endearment, with respect and love.
Additional comments are welcome below.
Before Earth Day and the Clean Air Act, factories released unfiltered smoke into the air. Photo captured from Youtube video.
Honoring our Mother
The original Earth Day launched on April 22, 1970, by the late Gaylord Nelson, then a Democratic senator representing Wisconsin.
A longtime conservationist, Nelson timed it so teachers and professors could educate students and hold teach-ins similar to the anti-war activities that helped bring an end to the Vietnam War. (The potential for similar critical thinking activities no doubt inspires the current conservative attacks on universities.)
An estimated 20 million people participated in a variety of grassroots activities on the first Earth Day, including tree planting, litter collecting and protesting. Some celebrations involved concerts.
Earth Day also coincided with and helped spur on the passage by Congress of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and legislation to launch the Environmental Protection Agency—under the administration of Richard Nixon, a Republican.
In those days, both sides of the aisle worked to keep our planet livable.
Also contributing to the 1970 concern for planetary health: Smokestacks pouring out soot-darkened emissions, and waterways so polluted that many eastern rivers would occasionally burst into flames. A 1969 fire on Ohio’s Cuyahoga River caught the nation’s attention when Time magazine featured it, along with images from more serious earlier fires.
An iconic image in Time of Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River burning captivated the nation, and helped inspire Americans to think differently about our planet. Photo captured from Youtube video about the event.
Earth Day celebrations soon expanded into the international realm, thanks in part to the Earth Day Network. It now reports about 1 billion people around the world celebrate.
In 2009, the United Nations passed a resolution to establish April 22 as “International Mother Earth Day.”
Not only had the U.N. adopted the phrase, but Secretary General António Guterres’ statement for the 2025 celebration imagined the planet as a life form:
Mother Earth is running a fever.
Last year was the hottest ever recorded. The final blow in a decade of record heat.
We know what’s causing this sickness: the greenhouse gas emissions humanity is pumping into the atmosphere—overwhelmingly from burning fossil fuels.
We know the symptoms: devastating wildfires, floods and heat. Lives lost and livelihoods shattered.
We know the cure: rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and turbocharging adaptation, to protect ourselves—and nature—from climate disasters. …
Together, let’s get to work and make 2025 the year we restore good health to Mother Earth.
As illustrated by the United Nations, the concept of the planet as a nourishing mother permeates a large variety of cultures, from the Inca to the Iroquois to the Irish.
Labels range from the Latin American Pachamama to the Celtic Danu to the Indigenous Mother Earth. The Greeks called her Gaia, as do some of us who write about Gaia theory. Some names from other cultures would more easily translate to Mother Nature—another phrase also invoked in this country at least since the 1970s.
At root is the concept of mutual care between humans and the planet sustaining us all.
That’s a concept worth supporting, by any name.
What’s your favorite way to refer to the planet we all call on when it’s time to phone home?
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