The Mountain Institute (TMI) is a
secular, non-profit organization dedicated to protecting
mountain ecosystems and mountain communities through
advocacy, education, and outreach. Based in Washington,
D.C., TMI has offices and runs programs in the
Andean, Himalayan, Appalachian, and other mountain
ranges in the United States. In addition to working
with local communities on environmental and cultural
conservation issues, the Institute works on the
global level as well through its Mountain Forum,
Sustainable Living Systems, and Sacred Mountains
initiatives.
Based on the belief that environmental conservation
programs need to be grounded in deeply held values
and cultural beliefs to assure long-term sustainability,
the Mountain Institute initiated the Sacred Mountains
Program in 1999. Through this program, TMI works
with the National Park Service (NPS) and other
conservation organizations to develop innovative,
interpretive, and educational materials based on
the evocative associations of mountains and mountain
environments in various cultures in the United
States (US) and abroad. As the highest features
of the landscape, mountains are associated with
high
ideals
and aspirations
in many different societies, making them especially
suitable for environmental conservation programs.
By drawing on spiritual and cultural traditions
such as Native American, Native Hawaiian, African-American,
Asian American, and Latino, the project helps to
diversify the visitor base for National Parks and
protected areas in the United States and presents
multiple perspectives that enrich the general public’s
experience of nature and encourage stewardship
of the environment. The project also seeks to help
indigenous peoples protect their sacred sites and
present information about their relationships with
Parks and protected areas from their own cultural
perspectives. The traveling outreach exhibits,
interpretive trails, educational wayside signs,
publications, and artwork are intended to resonate
with people by connecting to their cultural traditions
and to foster deep-seated desires to conserve the
environment, in both parks and at home. The content
for these materials is based on the role of mountains
and mountain environments in major world religions,
including Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity,
Islam, and many diverse indigenous traditions.
Specific projects of the Sacred Mountains Program
include: a traveling offsite exhibit at Mount
Rainier that displays different cultural and spiritual
views of mountains along with evocative quotes
and images. Park rangers are now taking this
exhibit
to fairs, community centers, conventions, and
other venues in the Seattle-Tacoma area. An interpretive
trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park
links
natural features along the Ococanluftee River
to Cherokee stories and traditions through wayside
exhibits in English and Cherokee. The “Experience
Your America” exhibit at Great Smoky Mountains
and Yosemite National Parks combines inspirational
quotes and photographs to highlight spiritual themes
evoked by mountains and nature in major National
Parks. Workshops have been created to help interpreters,
teachers, and volunteers integrate spiritual, inspirational,
and cultural content into traditional physical
science programs through workshops. In Hawaii,
native elders will select two traditional Hawaiian
works of art dedicated to the sacredness of Mauna
Loa and Kilauea Volcanoes and the volcano goddess
Pele to be commissioned for the newly renovated
Kilauea Visitors Center at Hawai’i Volcanoes
National Park. |
| Three pilot sites were chosen for
the Sacred Mountains Program when it was launched
in 1999: Mount Rainier, the Rocky Mountain, and
the Great Smoky Mountain National Parks. These
three parks
represent three major regions of the National Park
Service that span the country from the Southeast
to the Pacific West, with the Intermountain Region
in the middle. Their geographic distribution, high
profiles in the park system, proximity to urban
areas with culturally diverse populations, local
Native American tribes, and their different mountain
environments made them excellent places to develop
interpretive products that could serve as models
in succeeding phases of the project, both within
the National Park Service and elsewhere in the
United States (US) and abroad. Once sample projects
where developed and evaluated, the Program expanded
to
Yosemite,
the Hawai’ian Volcanoes, and the North Cascades
National Parks as well as the Santa Monica Mountains
National Recreation
Area. In May 2002, the Sacred Mountains Program
received the Pacific West Region Partnership Achievement
Award from the National Park Service for its collaboration
on the Mountain Views traveling offsite exhibit
at Mount Rainier. At present, the Sacred Mountains
Program is working with the Asian Program of TMI
and other, potential partners in India, Nepal,
and Sri Lanka to develop a new “Sacred Values
and Biodiversity Conservation Initiative” that
will use sacred sites in South Asia as a basis
for developing programs of environmental awareness
and conservation that come out of Hindu, Buddhist,
Sikh, and other traditions. |
