On Behalf of the Wolf: Niche Construction and Indigenous Concepts of Creation

There have been numerous attempts to examine Indigenous cultures from a scientific and evolutionary perspective. In this work, however, there has been little acknowledgment of how the study of biological evolution is changing. I examine evidence of the way Indigenous cultures think about nonhumans and examine concepts of creation and creator figures in relation to Niche Construction, a 21st century evolutionary concept that examines how organisms shape both their own environments and those of other species by studying how Natural Selection can act upon how most organisms impact the survival and existence of other species. I focus this comparison on how many Indigenous Plains cultures of North America regard wolves as being creator figures within the context of the way they experience their environments. Ecological studies revealed that in 30 years since wolf reintroduction to Yellowstone, this species has reshaped the ecology of many other species in the park ecosystem. I argue that in the belief systems of Indigenous peoples, this restructuring is tantamount to an Act of Creation, and that Indigenous Americans recognized that wolves filled both this role, as well as a role in helping Indigenous cultures adjust to the environments of North America as they arrived on this continent over the last 20,000 years. I also consider the relationship from the wolves’ perspective. This concept of creation is rooted in ecology and evolutionary biology, and does not involve supernatural anthropomorphic beings the way Western stories of creation do.