Respecting
other human and non-human beings was fundamental to our teachings. This meant that hunting and fishing, as with all our resource gathering activities, was conducted with respect for the animal whose life we were taking. It also meant respecting the animals whose home were we co-occupying – such as the wolves of Húy̓at.
"When I was growing up we always taught whatever you hunt for you have to use and if you have more than what you need, you share it with other people. And we never did any hunting where we would just shoot something for the sake of [killing] something. It was always to sustain ourselves."
- Yím̓ás Wígviɫba Wákas Harvey Humchitt
"There's a teaching that you need to speak with them [cougars and wolves], that they understand, and you need to let them know that you're not there to hurt them, that you're there too, you have to give them your reason for being there."
- Hílístis Pauline Waterfall
"You don't kill salmon just for the sake of killing it. You're very disrespectful if you don't use it. And they've always said if you continue to do that, they're not going to return. If you're just abusive. So that was part of our social law. When you’re taught those when you were very young. Because you taught those kinds of principles by hands-on experience. Being out there with the old people. They're teaching you how to treat, how to respect the salmon."
- Cyril Carpenter
