The Foundation of John Muir's World View: A study of the Tlingit Kinship

• Main Author: Zender, Mary
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@CSB/SJU 1998
• Subjects: History; tlingit
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/honors_theses/642; https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1684&context=honors_theses

John Muir's ideas concerning the natural world were cutting edge in the late nineteenth century and they still are today. He possessed the foresight which made his philosophies insightful and new a century later. What gave his theories the vitality to transcend time? Perhaps it was the right combination. His view of the wilderness encompassed a passion not found in most people's beliefs. I think his passion came from within, but I know he received strength from the kinship he found in the Native Alaskans. In them he discovered the truth behind his ideas. He witnessed the manifestation of his theories in their lives. The wilderness philosophies of the Tlingit people provided Muir with the proof that matched his passion.