Indigenous worldviews encompassed what could be understood
by Western culture as elements of both the natural and
In Nature’s Law, the parameters of "nature" do not match Western conceptions; likewise there is
no clear demarcation between the natural and the
supernatural. That is, Indigenous groups resisted defining
nature as just what can be seen by the eye, or felt by the
body, or heard by the ear. Indeed, some notions of nature
also involved the supernatural, for gifted members of
society could see, feel, hear and interact with what we
would call supernatural forces.
Thus, forces and powers of
the spirit world, including ancestors and unknown energies
in the cosmos were part of the natural order, since they
were accorded influence in the affairs of animals, humans
and the landscape at large. When we use the term Nature’s
Law, then, we are using it in the enlarged Indigenous sense.