Affordances and the Logic of the Gift

In this essay, we investigate human relationships to Land that are implied by the notion of affordances. Some expressions can be read as supporting a logic of extraction: affordances are aspects of the environment, lying ready to be used, without any responsibility for care or reciprocation from the user of the affordance. Thinking with Indigenous philosophies and creation stories, we explore the possibility of grounding affordances in an alternative logic: the logic of the gift. The offerings of the environment, of which humans are a part, need to be reciprocated by practices of care and gratitude: only when Land is cared for and protected will it continue to offer its affordances.