The Relationship between Non-Human Alien and the Environment

The Na‟vi have a unique relationship with their environment. They lived harmonically with all organisms in the forest; animals, plants, and the deities. To analyze the relationship between non-human alien (Na‟vi) and their environment, the writer gives more attention to how Na‟vi treats and behaves toward nature.

They respect nature and worship it. They believe that nature have power and connection that connected all organisms in their world.

Na‟vi ways of life and relationship with nature are resemble to the one of ancient history of religion called animism. Today it commonly refers to perceptions that natural entities, forces, and nonhuman life-forms have one or more of the following: a soul or vital lifeforce or spirit, personhood (an effective

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life and personal intentions), and consciousness, often but not always including special spiritual intelligence or powers.⁹

a. Respecting nature

Differ from human, the Na‟vi believe all life is sacred and should be honored. This attitude includes paying respect to the plants and animals that harvested or killed to provide their sustenance. When Na‟vi should kill an animal whether it is a self defense or a hunt for eating, they not mere kill them but feel sad and thank them for their sacrifice. The Na‟vi have a unique ritual after killing an animal by praying for the animal they killed or hunted the peace and praying for they own salvation. This ritual is only one from various rituals the indigenous culture have. Rituals affirming the interconnectedness of the human and nonhuman worlds exist in every primitive culture.¹⁰

Pict.14 Neytiri is praying beside the murdered dog

Naytiri prays beside the dying wild black dog one by one after killing them in order to save Jake. After running off from the big monstrous wild dog called thanator, Jake was lost in the forest. When the night came, the wild animals surrounded him because he was noisy, according to Naytiri. So that he fought

9 Bron Taylor, Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future (California: University of California Press, 2010), P.15

10 Ibid. p.21

them. Then Naytiri came for helping him by killing some of the small wild dogs in order to repel them after getting a sign from her God about Jake. But then, when Jake said thanks to her, she was angry instead. She was angry because she thought that those animals were not deserved died.

Jack : Hey, wait! I just wanna say thanks for killing those things.

Neytiri : Don’t thank! You don’t thank for this. This is sad. Very sad only.

Jack : Ok. I’m sorry. Whatever I did I’m sorry.

Neytiri : This is your fault. They don’t need to die. (00:36:46)

For Na‟vi who live peacefully with nature, killing animals or any organisms are unnecessary and disturbs the balance of life that their deity, Eywa, is trying to protect. They understood that even animals have spirits that should be respected.

Soon after three months living together with the Na‟vi, Jake is used to be with the Na‟vi lifestyle and also with this ritual. So, when he is hunting an animal, he prays for it, just like what is done by Neytiri before. By using Na‟vi native language, Jake prays “I see you, brother and thank you. Your spirit goes with Eywa. Your body stays behind to become part of the people.”

Pict.15 Jake is killing then praying an animal

It means that he feels sorry for killing it but he has to do that for the sustenance of his clan, Omaticaya. In Artic Dreams Lopez writes, “. . . , the hunter

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saw himself bound up in a sacred relationship with the larger animals he hunted.

The relationship was full of responsibilities – to the animals, to himself, and to his family”.¹¹ In this film, this ritual seems like Jake makes some permission to kill him and convince him that he will not die in vain. Moreover for Neytiri, this attitude shows that Jake was ready to the next step of the Na‟vi warrior. Because it means that Jake is understood enough about a sense of taking responsibility for the stewardship of the environment.

A. Dionys de Leeue, a professional biologist specializing in sport fisheries management, gives the following definition of respect: “behavior with regard to an interest that shows consideration for the holder of the interest and avoids degradation of it, negative interference with it, or interruption of it”.¹² Because the Na‟vi is well understood that all life is sacred, so they take responsible and take care for it. They also understand that the environment is what they rely on to provide them with the sustenance they need. The Na‟vi acknowledged their need of other creatures but did not take them greedily.

b. Worshiping Nature

The Na‟vi worship the mother goddess, Eywa, whom they believe keeps and creates the souls of all the Na‟vi and other living creatures on Pandora.

Norm: Who’s Eywa? Only their deity. Their Goddess made up of all living things, everything they know. (00:49:25)

11 J. Claude Evans, With Respect for Nature: Living as Part of the Natural World (USA:

State University of New York Press, 2005) p.11

12 Ibid. pp.5-6

The Na‟vi obey what Eywa says to them without ask or doubt. Eywa gives them sign about what should they do and they should not do through a pink-flying thing like jellyfish that Neytiri explained as “seeds of the sacred tree, very pure spirit.”

Pict.16 The sign of Eywa

When Neytiri is about going to kill Jake with her poisonous arrow, suddenly a seed is passing trough before her. That makes her postponed the deed.

For the Na‟vi, the seed presence means a sign from Eywa. It is explicitly explained by Neytiri when she brought Jake Sully to Omaticaya‟s village for the first time in front of the chief and all the people.

Neytiri: I was about going to kill him but there was a sign from Eywa.

(00:43:13)

Furthermore after helping Jake, the seeds are making appearance again.

Neytiri was chasing Jake away because Jake was following her and coercing her to take him home with her. Then the seeds come and cover Jake‟s body. Soon after the seeds went, Neytiri changes her attitude and mind then hurriedly takes Jake to her village.

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Pict.17 The seeds are covering Jake‟s body

This obedience attitude can also be seen from Tsu‟Tey character.

Eventhough he is rough and hate the sky people a lot until he called them

„demons‟, but when he acknowledges that it is Eywa who gives order, he do nothing but obey.

Tsu’Tey : These demons are forbidden here.

Neytiri : There is a sign. There is a matter for the Tsahik.

Tsu’Tey : Bring him. (00:41:18)

When Neytiri and Jake are on the way to the village, Tsu‟Tey and the people block their way and bind Jake. His gaze is so upset and disgust that he wants to kill Jake. But then when Neytiri says that there was a sign from Eywa, Tsu‟Tey argues no more and gives her permission to bring him and continue the walk together to the village.

Beside Eytukan who is the clan leader, The Na‟vi also has the Eys Tsahik, Neytiri‟s mother. Tsahik is the one who interprets what the meaning of the sign Eywa is giving to them. She interprets the world of Eywa. She has also the important part in the tribe as the matriarch leader and the spiritual leader. Her words are supposed to be heard and cannot be objected, eventhough with her own daughter. Because her words are came directly from Eywa.

Tsahik : My daughter you will teach him our way to speak and walk as we do.

Neytiri : Why me? This is not fair.

Tsahik : It is decided. My daughter will teach you our way. Learn well, Jake Sully. Then we will see if your insanity can be cured. (00:44:55) It means that the Na‟vi is worshiping Eywa full of their heart with no doubt. Because they believe all energy is only borrowed. Eywa is the only thing the Na‟vi owe their existence and hope to. When there is nothing left for them, they go and wish nowhere but to Eywa. When they have no place to go, nothing to hope, they will run to Eywa.

Jack (narrator): Na’vi says Eywa will provide life. But with no hope, no home, there is only one place they could go.

The Na‟vi also believe that after death, the souls of all living thing on Pandora return to Eywa. They believe the souls of their departed ancestors rest with Eywa on the sacred tree. This tree is their direct link to Eywa and the ancestors. As the evidence, Na‟vi can hear their voices through the tree of voices by linking their bond. Moreover, this is proven explicitly by Dr. Augustine when she is going to die.

Dr. Augustine: I’m with her, Jake. She is real. (01:56:12)

At the dying condition, Augustine was taken by Jake into the tree of soul asking for help to heal her. She said arrogantly before that this kind of talk is fairy tale and impossible. She is a scientist and scientists only believe in something that provable in science. But at last, she admitted this spiritual thing when she finally meets Eywa herself.

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c. Dependent on nature

Pict.18 Omaticaya are sleeping on home tree

Pict.19 Neytiri drinks from the flower

The Na‟vi lives and life with and by nature. They are using every utility the forest gives them wisely. They use the huge tree for the place to live in colony.

They sleep on the net they made on the branches (pict.18). They eat from the animals they hunt on the forest but not greedy that they make a ritual when killing an animal. They drink from the leaves and flowers in the forest. They make the weapon from the wood surround. Moreover they have their own rules that prevail on every member of the tribe even to use wood from their home tree. They always have to listen and obey the rules of their mother goddess. Instead they never even think about breaking Eywa‟s rules.

Their lives are supported by the environment nicely. Thus they understand enough how dependent they are to nature so that they respect and protect them so that their lives will continue supported. They realize they depend on planet as much as it depends on them for survival. Environment, people, and all organisms are dependent on one another to keep exist and viable.

Jack: I try to understand this deep connection people have to the forest.

She talks about a network of energy that flows to all living things. She says all energy under borrowing and one day has to give back. (01:01:34)

The Na‟vi believe that if they cherish and care for nature and environment then the environment will continue to provide them with the nourishment to survive. They believe that all energy as they live is only borrowing, so someday they have to give back.

d. The deep connection with nature

Na‟vi has a special bond that connects them with other species on their planet. There is a unique bond, which is the nerve ending growing from their heads, in the end of their braided hair. This bond is called tsahaylu.

Pict. 20 Tsahaylu

It is formed for mutual benefit. Its function is to connect the na‟vi and the mind of the other creatures they want to ride. To make the bond work, Na‟vi should first match their tsahaylu with the tsahaylu of animals they want to connect or ride. By connecting the bond, Na‟vi are able to ride or fly on the back of the other creatures, such as horse and ikran, the flying animal like prehistoric birds Pterodactyl. It can give orders without words but only need to think of what they want to do on mind. It is like they are thinking together.

Neytiri: That is Tsahaylu, the bond. Feel it. Feel her heart beat, her breath. Feel her strong legs. You may tell her what to do inside. For now, say where to go. (00:50:35)

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Tsahaylu is the most important part of Na‟vi‟s body. So after Neytiri got command from Tsahik to teach Jake their way of life, Neytiri first acknowledge Jake to Tsahaylu and teach him how Na‟vi ride a horse. Because of the important of the Tsahaylu, Na‟vi threat other Na‟vi by cutting off their hair, where the Tsahaylu is.

Pict.21 Treated to cut the tsahaylu

The first time Jake Sully came into the village of Omaticaya, a warrior of Na‟vi, upon Tsu‟tey command, guarded Jake all the way to the Village. He gripped Jake‟s braided hair and treated to cut it with a knife to make Jake calm and obey. He treated to cut Jake‟s Tsahaylu instead of cutting Jake‟s neck like human being usually do. This shows that the bond is important that the Na‟vi fright to lose them.

Pict.22 netiri matches tsahaylu to the tree of voices

Pict.23 Omaticaya are praying on the tree of souls

The bond can also be made with the Tree of Voices (pict.22) and the Tree of Soul (pict.23) so that the Na’vi are able to commune with Eywa, their deity and their ancestors. Sometimes Animism involves communication and/or even

communion with such intelligences or lifeforces, or beliefs that nature‟s intelligences and forces are divine and should be worshipped and/or beseeched for healing or other favors.¹³

Proving Neytiri‟s words about the voices, Jake was bonding his tsahalu to the tree of voices at the night after the ceremony to become one of Omaticaya. He then can hear the voices, that Na‟vi believe, are the voices of their ancestors.

Furthermore, all Na‟vi can altogether match their bond on the Tree of Soul‟s fringes or roots. All Omaticaya, who is left after the cutting down of their home tree, are sitting together praying to their deity by connecting their tsahaylu with the roots of the tree of soul, Yvetryar Ramounom.

By the bond, they can feel the other creatures. They also feel like they are becoming one with them. Thus they can understand nature more than human.

From understanding, they also can respect them. Because they are also the same creation of their deities and they do need each other to keep the world balance. In this complex ecosystem, the Na’vi understand that all of the flora and fauna on the planet, including them, are connected to a central of all that encompassing spiritual existence.

Tsahaylu shows that the Na‟vi relied on intimate connection with the other living creatures to comprehend their world. Its connections are not only happened between each people of Na‟vi but also between the Na‟vi and the animals, and between the Na‟vi and their ancestors. This intimate connection with the ancestors gives them the ability to make wiser decisions that allowed them to live

13 Bron Taylor (2010), p.15.

50 Pandora‟s forest. This connection is proven by Dr. Augustine from her scientific analysis. She explains that the trees, that Na‟vi worshiping on and all the trees all over the Pandora, have an incredible connection to one another. They link together and communicate each other on their own way. She uses an analogical explanation by comparing the way of communication the trees have with the connection between the synopses between human being‟s chromosomes and brain.

Augustine : I’m talking about something real, something measurable in the biology of the forest.

Parker : Which is what exactly?

Augustine : What we think we know is there is some kind of electro chemical communication between the roots of the trees like the synopsis between your own chromosomes. And each tree has ten to the four (10⁴) to the trees around it and ten to the twelve (10¹²) on Pandora. It’s more connection than human brain. (01:28:37)

Brain is the most amazing thing that differ human beings with their entire fellow inhabitant. But Dr. Augustine uses brain for comparison. Indeed, she says that the connection between the roots of the trees on Pandora is more powerful than human brain. It shows that the other living things can communicate with each other through special way that even human cannot compete with. It also shows how powerful the power of nature that human being look down on to.

e. The power of nature

In many mythical cultures, nature usually describes having a powerful force. The writer also finds this believed power in the film. After helping Jake Sully expelling the dogs, Neytiri threw out the made torch into water to put it off.

Jake was using the torch to help him saw his way on the forest in the dark night.

The forest was on the absolute dark that Jake hardly to see the way. But as soon as his torch was off, Jake was shocked because all of sudden, all flora and fauna on Pandora‟s forest were glowing colorfully. They have their own ray to enlighten the forest at night.

Pict.24 Jake is using the made torch

Pict.25 The forest is enlighten itself

Jake that represents the arrogance of human being made the light himself.

Yet this attitude leads him into trouble and being apart from nature. But then when his arrogance, which represents by the torch, was off, the environment is going to be hospitable with him and serving him light. It represents that nature has its power to choose whom to help. And the environment has also the power to enlighten other creatures and organisms if only they want to respect them.

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Pict.26 On trying to heal Grace Pict.27 Omaticaya‟s healing ritual.

Na‟vi believe that nature they worship on have a special power for healing the wounded person. Indeed this believes affected Jake, who has already lived with them three months in order to learn their way of life. When Dr. Grace got shot by colonel Quaritch on the stomach, Jake Sully takes Grace to Na‟vi on the tree of soul to ask for help. At first, Jake and Augustine are doubt the idea but they have no choice except to try it. Then after the ceremony or ritual, Augustine‟s confession convinces Jake that Eywa is true.

The ceremony is required all member of Omaticaya‟s tribe. They all

The ceremony is required all member of Omaticaya‟s tribe. They all