text: In March of this year, the New Zealand Parliament granted personhood to the Whanganui River in New Zealand, after over 100 years of effort by the Whanganui tribe which lives along the river.   “From a Whanganui viewpoint, the wellbeing of the river is directly linked to the wellbeing of the people,” Adrian Rurawhe, who represents the Maori in parliament, told the BBC. “So it is really important that it is recognized as its own identity.”   I understand two rivers in India have been granted the same status and Ecuador and Bolivia have some legislation now dealing with equal rights of nature and persons.
  
  Native/non-Western people's religious beliefs were safely denounced, ridiculed, suppressed when the power was all in the hands of the Westernized Christian conquerors.  But incorporating nature into God's being and presence is a religious belief widespread around the globe.  Maybe a claim of religious freedom is the next step for those who want to protect Bears Ears National Park.