Responsibility includes care, use, protection, and respect.

Responsibility Includes Care, Use, Protection, and Respect

Category: Tsm’syen Law Page status: Working

Statement

• • Responsibility includes care, use, protection, and respect.**

This principle defines the core duties that accompany responsibility to Laxyuup under Tsm’syen law.

Meaning

Responsibility to land is active, not symbolic.

It requires conduct that maintains balance through care, lawful use, protection from harm, and respect for meaning.

Responsibility is measured by behavior over time.

Care

Care involves attention, maintenance, and restraint.

• Land is monitored and tended
• Long-term effects are considered
• Neglect is a failure of responsibility

Care supports continuity.

Use

Use of land is lawful when it:

• Serves sustenance or continuity
• Respects limits set by ayaawx
• Does not undermine future use

Use increases responsibility; it does not reduce it.

Protection

Protection requires preventing harm.

• Damage to land or water must be avoided
• Places of meaning require heightened protection
• Harm, when it occurs, must be addressed and repaired

Failure to protect weakens authority and trust.

Respect

Respect recognizes that land is not inert or disposable.

• Places carry history and meaning
• Conduct reflects relationship, not entitlement
• Disregard for meaning violates law

Respect governs how decisions are made, not only what decisions are made.

Limits

Responsibility does not permit:

• Exploitation without care
• Use without accountability
• Protection that excludes lawful relationship
• Decisions that erase meaning

Responsibility must hold all four elements together.

Continuity

Care, use, protection, and respect endure across generations.

• Duties are inherited, not optional
• Teaching preserves correct conduct
• Youth are prepared to carry responsibility forward

Responsibility is sustained through balanced practice.