InPotawatami, a language spoken by Indigenous tribes in the Midwest, nouns act like verbs and they both come in animate and inanimate forms. The Potawatomi wouldn’t say “It is a lake.” They would say “She is being a lake.”
In Yucatec, the Indigenous language of the Yucatec Maya in Belize, speakers would use the word “yok’ol-kab” to refer to the world. But the literal translation of the word is “over honey,” reflecting their belief that the natural world is a source of nourishment and wellbeing.
In Cordillera, Philippines, the Kankanaey people have a word for the unethical deed of causing harm to anyone or anything in the natural world: “inayan.” Because they believe in the interconnectedness of humans and nature, to disrespect or harm a living or nonliving thing is an affront to their very culture.