When Indiana centenarian Chinnagounder asked Deane Curtin about his interest in traditional medicine, Curtin wondered whether it was possible for the industrialized world to interact with native cultures for reasons other than to exploit them, develop them, and eradicate their traditional practices. The answer, according to Curtin, defines the ethical character of what we typically call 'progress', and he articulates a response to Chinnagounder's challenge in terms of a new, distinctly postcolonial, environmental ethic.