A recent (April 15, 2010) article in the Oregon Daily Emerald talked ecstatically about the re-introduction of gray wolves into Oregon and the need for emulating the Canadians and the Native Americans in their ability to get along with wolves without the fear that comes from the European heritage of tales of werewolves and Little Red Riding Hood. Speaking as both a Canadian, and a student of anthropology, and a practising Norse shaman,I believe it isn't so much a European attitude that fosters a dread of wolves, as an attitude of separation from nature that spread in some places alongside of monotheism. To early Scandinavians the wolf had both negative and positive aspects. It could be a voracious predator, but also a symbol of personal ferocity and solidarity with the community. There were still aspects of animism in the early religion of the area.
Animism, the belief that nature is full of spirits or animating force, often coincides with a treatment of animals as a different class of people. Indeed in some parts of the world, there are human tribes and animal tribes, and a shaman is needed to bridge the gap between the two. With this kind of attitude, there is generally more respect given to the animal peoples than in traditional monotheisms.
Some people within the environmentalist movement have suggested that taking an animistic perspective might help society in general to be less harmful and less wasteful. One doesn't even have to change religions to do this. Responsible living in the modern age would simply be a matter of treating those around us with respect, be they human people, plant people, or animal people. One church near where I live has a slogan on its wall, saying "God takes care of our world, so let's take care of God's world."
I have been up close to a wolf before, and several other times I have been in close proximity to confrontational dogs. Treating them as people, with courtesy and respect, has earned me friendships I otherwise would not have enjoyed. Wild animals are no more or less dangerous than wild people, really. I would be more afraid of being mugged walking down a city street, than I would of being attacked by a wolf or a cougar.
As an addition to my above comment, I should just like to comment on the story of Little Red Riding Hood. This story did contribute to a terrible stigma for the wolf, as did some northern European stories such as that of the wolf Fenris and the tales of the wolves who chase the sun and the moon. A more positive wolf association would be the Norse god Odin, who is attended by ravens and wolves.
The story of Little Red Riding Hood was notable for being a lesson about not talking to strangers, as well as a fable in which the wolf took on person-like traits. I suppose that even treating animals as people, one might still treat them as bad people where warranted. But recognizing the wolf's positive aspects, as a social creature fiercely devoted to its pack, might help one to see past old, negative stereotypes.
