Ecological Indian


Book Description

Krech (anthropology, Brown U.) treats such provocative issues as whether the Eden in which Native Americans are viewed as living prior to European contact was a feature of native environmentalism or simply low population density; indigenous use of fire; and the Indian role in near-extinctions of buffalo, deer, and beaver. He concludes that early Indians' culturally-mediated closeness with nature was not always congruent with modern conservation ideas, with implications for views of, and by, contemporary Indians. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR




The Ecological Indian


Book Description

Krech (anthropology, Brown U.) treats such provocative issues as whether the Eden in which Native Americans are viewed as living prior to European contact was a feature of native environmentalism or simply low population density; indigenous use of fire; and the Indian role in near-extinctions of buffalo, deer, and beaver. He concludes that early Indians' culturally-mediated closeness with nature was not always congruent with modern conservation ideas, with implications for views of, and by, contemporary Indians. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR




Native Americans and the Environment


Book Description

Often cited as one of the most decisive campaigns in military history, the Seven Days Battles were the first campaign in which Robert E. Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia-as well as the first in which Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson worked together.




Changes in the Land


Book Description

The book that launched environmental history, William Cronon's Changes in the Land, now revised and updated. Winner of the Francis Parkman Prize In this landmark work of environmental history, William Cronon offers an original and profound explanation of the effects European colonists' sense of property and their pursuit of capitalism had upon the ecosystems of New England. Reissued here with an updated afterword by the author and a new preface by the distinguished colonialist John Demos, Changes in the Land, provides a brilliant inter-disciplinary interpretation of how land and people influence one another. With its chilling closing line, "The people of plenty were a people of waste," Cronon's enduring and thought-provoking book is ethno-ecological history at its best.




American Indian Environments


Book Description

Reflecting a variety of disciplines, approaches, and viewpoints, this collection of ten essays by both Indians and non-Indians covers a wide range of historical periods, areas, and topics concerning the changes in Indian environmental experiences. Subjects include the role of the environment in religions; white practices of land use and the exploitation of energy resources on reservations; the historical background of sovereignty, its philosophy and legality; and the plight of various uprooted Indians and the resulting clashes between Indian groups themselves as they compete for scarce resources. From the Canadian Subarctic to Ontario's Grassy Narrows, from the Iroquois to the Navajo, American Indian Environments is an important contribution to understanding the Indians' attitude toward and dependence upon their environment and their continued struggles with non-Indians over it.




Iwígara


Book Description

"A beautiful catalogue of 80 plants, revered by indigenous people for their nourishing, healing, and symbolic properties." —Gardens Illustrated The belief that all life-forms are interconnected and share the same breath—known in the Rarámuri tribe as iwígara—has resulted in a treasury of knowledge about the natural world, passed down for millennia by native cultures. Ethnobotanist Enrique Salmón builds on this concept of connection and highlights 80 plants revered by North America’s indigenous peoples. Salmón teaches us the ways plants are used as food and medicine, the details of their identification and harvest, their important health benefits, plus their role in traditional stories and myths. Discover in these pages how the timeless wisdom of iwígara can enhance your own kinship with the natural world.




This Fissured Land


Book Description

"A masterful study. . . . It does for ecological history what the writings of Marx and Engels did for the study of class relations and social production."—Michael Adas, Rutgers University




Dispossessing the Wilderness


Book Description

National parks like Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Glacier preserve some of this country's most cherished wilderness landscapes. While visions of pristine, uninhabited nature led to the creation of these parks, they also inspired policies of Indian removal. By contrasting the native histories of these places with the links between Indian policy developments and preservationist efforts, this work examines the complex origins of the national parks and the troubling consequences of the American wilderness ideal. The first study to place national park history within the context of the early reservation era, it details the ways that national parks developed into one of the most important arenas of contention between native peoples and non-Indians in the twentieth century.




Hippies, Indians, and the Fight for Red Power


Book Description

This book explains how, and why, hippies, Quakers, Black Panthers, movie stars, housewives, and labor unions, to name a few, supported Indian demands for greater political power and separate cultural existence in the modern United States.




The Ecological Other


Book Description

This book engages recent scholarship on trans-corporeality, disability studies, and environmental justice. Ray argues that environmental discourse often frames ecological crisis as a crisis of the body, therefore promoting ecological health at the cost of social equality. Ray urges us to be careful about the ways in which we construct “others” in our arguments to protect nature.