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Native Americans and the Environment
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Past, Present and Future - Recommended Reading ListNative American communities currently hold 4% of U.S. land, the second largest holding interest after the federal government. In the 1900s, much of this land was deemed unusable, but today many natural resources, namely mineral resources, are being discovered on these lands. The conflict between treaty rights and the mining interests of large corporations are just one of many conflicts existing over the use of Native American resources. Treaty rights over hunting and fishing, forest resources, water resources, and clean land and air initiatives are also being challenged. The following resources represent a variety of cultural and historical perspectives from different Native American communities, voices not often heard, about the environment and conservation issues and policies--with a special emphasis on tribes from the Great Lakes area. Take a look at Water on the Web: Native Americans for additional information. This reading list was originally developed with the assistance of by Stephanie Good.
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Call No. 201597
Walleye Warriors: An Effective Alliance Against Racism and for the Earth
/ By Rick Whaley and Walter Bresette.
Philadelphia: New Society Publishers:
1994.
This is the empowering account of how the Chippewa in Wisconsin and Minnesota fought alongside local residents and activists against the racism that was interfering with their treaty rights to harvest walleye. New goals for cultural diversity and environmental justice in Wisconsin were set--and are being reinforced today.
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Call No. 201598
The New Resource Wars: Native and Environmental Struggles Against Multinational Corporations
/ By Al Gedicks.
Boston: South End Press:
1993.
Al Gedicks chronicles the struggles of Native Americans and environmentalists to fight environmental destruction caused by corporations. Highlighted is the Lake Superior Chippewa fight against the Kennecott Copper Corporation in Northern Wisconsin.
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Call No. 201599
All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life
/ By Winona LaDuke.
Cambridge, Mass.: South End Press:
1999.
Acclaimed environmental activist, 1997 Ms. magazine Woman of the Year, and former vice-presidential nominee (she shared the Green Party ticket with Ralph Nader in 1996 and 2000), Winona LaDuke provides a thoughtful analysis of the Native American's resistance to environmental and cultural degradation in her non-fiction debut.
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Call No. 201600
Defending Mother Earth: Native American Perspectives on Environmental Justice
/ By Jace Weaver.
Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books:
2003.
Ecological disasters are threatening the way of life of many Native Americans since many occur on or near their lands. This collection of essays illustrate the complicated issues surrounding the struggle for protecting the health of the environment and provide hope for the future of the planet as a whole.
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Call No. 201601
Ecocide of Native America: Environmental Destruction of Indian Lands and Peoples
/ By Donald A. Grinde and Bruce E. Johansen.
Santa Fe: Clear Light Publishers:
1999.
Testimonies from Native Americans throughout the U.S. about how their lands are being polluted and destroyed are interspersed with the environmental perspectives of these first "ecologists." Howard Zinn calls this book both "eloquent" and "powerful."
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Call No. 201602
Messages from Frank's Landing: A Story of Salmon, Treaties, and the Indian Way
/ By Charles Wilkinson.
Seattle: University of Washington Press:
2000.
Frank's Landing, a six-acre tract along the Nisqually River in Washington, was the focal point for the Fish Wars between state game wardens and Nisqually tribesmen trying to uphold their treaty rights. Billy Frank, Jr.--tribal leader and spokesperson--is celebrated by many for his testimony that led to the 1974 affirmation of those rights. Both he and his significant home are celebrated in this beautifully compiled book.
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Call No. 201604
Sustaining the Forest, the People, and the Spirit
/ By Thomas Davis.
Albany: State University of New York Press:
2000.
The Menominee Forest is a primary natural resource owned by the Menominee of Wisconsin. It is roughly 230,000 acres and is not only the tallest forest in the Great Lakes region but also the most productive in terms of lumber per hectare. In this book Davis uses the Menominee as a case study for how other communities can create a culture suited for sustainable environmental development.
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Call No. 201605
Bizhibayaash, Circle of Flight: Tribal Wetland and Waterfowl Enhancement Initiative, January 2004
Minneapolis: U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs:
2004.
Thirty-two Circle of Flight initiatives occurring on 26 reservations in the Great Lakes area are currently being funded to preserve the wetland habitats of waterfowl. This report contains a summary of the programs as well as tribal success stories and funding requests for 2005.
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Call No. 201606
Struggle for the Land: Native North American Resistance to Genocide, Ecocide and Colonization
/ By Ward Churchill.
San Francisco: City Lights:
2002.
Winner of the Gustavus Myers Award for Literature on Human Rights, this is a report about how Native Americans living on some of the most resource-rich lands in the world are one of the least affluent groups in the U.S. The exploitation of Native lands is not only ecocidal, Churchill argues, but genocidal.
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Call No. 201672 Kids
Native people of Wisconsin
/ By Patty Loew.
Madison, Wis. : Wisconsin Historical Society Press:
2003.
Native People of Wisconsin introduces students to the twelve Indian nations that live in Wisconsin, and incorporates various ways Native people remember the past, emphasizing the value of oral tradition. Chapters devoted to each Wisconsin Indian Nation have three main topics: tribal traditions, tribal history, and tribal life today. This structure will help young readers learn the unique history of each Nation. Written by Patty Loew.
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Call No. 201673
Wild rice and the Ojibway people
/ By Thomas Vennum, Jr..
St. Paul : Minnesota Historical Society Press:
1988.
Wild rice has always been essential to life in the Upper Midwest and neighboring Canada. In this far-reaching book, Thomas Vennum, Jr., uses travelers' narratives, historical and ethnological accounts, scientific data, historical and contemporary photographs and sketches, his own field work, and the words of Indian people to examine the importance of this wild food to the Ojibway people.
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Call No. 201683
Catlin’s lament : Indians, Manifest Destiny, and the ethics of nature
/ By John Hausdoerffer.
Lawrence, Kan. : University Press of Kansas:
2009.
George Catlin gained renown for his nineteenth-century paintings of Indians and their lands, sympathetic portraits that counterbalanced those of other Americans eager to conquer and dominate both. In this first book to probe the attitudes that shaped and constrained Catlin's career, John Hausdoerffer argues that, despite his sympathies, Catlin's work embodied the same prevailing sentiment toward Nature that sanctioned Indian removal and thus undercut his own alternate vision for westward expansion. / John Hausdoerffer.
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Call No. 201693
Lines drawn upon the water : First Nations and the Great Lakes borders and borderlands
Waterloo, Ont. : Wilfrid Laurier University Press:
2008.
The First Nations who have lived in the Great Lakes watershed have been strongly influenced by the imposition of colonial and national boundaries there. The essays in Lines Drawn upon the Water examine the impact of the Canadian—American border on communities, with reference to national efforts to enforce the boundary and the determination of local groups to pursue their interests and define themselves. Although both governments regard the border as clearly defined, local communities continue to contest the artificial divisions imposed by the international boundary and define spatial and human relationships in the borderlands in their own terms. Karl S. Hele, editor.
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Call No. 271284 CD
Honor the Earth Powwow: Songs of the Great Lakes Indians
Salem, Mass.: Ryko:
1991.
This CD was recorded in July 1990 at a Wisconsin gathering of Ojibway, Winnebago (Ho-Chunk), and Menominee to honor the earth. The liner notes feature descriptions of the songs, musicians, and activities that accompanied the celebration. The music is a combination of traditional music passed down for generations and new material composed for the occasion.
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Call No. 271285
On Behalf of the Wolf and the First Peoples
/ By Joseph Marshall.
Santa Fe: Red Crane Books:
1995.
In his introduction, Roger Welsch accurately portrays this book as "a gift" from Joseph Marshall, a Lakota, to all of us--Native and non-Native Americans alike--who are interested in the culture and philosophy of the first people to inhabit this land.
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Call No. 271286
At Home on the Earth: Becoming Native to Our Place: A Multicultural Anthology
/ By David Landis Barnhill.
Berkeley: University of California Press:
1999.
Starting with the views of the human-nature relationship by those native to this land and working its way through a variety of cultures and backgrounds, this comprehensive anthology of essays is one to cherish. Features writers N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marie Silko, Wendell Berry, Alice Walker, Richard Rodriguez and more!
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Call No. 271287
The Manitous: The Spiritual World of the Ojibway
/ By Basil Johnston.
St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press:
2001.
According to Ojibwe scholar Basil Johnston, Manitous are spiritual beings who have aided the Ojibwe since the world was created. This collection of Manitou tales includes a sampling of these spirits from those involved in creation to those that preyed upon humans who harmed the natural world. Told with the engaging style adapted from the oral traditions of the Ojibwe, this book is both an interesting and informative read.
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Call No. 271288
The Menomini Indians of Wisconsin: A Study of Three Centuries of Cultural Contact and Change
/ By Felix M. Keesing.
Madison: University of Wisconsin Press:
1987.
This work, originally published in 1939, remains one of the most respected introductions to the history and culture (or "ethnohistory" as the book is characterized) of the Menominee Indians of the Green Bay area in Wisconsin.
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Call No. 271289
Indian Nations of Wisconsin: Histories of Endurance and Renewal
/ By Patty Loew.
Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society Press:
2001.
With a focus on oral traditions and primary sources, this collection explores Wisconsin history from a Native American perspective. Includes tribal histories and photographs of the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, Oneida, Menominee, Mohican, Ho-Chunk, and Brothertown Indians.
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Call No. 271290
Native American Worldviews: An Introduction
/ By Jerry H. Gill.
Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books:
2002.
This work combines anthropology, philosophy and religious studies to introduce the broad contours of Native American belief systems and their relationship to concepts like health, wisdom, and the environment.
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Call No. 290258
Enduring seeds : native American agriculture and wild plant conservation
/ By Gary Paul Nabhan.
Tucson : University of Arizona Press:
1989.
One of America's leading ethnobotanists warns about our loss of plant diversity. Forewords by Wendell Berry and Miguel Altieri.
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