Respect and Responsibility in Pacific Coast Indigenous Nations: The World Raven Makes (Studies in Human Ecology and Adaptation, 13)

This book examines ways of conserving, managing, and interacting with plant and animal resources by Native American cultural groups of the Pacific Coast of North America, from Alaska to California. These practices helped them maintain and restore ecological balance for thousands of years. Building upon the authors' and others' previous works, the book brings in perspectives from ethnography and marine evolutionary ecology. The core of the book consists of Native American testimony: myths, tales, speeches, and other texts, which are treated from an ecological viewpoint. The focus on animals and in-depth research on stories, especially early recordings of texts, set this book apart. The book is divided into two parts, covering the Northwest Coast, and California. It then follows the division in lifestyle between groups dependent largely on fish and largely on seed crops. It discusses how the survival of these cultures functions in the contemporary world, as First Nations demand recognition and restoration of their ancestral rights and resource management practices. Preface and Acknowledgments Contents About the Authors Chapter 1: Commons and Management Common-Pool Resource Management The Pacific Coast of North America References Chapter 2: Looking to the Sea: Economics and Ecology in the Pacific Northwest Defining the Region Fisheries Marine Mammals Cetaceans Pinnipeds Sea Otter References Chapter 3: Looking to the Land: Terrestrial Ecology Mammals Herbaceous Plants Trees References Chapter 4: Traditional Cultural Areas Origins Languages Contacts and Trade Kinship References Chapter 5: Social and Cultural-Ecological Dynamics Chiefs and Houses Environment and Naming Social Units Warfare Feasts and Potlatches Ownership: A Key to Management References Chapter 6: Traditional Resource Management Complexity and Challenges Calories and Food Fish: The Key Resource Sea Mammals Managing Shellfish Game Management and Conservation Domestication and Taming Plant Resource Management References Chapter 7: White Settler Contact and Its Consequences Hard Times Resource Mismanagement Since 1800 References Chapter 8: The Ideology Behind It All General Principles Hunting and Conserving A Bridge to Creation Myths Spirits and Places Knowledge: Empirical and Spirit-Driven Community, Human and Nonhuman Stewardship The Vision Quest Shamanism References Chapter 9: Animism and Rationality: North vs ``West ́ ́ References Chapter 10: Respect and Its Corollaries Respect as Basic Spirit Guardians Respecting Plants Conflicts with Respect References Chapter 11: Teachings and Stories Stories in Contexts Overhunting Respect Shown to Individual Animals Themes and Variations Transformers Pointing Morals References Chapter 12: The Visual Art References Chapter 13: Conclusions Summary of What Has Gone Before References Chapter 14: Appendix 1: Indigenous California Humans as Part of the Ecological System References Chapter 15: Appendix 2: Wider Connections A Circumpolar Worldview Animism? Conservation Ethics Shamanism References Chapter 16: Appendix 3: The ``Wasteful ́ ́ Native Debunked References