The earth's blanket : traditional teachings for sustainable living

Renowned ethnobotanist Nancy Turner distills in this volume her decades of experience working with First Nations in the Pacific Northwest. The Earth's Blanket explores the wealth of ecological knowledge and the deep personal connection to the land and its history that is encoded in indigenous stories and lifeways, and what they may be able to teach all of us about living in harmony with our surroundings. Scholarly in its thinking but accessible in its writing, The Earth's Blanket combines first-person research with insightful critiques of Western concepts of environmental management and scientific ecology to propose how systems of traditional ecological knowledge can be recognized and enhanced. It is an important book, a magnum opus, with the power to transform our way of thinking about the Earth and our place within it. Annotation Renowned ethnobotanistNancy Turnerbrings together decades of experience working with First Nations in the Pacific Northwest. InThe Earths Blanket, she explores the wealth of ecological knowledge and the deep personal connection to the land and its history that is encoded in indigenous stories and lifeways, and asks what they can teach all of us about living in harmony with our surroundings. Scholarly in its thinking but accessible in its writing, The Earths Blanketcombines first-person research with insightful critiques of Western concepts of environmental management and scientific ecology to propose how systems of traditional ecological knowledge can be recognized and enhanced. It is an important book, a magnum opus with the power to transform our way of thinking about the Earth and our place within it Contents......Page 6 Preface and Acknowledgements......Page 8 Prologue: The Land and the Peoples......Page 18 1. Wealth and Value in a Changing World......Page 26 2. Land-based Stories of Peoples and Home Places......Page 48 3. A Kincentric Approach to Nature......Page 76 4. Honouring Nature through Ceremony and Ritual......Page 102 5. The Balance between Humans and Nature......Page 134 6. Looking After the Lands and Waters......Page 154 7. Everything Is One......Page 186 8. Finding Meaning in a Contemporary Context......Page 218 Source Notes......Page 248 References......Page 269 Index......Page 291