Description
Book SynopsisCountering the inclination to associate indigenous peoples with "wilderness" or to conflate everything "Indian" with a vague sense of the ecological, this book shows how Indian communities were forced to migrate to make way for the nation's "wilderness" parks in the nineteenth century.
Trade Review"This volume offers a unique study of environmentalism and the author shows great respect for Native Americans and their beliefs and proclaims that they have much to teach wider society."—
Library Journal"In an era when environmental problems are growing in number and severity, this interdisciplinary book is timely for examining humanity's place in nature by scrutinizing in historical and comparative perspective the spiritual ecology of Native Americans. . . . Porter lays some of the crucial foundation for a fundamental rethinking of the vital interrelationships between religion and nature for the sake of creating a far more sustainable, just, peaceful, and spiritual society. Summing Up: Recommended."—
Choice"Joy Porter's
Land and Spirit in Native America effectively challenges the empty rhetoric and wishful thinking about pan-Indian holism, spirituality, and place. In its place Porter offers a nuanced, grounded, and insightful investigation of the role of spirit and land in a range of tribal localities and uses an equally wide range of modalities to remind us the ways in which American Indian tribes have experienced and expressed the relationship of place and person in the last two hundred years. Excellent, insightful, and considered--a valuable addition to the field."—David Treuer, professor of English at University of Minnesota, Leech Lake Reservation
"I'm glad Joy Porter has written masterfully about this matter of continuity in
Land and Spirit in Native America."—Simon Ortiz, author of
Woven Stone,
From Sand Creek, and
Out There SomewhereTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Approaches to Spirituality, Tradition, Land, Wilderness, Nature, Landscape, and Place2. On Middle Way Thinking, Gardening, Parks, and Aspects of Indian Thinking about Land3. Spiritual Approaches to Life in America4. Literature, Land, and Spirit5. Art, Land, and Spirit6. Environmental Justice, Place, and Indian "Sacrifice"7. Vanishing, Reappearing, and Disappearing Indians on American Soil8. Future Directions Into and Out of the WildNotesBibliographyIndex
