The Earth's Blanket: Traditional Teachings for Sustainable Living

by Nancy J. Turner

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1553651804
• ISBN13: 9781553651802
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.

Customer Reviews

a model treatment of indigenous knowledge

The anthropologist author's deep appreciation of and respect for indigenous people's knowledge shines through this entire account. In addition to providing numerous accounts of specific applications of plant, animal and mineral knowledge as embodied in traditional stories, she does not shrink from demonstrating how the attitudes embodied in them have wide application in trying to establish a sustainable human society worldwide. This book could easily be used in university courses on systems design as well as environmental studies and anthropology. Highly recommended!

A brilliant book written by a national treasure!

Anyone who has ever read Dr Turner's work will realize how thorough she is. This book is a departure from her usual style, however. Rather than being a collection of plants and in-depth analysis of their uses by North America's First Nations, The Earth's Blanket casts a much wider net, interpreting her decades of travel and research, as they apply to the concept that "we are all one...". It is an extraordinary work of a great Canadian ecological thinker.