Choice 评论

Turner (environmental studies, Univ. of Victoria) is a thoroughly dependable scholar who always enlivens her ethnobotanical texts with profuse examples and illustrations. This new book is no exception. During her more than 35 years of work in the Pacific Northwest, Turner, an associate of the Royal British Columbia Museum, has made incalculably valuable contributions to the celebration and preservation of First Nations peoples' botanical lore. She positions herself as a conduit, never assuming herself more expert than her Native teachers. Her writing conveys grace, and, more than that, humbleness toward her subject and the First Nations peoples who are its legitimate heirs. In this volume, she has collected stories that exemplify sustainability. Indigenous ecological knowledge, based upon deep connection with and respect for plants and animals, fosters a responsibility and an ethic that will support those who wish to restore environmental and cultural integrity to their compromised homelands, she writes. Indeed, in the view of Northwest Coast peoples, all creatures are kin. This is a restorative world view worth embracing, and Turner spotlights those who practice and teach it. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. L. De Danaan emerita, Evergreen State College