A good backgrounder on other people's discussions about the Anthropocene. A good backgrounder on other people's discussions about the Anthropocene. ...more
Thoroughly researched and written in an accessible style, Boyce Richardson's People of Terra Nullius represents the summation of knowledge of one of CThoroughly researched and written in an accessible style, Boyce Richardson's People of Terra Nullius represents the summation of knowledge of one of Canada's best journalists of the last century. Richardson is perhaps most famous for his writing about the Eeyouch and Eenouch of Quebec for the now defunct Montreal Star and his documentary films on the same people made for the NFB of Canada.
This book's two main strengths:
1. Its comprehensiveness. He covers a lot of history and contemporary issues in an informed and progressive way.
2. Its generosity. Richardson doesn't hide anything about his approach to researching journalism and conducting interviews. You can learn a lot about the old journalism from reading this book.
The book's main weakness was that it was a little disorganized. By being so comprehensive, and by adopting the journalistic style, Richardson tends to veer back and forth through history and nations. I guess I prefer more focus. That's probably as much a criticism of my reading as of Richardson's writing.
Another thing worth pointing out is that many of the ideas in this book will seem dated today. You can't read this book in isolation. You need to supplement it with other, more recent books....more
A great book that hopes to connect ends to their processes, to bring imagination and reality together, and in so doing to help the world heal, to erasA great book that hopes to connect ends to their processes, to bring imagination and reality together, and in so doing to help the world heal, to erase the conflict between "us" and "them."
That does not mean erasing all difference. This is not a treatise on conformity or assimilation. Even if our particular stories and beliefs divide us, Chamberlain argues that we can all agree that stories are important. Maybe we will never be able to agree on what to believe, but, with work and empathy, we can learn to agree on what it is to believe and to respect that essential truth in and for one another (240).
I don't think I've ever read anything quite like this before. It is very circuitous. But that seems to be its point. I would like to read it again one day soon, when I feel a little less under the gun....more
Merchant's Radical Ecology gives an overview of the various ecology philosophies and movements that emerged in the latter half of the 20th century. ItMerchant's Radical Ecology gives an overview of the various ecology philosophies and movements that emerged in the latter half of the 20th century. It introduces readers to Deep Ecology, Spiritual Ecology, the Sustainable Development movement, Ecofeminism, and Marxist/Socialist Ecology (etc). The further reading section at the close of each chapter is this book's primary asset. Another benefit is that Merchant summarizes and cites many works that are difficult to come by because they have been published by non-mainstream sources. Perhaps they are on the fringe for good reason, but at least we can have some access to those ideas via this book....more
Brody spent a good deal of time with members of the First Nations' reserves of northeastern BC (Doig River, Blueberry River, East and West Moberly LakBrody spent a good deal of time with members of the First Nations' reserves of northeastern BC (Doig River, Blueberry River, East and West Moberly Lake, Halfway River, Fort Nelson and Prophet River). This book is quite interesting, then, for what it reveals about those communities in the late 1970s. A major reason for his time there was to get input for maps about how First Nations were using the land around their reserves for hunting and gathering. These maps highlight just how much land is required to sustain traditional hunter/gatherer economies and how agriculture, resource development, and transportation challenge or even thwart those economies.
Given this book's age (published in 1981), it has numerous limitations in approach and terminology. Overall, however, it is worth a read.
My main interest right now is in the Eeyouch of eastern James Bay, so this book was not quite up my alley. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see certain similarities in Athabaskan and Eastern Cree beliefs and practices and in their experiences with the government and white people generally....more
An enjoyable corrective to materialism, scientific method, and individualism. Evernden brings in the likes of Heidigger and Merleau-Ponty to remind usAn enjoyable corrective to materialism, scientific method, and individualism. Evernden brings in the likes of Heidigger and Merleau-Ponty to remind us that relationships and context are the missing ingredients in the western/European approach to the world and knowledge. The Cartesian outlook, for all its strengths, has the weakness of presuming an absolute connection to truth and accuracy. Any worldview that takes such an absolutist stance will necessarily distort reality. We are living with the consequences of the particular distortions created by René Descartes and his legacy.
A useful summary/intro to the ideas of Martin Heidigger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, E.F. Schumacher, Martin Buber, Adolph Portmann, Jakob von Uexkull and others....more
This is a Festschrift in honour of Richard Preston who has written extensively on the East James Bay Cree (Eeyouch) since the late 1960s. It is a wondThis is a Festschrift in honour of Richard Preston who has written extensively on the East James Bay Cree (Eeyouch) since the late 1960s. It is a wonderful testament to his work and to his ability to draw other excellent scholars around him. There are essays dealing with economics and demography, material culture, songs and narrative, Indigenous rights and ecological considerations in the aftermath of the JBNQA....more
In the interest of time, I limited my reading to Adrian Tanner's essay "The Origins of Northern Aboriginal Pathologies and the Quebec Cree Healing MovIn the interest of time, I limited my reading to Adrian Tanner's essay "The Origins of Northern Aboriginal Pathologies and the Quebec Cree Healing Movement" (p. 249-71). This essay offers a good summary of the emergence of the summer ciiweydow or "going back home" events at many of the Eeyouch settlements in recent years. (In Chisasibi, I believe they call it mamoweedow).
Tanner explains how the influence of traditional Eeyouch practices, the Pentecostal Church, and what he calls "pan-Indianism" have all collaborated to help in the formation of this healing movement.
What he emphasizes is that the healing movement assumes that social problems are caused in collective circumstances rather than in the psyches of troubled individuals. This means that the healing movement organizes community events and aims to accomplish community healing rather than individual treatment (in the way western medicine would work).
What is especially important is the role of maintaining and/or renewing traditional Eeyouch culture and thereby rehabilitating pride and ethnic identity after more than a generation of dramatic social erosion and dramatic and coerced cultural transformation.
Healing involves looking back as much as it helps communities to move forward....more
The Sweet Blood's of Eeyou Istchee shares 26 personal stories about how individuals in Eeyou Istchee have contracted and then dealt with diabetes. TheThe Sweet Blood's of Eeyou Istchee shares 26 personal stories about how individuals in Eeyou Istchee have contracted and then dealt with diabetes. The purpose of the book is to help others know the signs of diabetes and the various was of preventing it. If prevention is too late, the stories recount how others have managed their diabetes, offering numerous examples and revealing that there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to coping with this problem.
The book's strengths are numerous, but two things really stand out.
First, every story demonstrates that diabetes is a direct consequence of the radical transformation in lifestyle and diet wrought by the influence of white culture. The Eeyou and Eenou are traditionally a people who walked everywhere; now they drive. The Eeyou and Eenou diet is traditionally supported by hunting and gathering in the bush; the availability of of starchy, processed foods out of the south now makes up much more of their diet. The impact of imperialism behind these changes, and the legacy of residential schools, have led certain individuals to depend on junk food for comfort, something very familiar to white southerners, but previously unknown to a culture that used to depend on a subsistence diet. Diabetes is the physical manifestation of the toll cultural transformation is taking on Eeyou and Eenou bodies.
The book's second great strength is that is demonstrates the value and effectiveness of the concept of miyupimaatisiiun, an overarching view of health that sees "physical health and wellness as being inseparable from spiritual health, from emotional health, from intellectual health, from community health, and from the health and wellness of the land" (270). Every story shows that the path to better managing diabetes is one where the sufferer envisages his or her health in these broader terms. Many of the stories also show that western medicine often fails to help Eeyou and Eenou because it focuses exclusively on the material aspect of health. It's not that western medicine is wrong, just that it is too focused on one aspect of health. The stories of these individuals reveal that western medicine serves them much better when it is used in conjunction with Cree concepts.
The book is a useful tool for those who suffer from the disease or who are likely to succumb to it. In addition to stories, it has "true and false" sections to dispel myths and it closes with a thorough glossary to help people understand some of the confusing concepts about health, medicine and addiction.
Its primary audience will be Indigenous readers, especially Eeyou ad Eenou. I also think it can be a useful read for anyone interested in learning about contemporary life in Eeyou Istchee. Here are the stories of 26 people currently living there. Their lives all were impacted by the James Bay Hydroelectric project, residential schools, and the closing of HBC posts in the region. They have all experienced a dramatic social and cultural transformation. We would do well to be aware of it and acknowledge it, especially since so many of us depend on their land for electricity and paper products....more
What a treat! The essays in the back explaining the relationship between artist and poet are as enjoyable as the poems are provocative and stimulatingWhat a treat! The essays in the back explaining the relationship between artist and poet are as enjoyable as the poems are provocative and stimulating. Will re-read many times....more
In the face of cultural devastation, all goals, all meaning, and all traditional sources of happiness are lost. Despair, fury, and madness are naturalIn the face of cultural devastation, all goals, all meaning, and all traditional sources of happiness are lost. Despair, fury, and madness are natural responses; but according to Lear they are not the only ones. He wants to know how we might get through such an experience. What tools would be necessary to help us survive, physically and psychologically? Do we have these tools? Is it reasonable to expect us to have these tools?
He introduces the idea of radical hope. This is not the same as blind faith, which rests upon false optimism and delusional confidence. No, radical hope moves past devastation and into the unknown with a credo like this: I am directed towards the possibility of future goodness even though I currently lack the concepts, ends (i.e. telos), and psychological framework to understand what that goodness will look like. (103).
Lear makes quite a powerful argument and there are many excellent points, my favorite being: "To be human is necessarily to be a vulnerable risk-taker; to be a courageous person is to be good at it" (123).
It is worth mentioning that Lear makes all these points while standing on the shoulders of the Crow Chief Alaxchiiahush (usually called Plenty Coups in English). It is from Alaxchiiahush's ability to navigate his people through catastrophe at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century that Lear draws his inspiration. Lear has only respect and veneration for Alaxchiiahush, but I think some will be uncomfortable with his taking such an instrumental view of a Chief's life in the name of a philosophical and psychological inquiry. Generally Lear is quite good at treading sensitively through his subject matter, but there are one or two places where his editors should have saved him (e.g. he refers to the Crow women as "squaws"... I think, in 2006, the people at Harvard UP might have known better than to do this).
With all that said, it is very valuable to think of how a people can survive through cultural devastation. It is horrible that we have such things to think about, but at least Lear's arguments are reasonable (and helpful). Like most of his works, he does an excellent job of connecting philosophical problems to real life....more
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