The Ecological Indian: Myth and History

The idea of the Native American living in perfect harmony with nature is one of the most cherished contemporary myths. But how truthful is this larger-than-life image? According to anthropologist Shepard Krech, the first humans in North America demonstrated all of the intelligence, self-interest, flexibility, and ability to make mistakes of human beings anywhere. As Nicholas Lemann put it in The New Yorker, "Krech is more than just a conventional-wisdom overturner; he has a serious larger point to make. . . . Concepts like ecology, waste, preservation, and even the natural (as distinct from human) world are entirely anachronistic when applied to Indians in the days before the European settlement of North America." "Offers a more complex portrait of Native American peoples, one that rejects mythologies, even those that both European and Native Americans might wish to embrace."--Washington Post

Author: Shepard Krech
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 09/17/2000
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.62lbs
Size: 8.36h x 5.52w x 0.86d
ISBN13: 9780393321005
ISBN10: 0393321002
BISAC Categories:
- History | Indigenous Peoples in the Americas
- Nature | Environmental Conservation & Protection | General
- Science | Life Sciences | Ecology