Biodiversity and Native America

About this book

Exploring the relationship between Native Americans and the natural world, Biodiversity and Native America questions the widespread view that indigenous peoples had minimal ecological impact in North America. Introducing a variety of perspectives – ethnopharmacological, ethnographic, archaeological, and biological – this volume shows that Native Americans were active managers of natural ecological systems. The book covers groups from the sophisticated agriculturalists of the Mississippi River drainage region to the low-density hunter-gatherers of arid western North America.

This book allows readers to develop accurate restoration, management, and conservation models through a thorough knowledge of native peoples' ecological history and dynamics. It also illustrates how indigenous peoples affected environmental patterns and processes, improving crop diversity and agricultural patterns.

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Biography

Paul E. Minnis, Professor of Anthroplogy at the University of Oklahoma, is the editor of Ethnobotany: A Reader and coeditor of Biodiversity and Native America.

Wayne J. Elisens, Professor of Botany and curator of the Bebb Herbarium at the University of Oklahoma, is coeditor of Biodiversity and Native America.