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A review by amandakitz
Gifted Earth: The Ethnobotany of the Quinault and Neighboring Tribes by Douglas Deur
5.0
This book is a beautiful product of a community and researcher working together for the preservation of indigenous knowledge. Well-researched, well-organized, and beautifully laid out, it details traditional uses for a variety of native coastal plants, including food, medicine, basket-weaving, woodworking, ritual uses, games, and more.
The introduction was powerful, discussing the history of the tribes and the challenges facing a people who want some traditional knowledge recorded to be passed down but to hold some things sacred and not available for public knowledge. I appreciated the excerpts of interviews with Quinault knowledge-holders and elders in the margins. Where many would show only the traditional, as in a museum showing only the past, it is such an important portrait of a surviving people to show modern uses compared with more traditional uses, as well as comparing modern challenges facing traditional harvesting areas and their traditional maintenance, noted in each entry. Overall, this is a powerful and beautifully executed work that I greatly appreciated the privilege of reading.
The introduction was powerful, discussing the history of the tribes and the challenges facing a people who want some traditional knowledge recorded to be passed down but to hold some things sacred and not available for public knowledge. I appreciated the excerpts of interviews with Quinault knowledge-holders and elders in the margins. Where many would show only the traditional, as in a museum showing only the past, it is such an important portrait of a surviving people to show modern uses compared with more traditional uses, as well as comparing modern challenges facing traditional harvesting areas and their traditional maintenance, noted in each entry. Overall, this is a powerful and beautifully executed work that I greatly appreciated the privilege of reading.