The Earth's Blanket: Traditional Teachings for Sustainable Living (Culture, Place, and Nature)

At the turn of the twentieth century, the ethnographer James Teit wrote of the belief among the Nlaka'pmx people that flowers, plants, and grasses are the blanket of the earth, and that if too much vegetation is picked or destroyed, the earth is sorry and weeps. In The Earth's Blanket, ethnobotanist Nancy Turner explores the wealth of ecological knowledge and spiritual connection to the natural world that is fundamental to indigenous cultures and lifeways.

Turner has worked with Native peoples in the Pacific Northwest for more than thirty-five years, and generations of her indigenous teachers have given her permission to share their stories and perspectives about the natural world. Their teachings describe a rich variety of methods of harvesting, transporting, processing, storing, maintaining, and enhancing natural resources such as trees, medicinal plants, berries, root vegetables, fish, meat, and shellfish. More than just stories, these narratives underlie a belief system that informs everyday attitudes toward the earth.

The Earth's Blanket suggests how systems of traditional ecological knowledge can contribute to the modern world. It is an important book, a magnum opus, from a gifted and internationally respected scholar and teacher. It has the power to transform our way of thinking about the earth and our relationship with its ecosystems.