Plants and Animals

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world.

As Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth—its abundance of sweet, juicy berries—to meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution insures its own survival. As Kimmerer explains, “Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.”

As Elizabeth Gilbert writes, Robin Wall Kimmerer is “a great teacher, and her words are a hymn of love to the world.” The Serviceberry is an antidote to the broken relationships and misguided goals of our times, and a reminder that “hoarding won’t save us, all flourishing is mutual.”

Reviews
“Robin Wall Kimmerer is writer of rare grace. She writes about the natural world from a place of such abundant passion that one can never quite see the world the same way after having seen it through Kimmerer’s eyes. In Braiding Sweetgrass, she takes us on a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise. She is a great teacher, and her words are a hymn of love to the world.” —Elizabeth Gilbert

“Robin Wall Kimmerer has written an extraordinary book, showing how the factual, objective approach of science can be enriched by the ancient knowledge of the indigenous people. It is the way she captures beauty that I love the most—the images of giant cedars and wild strawberries, a forest in the rain and a meadow of fragrant sweetgrass will stay with you long after you read the last page.” —Jane Goodall

“I give daily thanks for Robin Wall Kimmerer for being a font of endless knowledge, both mental and spiritual.”—Richard Powers, The New York Times

“Robin Wall Kimmerer opens a sense of wonder and humility for the intelligence in all kinds of life we are used to naming and imagining as inanimate.” —Krista Tippett, host of On Being

Additional Information
112 pages | 5.00" x 7.00" | Hardcover 

Improve your well-being with Native American herbal medicine

Native American herbal medicine offers a powerful way to connect with the earth and heal naturally—and with this handbook of Native American herbs, you can learn all about herb uses and their restorative effects. Written by an Indigenous herbalist, this guide shows you how to responsibly use traditional plants to treat anxiety, colds, inflammation, and more.

This standout among books about herbs and healing will help you:
- Learn about a time-honored practice—Discover the origins and healing secrets of Native American herbalism, its traditional and modern uses, and how tools like the medicine wheel teach us about our relationship with the natural world.

- Identify the essential herbs—Explore the healing properties of medicinal herbs for wellness, from anise hyssop to yerba santa.

- Make 75 natural remedies—Ease physical and emotional ailments with Native American remedies, like Memory Support Tea, Stress-Induced Headache Tincture, and Antibacterial Healing Herb Liniment.

Tap into traditional wisdom with this Native American herbal medicine book for health and well-being.

Reviews
"A beautiful jumping-off point for anyone who is interested in practical herbalism. Angela organizes the wisdom of Native American herbalism in a way that is accessible for anyone to pick up and fold into their everyday life." —Kathleen Lee, acupuncturist, herbalist, and spiritual business mentor

"Angela is a wise and fierce protector of plant medicine and traditions of healing. Her first book, A Beginner's Guide to Native American Herbal Medicine, is a meaningful, accessible resource for readers who seek to ground themselves in understanding and build an herbal practice of integrity." —Graham Wesley

Additional Information
165 pages | 7.50" x 9.25" | full-colour photographs throughout | Paperback

A soul-searching personal account of a young man’s 1,700-kilometre kayak journey from Victoria, BC, to Gustavas, Alaska, illustrated with whimsical watercolour maps and illustrations of local flora, fauna, and landscapes.

In 2014, twenty-four-year-old geography student David Norwell set off on a daunting kayak journey in search of purpose in his life. A jigsaw puzzle of jagged mainland and over 50,000 islands—stretching from southern Vancouver Island to Alaska—lay in front of him. A self-described ordinary kid from small-to-medium-town, British Columbia, David had paddled through the Gulf Islands and guided youth groups on a nine-day journey from Nanaimo to Victoria. But nothing could prepare him for this.

For the next several months, David navigated the waters off the coastal British Columbia, recording his observations, musings, and daily activities in a notebook. The result is this one-of-a-kind travelogue, filled with more than 700 whimsical watercolour illustrations of coastlines, local plant and animal species, camping supplies, and portraits of people he met along the way. He wrote about the nature of solitude, the search for meaning and adventure, the wildlife he encountered, the survival skills he acquired, and the existence of his own privilege. A Complex Coast is an unforgettable coming-of-age story that will appeal to kayakers, naturalists, and anyone looking for adventure.

Additional Information
224 pages | 8.00" x 10.00" | Paperback

A comprehensive guide to Ontario trees.

Featuring more than 1,400 vibrant photographs and illustrations, this visually rich and inviting field guide describes the trees likely to be encountered in Ontario, whether on a hike in the woods or on a walk down city streets.

Covering both naturally occurring and cultivated species, this book features an illustrated glossary of botanical terms, distribution maps, and photographs depicting distinctive characteristics of individual tree species.

With diagnostic descriptions for quick recognition of trees by their component parts, and easy-to-use identification keys covering summer and winter conditions, A Field Guide to Trees of Ontario is a must-have for tree enthusiasts--novices and experts alike.

Carry it with you wherever you may find trees, which is practically everywhere.

Additional Information
512 pages | 4.50" x 8.00" | Paperback

Author Leigh Joseph, an ethnobotanist and a member of the Squamish Nation, provides a beautifully illustrated essential introduction to Indigenous plant knowledge.

Plants can be a great source of healing as well as nourishment, and the practice of growing and harvesting from trees, flowering herbs, and other plants is a powerful way to become more connected to the land. The Indigenous Peoples of North America have long traditions of using native plants as medicine as well as for food. Held by the Land honors and shares some of these traditions, offering a guide to:

• Harvesting herbs and other plants and using them topically
• North American plants that can treat common ailments, add nutrition to your diet, become part of your beauty regime, and more
• Stories and traditions about native plants from the author's Squamish culture
• Using plant knowledge to strengthen your connection to the land you live on

Early chapters will introduce you to responsible ways to identify and harvest plants in your area and teach you how to grow a deeper connection with the land you live on through plants. In the plant profiles section, common plants are introduced with illustrations and information on their characteristics, range, how to grow and/or harvest them, and how to use them topically and as food. Special features offer recipes for food and beauty products along with stories and traditions around the plants.

This beautiful, full-color guide to Indigenous plants will give you new insights into the power of everyday plants.

Additional Informaiton
192 pages | 8.00" x 9.25" | Hardcover 

Upholding Indigenous Economic Relationships explains settler colonialism through the lens of economic exploitation, using Indigenous methodologies and critical approaches. What is the relationship between economic progress in the land now called Canada and the exploitation of Indigenous peoples? And what gifts embedded within Indigenous world views speak to miyo‐pimâtisiwin ᒥᔪ ᐱᒫᑎᓯᐃᐧᐣ (the good life), and specifically to good economic relations?

Shalene Wuttunee Jobin draws on the knowledge systems of the nehiyawak ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐊᐧᐠ (Cree people) – whose distinctive principles and practices shape their economic behaviour – to make two central arguments. The first is that economic exploitation was the initial and most enduring relationship between newcomers and Indigenous peoples. The second is that Indigenous economic relationships are constitutive: connections to the land, water, and other human and nonhuman beings form who we are as individuals and as peoples. This groundbreaking study employs Cree narratives that draw from the past and move into the present to reveal previously overlooked Indigenous economic theories and relationships, and provides contemporary examples of nehiyawak renewing these relationships in resurgent ways. In the process, Upholding Indigenous Economic Relationships offers tools that enable us to reimagine how we can aspire to the good life with all our relations.

This study will interest not only scholars and students of Indigenous studies, particularly Cree studies, but also Indigenous community members involved in community and economic development, planning, and governance.

Reviews

"Beautifully written, Upholding Indigenous Economic Relationships is crucially important as a comprehensive exploration of Cree economic values told through story and oral history." - Glen Coulthard, author of Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition

"Shalene Jobin’s refreshing perspective on a prairie First Nations community is a desperately needed contribution to Indigenous studies as well as history, anthropology, and Canadian studies." -Priscilla Settee, professor, Indigenous Studies, University of Saskatchewan

Educator Information
Table of Contents
Preface
1 Grounding Methods
2 Grounding Economic Relationships
3 nehiyawak Peoplehood and Relationality
4 Canada’s Genesis Story
5 ᐃᐧᐦᑎᑯᐤ Warnings of Insatiable Greed
6 Indigenous Women’s Lands and Bodies
7 Theorizing Cree Economic and Governing Relationships
8 Colonial Dissonance
9 Principles Guiding Cree Economic Relationships
10 Renewed Relationships through Resurgent Practices
11 Upholding Relations
Postscript
Glossary of Cree Terms
Notes; References; Index

Additional Information
272 pages | 6 x 9" | Paperback

In the dense rainforest of the west coast of Vancouver Island, the Somass River (c̓uumaʕas) brings sockeye salmon (miʕaat) into the Nuu-chah-nulth community of Tseshaht. C̓uumaʕas and miʕaat are central to the sacred food practices that have been a crucial part of the Indigenous community’s efforts to enact food sovereignty, decolonize their diet, and preserve their ancestral knowledge.

In A Drum in One Hand, a Sockeye in the Other, Charlotte Coté shares contemporary Nuu-chah-nulth practices of traditional food revitalization in the context of broader efforts to re-Indigenize contemporary diets on the Northwest Coast. Coté offers evocative stories of her Tseshaht community’s and her own work to revitalize relationships to haʔum (traditional food) as a way to nurture health and wellness. As Indigenous peoples continue to face food insecurity due to ongoing inequality, environmental degradation, and the Westernization of traditional diets, Coté foregrounds healing and cultural sustenance via everyday enactments of food sovereignty: berry picking, salmon fishing, and building a community garden on reclaimed residential school grounds. This book is for everyone concerned about the major role food plays in physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness.

Reviews
"A powerful philosophy of food sovereignty. Coté successfully navigates myriad scholarly and nonscholarly voices, telling a compelling comprehensive story that helps us understand the practices and policies needed to make change in our food systems." — Kyle Whyte, Michigan State University

"Adeptly uses a deep storytelling method, including both lived experience and critical analysis of history and theory, to examine experiences and transformations of Indigenous foodways." — Hannah Wittman, University of British Columbia

"I am so grateful for Charlotte Cote’s A Drum in One Hand, a Sockeye in the Other, which creates a path into the living foodways and thoughtways of her people. Her warm, storytelling voice and sharing of collective knowledge embody the generous spirit of a feast, and this book itself, is a feast." — Robin Wall Kimmerer (Potawatomi), SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry

Additional Information
208 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | 17 b&w illustrations | 2 maps | Paperback

A timely anthology featuring diverse perspectives – Indigenous and non-Indigenous – on the right to fish in the Atlantic, with the goal of creating dialogue and solutions.

Canadians were shocked in the fall of 2020 by news coverage of non-Indigenous crowds threatening Mi'kmaw fish harvesters and burning boats and plant buildings in southwest Nova Scotia. The crisis began when a few Mi'kmaq Nations began to issue their own licenses to community members to conduct small-scale lobster fishing to earn "moderate livelihoods", a treaty right recognized in the Marshall ruling. Non-Indigenous harvesters reacted, some of them violently, against the idea of a new fishery operating outside DFO-regulated licensing, seasons, and fishing zones. With the major issues still unresolved, numerous flashpoints hold potential for future conflict. The question now looms: where do we go from here?

With contributions from Mi'kmaw leaders, academic researchers, legal experts, non-Indigenous industry leaders, and other knowledgeable observers on all sides of the conflict, Contested Waters: The Struggle for Rights and Reconciliation in the Atlantic Fishery provides a respectful and realistic examination of Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives with the goal of encouraging dialogue and a shared search for lasting solutions.

Awaken your senses and learn how to be a forest detective—with Peter Wohlleben, New York Times-bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees.

When you walk in the woods, do you use all five senses to explore your surroundings? For most of us, the answer is no—but when we do, a walk in the woods can go from pleasant to immersive and restorative. Forest Walking teaches you how to get the most out of your next adventure by becoming a forest detective, decoding nature’s signs and awakening to the ancient past and thrilling present of the ecosystem around you.

• What can you learn by following the spread of a root, by tasting the tip of a branch, by searching out that bitter almond smell?
• What creatures can be found in a stream if you turn over a rock—and what is the best way to cross a forest stream, anyway?
• How can you understand a forest’s history by the feel of the path underfoot, the scars on the trees along the trail, or the play of sunlight through the branches?
• How can we safely explore the forest at night?
• What activities can we use to engage children with the forest?

Throughout Forest Walking, the authors share experiences and observations from visiting forests across North America: from the rainforests and redwoods of the west coast to the towering white pines of the east, and down to the cypress swamps of the south and up to the boreal forests of the north.

With Forest Walking, German forester Peter Wohlleben teams up with his longtime editor, Jane Billinghurst, as the two write their first book together, and the result is nothing short of spectacular. Together, they will teach you how to listen to what the forest is saying, no matter where you live or which trees you plan to visit next.

Reviews
“A wonderfully clear and practical guide for all ages. This book will fast-track you into the joys of spending time amongst the trees.”—Tristan Gooley, author of The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs and How to Read Water

“You'll be changed after reading this fine and enchanting book.”—Richard Louv, author of Our Wild Calling and Last Child in the Woods

Additional Information
240 pages | 5.25" x 8.50" | 1 Map, Black and White Photos Throughout | Paperback

A compact, full-colour field guide to the growing number of invasive plant species spreading across coastal BC and the Pacific Northwest, highlighting their hazards and uses.

The spread of invasive plant species is a growing concern across the coastal Pacific Northwest. Invasive plants compete for space with native plants, alter the natural habitat, and even interfere with the diets of local wildlife. Hundreds of these species are so commonly seen in our backyards, forests, and roadsides, that many people do not even realize that these plants are not native to this region.

Designed for amateur naturalists, gardeners, and foragers, Invasive Flora of the West Coast is a clear, concise, full-colour guide to identifying and demystifying more than 170 invasive plant species in our midst, from Evening primrose to Scotch broom. Featuring colour photography, origin and etymology, safety tips and warnings, as well as historical uses, this book is practical, user-friendly, and portable for easy, on-the-go identification.

Reviews
“Varner’s latest contribution reveals the astonishing diversity of plants, vines, shrubs, and trees that crossed continents and oceans to take root in our backyard. Like the teeming collection of uninvited guests it describes, this guide would be appalling if it weren’t so wondrous. A concise and vivid gem.”—Arno Kopecky, author of The Environmentalist's Dilemma

Additional Information
224 pages | Paperback

This collection takes a holistic view of well-being, seeking complementarities between Indigenous approaches to healing and Western biomedicine. Topics include traditional healers and approaches to treatment of disease and illness; traditional knowledge and intellectual property around medicinal plant knowledge; the role of diet and traditional foods in health promotion; culturally sensitive approaches to healing work with urban Indigenous populations; and integrating biomedicine, alternative therapies, and Indigenous healing in clinical practice. Throughout, the voices of Elders, healers, physicians, and scholars are in dialogue to promote Indigenous community well-being through collaboration. This book will be of interest to scholars in Indigenous Studies, medicine and public health, medical anthropology, and anyone involved with care delivery and public health in Indigenous communities.

Contributors: Darlene Auger, Dorothy Badry, Margaret David, Meda DeWitt, Hal Eagletail, Gary L. Ferguson III, Marc Fonda, Annie Goose, Angela Grier (Pioohksoopanskii), Leslie Main Johnson, Allison Kelliher, Patrick Lightning, Mary Maje, Maria Mayan, Ruby E. Morgan, Richard T. Oster, Ann Maje Raider, Camille (Pablo) Russell, Ginetta Salvalaggio, Ellen L. Toth, Harry Watchmaker

Additional Information
272 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Paperback 

Newly revised and updated with additional photographs and up-to-date names, this full-colour field guide to the marine life of coastal British Columbia, Alaska, Washington, Oregon and northern California is perfect for divers, boaters and beachcombers. It is a ready reference to more than 400 of the most common species: the fascinating local sponges, jellyfish, crabs, shrimp, barnacles, clams, snails, seals, fish, whales, sea algae and hundreds of other living things that can be observed and identified without being disturbed. The book is arranged for quick identification with colour-coded sections, full-colour photographs and comprehensive but concise information on size, range, habitat and facts of interest about each species. A glossary, checklist, reading list and full index are included.

This expanded third edition includes new material on identifying bivalves from their siphon shows, as well as current information on introduced and invasive marine species.

Additional Information
352 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Paperback | 3rd Edition

In A Short History of the Blockade, award-winning writer Leanne Betasamosake Simpson uses Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg stories, storytelling aesthetics, and practices to explore the generative nature of Indigenous blockades through our relative, the beaver—or in Nishnaabemowin, Amik. Moving through genres, shifting through time, amikwag stories become a lens for the life-giving possibilities of dams and the world-building possibilities of blockades, deepening our understanding of Indigenous resistance, as both a negation and an affirmation. Widely recognized as one of the most compelling Indigenous voices of her generation, Simpson’s work breaks open the intersections between politics, story, and song, bringing audiences into a rich and layered world of sound, light, and sovereign creativity. A Short History of the Blockade reveals how the practice of telling stories is also a culture of listening, “a thinking through together,” and ultimately, like the dam or the blockade, an affirmation of life.

Educator Information
Subjects & Keywords: Social Sciences, Literary Criticism, Indigenous Studies; Indigenous resistance, blockades, beaver dams, Nishnaabeg storytelling, regeneration, generative resistance, Canadian Indigenous literature, land defenders, water defenders, practice of wisdom, Indigenous stories, Indigenous authors.

Recommended in the Canadian Indigenous Books for Schools collection for grades 10 to 12 for these subjects: Social Studies, English Language Arts, English First Peoples

Additional Information
88 pages | 5.25" x 9.00"