Top Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 starsThought-provoking, though not perfectBy Bortukan on April 20, 2000
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
In this book, Krech sets out to contradict popular perceptions of Native Americans as perfect beings living in harmony with their environments. This doesn't sound like a very nice thing to do at first, but the author clearly states that he feels such images are not only inaccurate generalizations based on biased, outdated European stereotypes, but are dehumanizing in their suggestion that native people are "natural" animals rather than "cultural" humans. He goes on to present a number of case studies showing situations in which Native Americans were indeed cultural humans not living in perfect ecological balance with their surroundings. His treatment of the archaeological evidence is pretty thorough and unbiased. His historical case studies, while relying a bit heavily on potentially biased historic records by White settlers, remain fairly convincing examples of situations in which Native Americans were not perfect conservationists. Unfortunately, after this array of case studies it can be easy to forget that Krech's stated reasons for examining them were to present Native Americans as active human beings rather than passive stereotypes. Instead, readers can end up with a negative feeling about Native American land use practices in general or about Krech in particular, as the reviews below point out. In spite of these flaws, however, the book does raise interesting questions about how perceptions of Native Americans are constructed (both by native people themselves and by others) and about how we should approach environmental issues (including our definition of a "natural" environment) we grapple with today. His writing is clear and issues are presented in a fairly understandable way for a general audience, not just dusty academic types. Although you may not agree with all of the book's conclusions, the issues it raises make it very worthwhle reading material for anyone interested in environmental impact and Native Americans in the past and today.Comment 76 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? YesNo Report abuse
3.0 out of 5 starsMixed BagBy E. N. Anderson VINE VOICE on February 25, 2000
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Earlier customer reviews have tended to comment on bias. Most of the book is actually very fair, particularly the first few chapters; the treatment of Paul Martin's "Pleistocene overkill" hypothesis is exemplary. But the last couple of chapters are indeed rather biased, and read perhaps more "anti-Indian" than Dr. Krech intended. For example, Dr. Krech makes it sound as if the buffalo jump was a common, regular thing--the Indians drove a few million buffalo over a cliff every time they wanted a light lunch. Actually, archaeology and common sense both suggest that a big jump episode was rare. Try herding buffalo on foot and you'll understand. And Krech takes an extreme position in re the Indians' tendency to kill beaver; most authorities agree that beaver were more or less conserved until the white trappers got into the act. Certainly, there were lots of beaver, and not just in eastern Canada (the area he considers). Over a million beaver were trapped out of the southwestern US in the 1830s and 1840s, in spite of very dense Indian settlement then and earlier. The first 5 or 6 chapters would provoke little reasonable disagreement, but the last 2 or 3 would provoke (or are provoking) increasingly acrimonious debate among the learned. Suffice it to say that if you got the message that the Native Americans were not always models of selflessness, but were ordinary (if sensible) human beings, you're right, and this is probably what Dr. Krech intended. If you got the message that the Native Americans were bloodthirsty savages who killed wantonly, you're wrong. I hope and trust Dr. Krech did not mean that, but he does quote-at length and with apparent favor--a lot of racist 19th-century writers who did mean that.1 Comment 56 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? YesNo Report abuse
3.0 out of 5 starsA much-needed perspective - important and thought-provoking, if flawed.By Jacquelyn Gill on September 5, 2006
Format: Paperback
There is no doubt that Shepard Krech offers a much-needed volume on the subject of American Indian ecological impact, and by the end of the powerful introduction he has convinced the reader that this may well be the definitive volume on the subject. The intro is a strong and compelling case for the re-evaluation of a popular stereotype, and should itself be included in the syllabi of courses on anthropology and ecology alike. The thesis presented in The Ecological Indian is a simple one (though by no means without controversy): the traditional image of the Indian living in non-invasive harmony with the land is not only false, but in fact does a disservice to those of aboriginal heritage by perpetuating the falsehood of the primitive noble savage.
Krech's writing shines when he wears the hat of an environmental philosopher and an anthropologist, and so it is with great disappointment that I made the transition to the actual substance of the book's thesis. In some areas (particularly those more recent historically documented cases), Krech strongly underlines his case. In others, however, he falls unbelievably short where the data is almost more compelling. Most striking was the first chapter on the Pleistocene extinctions, which oddly begins the book with arguments against the human overkill hypothesis even in the face of very compelling evidence. He focuses too strongly on the mid-80's publications of Dr. Paul S. Martin, when much more recent work has come out regarding human hunting that was completely overlooked. This poor treatment weakend the impact of the powerful introduction, and was a lost opportunity for strong evidence about early human land impact.
Similarly, the chapter on fire made almost no mention of the paleoecological record of fossil charcoal or other pre-settlement fire histories. The chapter on the Hohokam was compelling, but would have been made stronger by the inclusion of other examples from the Southwest or even the Midwest. Krech's weakness with regards to the ancient record were obvious to someone in the field, but may not be so to those without a background in anthropology or North American paleoecology, and so readers could get an incomplete picture based on certain omissions. This could be easily corrected with future editions.
Krech's background is obviously stronger in the historical period, and the section on the colonial impressions of the North American "Eden" was perhaps the strongest in the book. Here the author makes the important point that, coming from the intensely modified landscape of Europe, even a moderately-modified North America would seem like a wilderness, particularly when those doing the reporting have commercial interests. The section on buffalo is likewise very strong, including striking descriptions of buffalo jumps and other clearly excessive tactics. Here Krech makes the case about an Indian ecology most strongly, reminding the reader that the Indian ecological theory included mythological elements that are simply not compatible with Western ecological theory, such as a never-ending source of buffalo from sacred lakes or caves. With an eternally replenished supply, why would there be a need for sustainable harvesting? Similar chapters on deer and beaver emphasize the influence of European markets on overhunting for trade goods. While these are quite compelling, the book drags here at times with repetitive lists of animals killed in different regions.
Critics have lambasted Krech for making an unfair comparison between colonial and industrial human impact and those of less technologically complex cultures, one that the author himself predicts and addresses in the book. His response is to point out that just because modern humans are more manipulative doesn't mean that the Indians didn't manipulate at all. An inherent aspect of his argument is the notion of what constitutes "ecological" behavior, and Krech makes an excellent (and much-welcome) distinction between the actual science of ecology and the popular notion of ecology as environmental stewardship.
Scholarly faults aside, readers accustomed to popular science may find the writing to be dry and at times bordering on tedious. However, the book is excellently referenced, particularly with regards to primary sources, and in spite of its tone the content is very accessible to non-scholars. Ultimately, The Ecological Indian is an important contribution to the field, if occasionally disappointing in its incomplete scholarship.
~ Jacquelyn Gill
