Home | Speakers | Schedule | Resources |

February 13-14, 2004
San Diego State University

Information Sources on Environmental Issues
and Native Americans


There are many books, articles, web sites, government publications, audiovisual materials and other sources concerning American Indians and the environment. Researchers should check libraries’ catalogs for books and audiovisual materials under various subject headings. For books and media materials in the SDSU Library, check the Catalog (the PAC) at http://infodome.sdsu.edu. Examples of some of the most important subjects to check are the following (listed in alphabetical order):

Children's Literature - Nature
Children's Literature - Reference Works
Conservation of Natural Resources – United States

Ecofeminism
Ecology – Environmental Aspects
Environmental Degradation
Environmental Justice – United States
Environmental Management
Environmental Protection – California – San Diego County

Fire Ecology

Human Ecology

Indian Philosophy – North America

Indians of North America - Agriculture
Indians of North America – Fishing
Indians of North America – Land Tenure
Indians of North America – Religion
Indians of North America – Science

Landscape Changes – America

Natural Resources Management Areas – United States
Nature Conservation
Nature – Effect of Human Beings on
Nature in Literature

Radioactive Waste Disposal – Environmental Aspects
Tourism – Environmental Aspects

Water Rights – Government Policy
West (U.S.) – Environmental Conditions
Wilderness Areas

The following are examples of materials in the SDSU library (and Web sites) that cover or include aspects of the environment in relation to American Indians.

Adamson, Joni. American Indian Literature, Environmental Justice, and Ecocriticism: the Middle Place. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2001.

American Indian Heritage Foundation. Native Americans and the Environment: Environmental Justice Links. Online: http://www.indians.org/library/subenv1.html.

Awiakta, Marilou. Selu: Seeking the Corn-Mother’s Wisdom. Golden, CO: Fulcrum, 1993.

Barnett, Franklin. Dictionary of Prehistoric Indian Artifacts of the American Southwest. Flagstaff, AZ: 1973.

Bierhorst, John. The Way of the Earth: Native America and the Environment. New York: Morrow, 1994.

Blackburn, Thomas C. and Kat Anderson. Before the Wilderness: Environmental Management by Native Californians. Menlo Park, CA: Ballena Press, 1993.

Bol, Marsha C., ed. Stars Above, Earth Below: American Indians and Nature. Niwot, CO: Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1998.

Burrill, Richard. Protectors of the Land: an Environmental Journey to Understanding the Conservation Ethic. Sacramento, CA: Anthro, 1994. ( a curriculum guide for grades 4-10).

Caduto, Michael J. and Joseph Bruchac. Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children. Golden, CO: Fulcrum, 1988. (for grades K-6).

Champagne, Duane, ed. Contemporary Native American Cultural Issues. Walnut Creek, CA: Alta Mira Press, 1999.

Clow, Richmond L. and Imre Sutton. Trusteeship in Change: Toward Tribal Autonomy in Resource Management. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado, 2001.

Davis, Mary B., ed. Native America in the Twentieth Century: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland, 1994.

Deloria, Philip J. and Neal Salisbury, eds. A Companion to American Indian History. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002.

Donahue, John M. and Barbara Rose Johnston, eds. Water, Culture, and Power: Local Struggles in a Global Context. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1998.

Doolittle, William E. Cultivated Landscapes of Native North America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Elder, John, ed. American Nature Writers. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1996.
Contains articles in volume II on Peter Matthiessen (pp. 599-613); N. Scott Momaday (pp. 639-649); Leslie Marmon Silko (pp. 817-827); Gary Snyder (pp. 829-846); “Nature in Native American Literatures” by Hertha D. Wong (pp. 1141-1156) and others.

Eargle, Dolan H., Jr. The Earth is Our Mother: A Guide to the Indians of California, Their Locales and Historic Sites. San Francisco: Trees Company Press, 1986.

Environmental Protection Agency. Everything You Wanted to Know about Environmental Regulations but were Afraid to Ask: A Guide for Indian Nations. Kansas City, KS: U.S. EPA, Region 7, 1995.

Gedicks, Al. The New Resource Wars: Native and Environmental Struggles Against Multinational Corporations. Boston: South End Press, 1993.

Gibbon, Guy. Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland, 1998.

Grinde, Donald A. and Bruce E. Johansen. Ecocide of Native America: Environmental Destruction of Indian Lands and People. Santa Fe, NM: Clear Light, 1995.

Handbook of North American Indians. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1978-present (vols. 4-13, 15, 17)

Hirschfelder, Arlene, and Martha Kreipe de Montaño. The Native American Almanac: A Portrait of Native America Today. New York: Prentice Hall General Reference, 1993.

Hughes, J. Donald. North American Indian Ecology. El Paso: Texas Western Press, 1996.

Jacobs, Wilbur R. The Fatal Confrontation: Historical Studies of American Indians, Environment, and Historians. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996.

Kay, Charles E. and Randy T. Simmons, eds. Wilderness and Political Ecology: Aboriginal Influences and the Original State of Nature. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2002.

Keoke, Emory Dean and Kay Marie Porterfield. Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World. New York: Facts on File, 2002.

Kerasote, Ted, ed. Return of the Wild: the Future of Our Natural Lands. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2001.

Killingsworth, Monte. Circle within a Circle. New York: M. K. McElderry Books, 1994. (children’s book).

Kilpatrick, Alan and Mike Connolly, et al. Indian Groups…Issues. San Diego: Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy, 1997. (report on the environmental concerns of Southern California Indian groups and Baja California Indigenous communities).

Kuletz,Valerie. The Tainted Desert: Environmental Ruin in the American West. New York: Routledge, 1998.

LaDuke, Winona. All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1999.

Lambert Colomeda, Lorelei Anne. Keepers of the Central Fire: Issues in Ecology for Indigenous Peoples. Boston: Jones and Bartlett, 1999.

Lewis, David Rich. Neither Wolf nor Dog: American Indians, Environment, and Agrarian Change. New York: University Press, 1994.

Lobo, Susan and Steve Talbot. Native American Voices: a Reader. New York: Longman, 1998.

Malinowski, Sharon, ed. Notable Native Americans. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.
Containing articles on significant Native Americans, such as Floyd Westerman (pp. 456-458).

McGovern, Dan. The Campo Indian Landfill War: the Fight for Gold in California’s Garbage. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995.

McLeod, Christopher, Producer and Director. In the Light of Reverence [video recording]. Presented by the Independent Television Service and Native American Public Telecommunications. Oley, PA: Bullfrog Films, 2001.

Merchant, Carolyn, ed. Major Problems in American Environmental History: Documents and Essays. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath, 1993.

National Council for Science and the Environment. Native Americans and the Environment: Online Documents and Other Web Sites. Online: http://www.cnie.org/NAE/internet.html.

Patterson, Alex. A Field Guide to Rock Art Symbols of the Greater Southwest. Boulder: Johnson Books, 1992.

Rajtar, Steve. Indian War Sites: A Guidebook to Battlefields, Monuments, and Memorials. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1999.

Seattle, Chief. Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: A Message from Chief Seattle. New York: Dial, 1991. (children’s book).

Sherow, James E., ed. A Sense of the American West: An Anthology of Environmental History. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998.

Straub, Deborah Gillan, ed. Voices of Multicultural America: Notable Speeches Delivered by African, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Americans, 1790-1995. Detroit: Gale Research, 1996.
Contains speeches delivered by Wilma Mankiller, Sitting Bull, Russell Means, Black Hawk, Red Jacket, Chief Seattle, and others.

Tribal Environmental and Natural Resource Assistance Handbook. Washington, DC: White House Domestic Policy Council, Working Group on American Indians and Alaska Native, Subgroup on Environment and Natural Resources and the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society, 1999.

Ulrich, Roberts. Empty Nets: Indians, Dams, and the Columbia River. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 1999.

U.S. Congress. Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs. Improving the Capability of Tribal Governments to Regulate Environmental Quality Pursuant to Federal and Tribal Laws: Report to Accompany S. 2075. Washington, DC: GPO, 1990.

Vale, Thomas R., ed. Fire, Native Peoples, and the Natural Landscape. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2002.

Vane, Slyvia Brakke and Lowell John Bean. California Indians: Primary Resources: A guide to Manuscripts, Artifacts, Documents, Serials, Music and Illustrations. Rev. ed. Menlo Park, CA: Ballena Press, 1990.

Waldman, Carl. Word Dance: The Language of Native American Culture. New York: Facts on File, 1994.

Warren, Karen J. Ecofeminism: Women, Culture, Nature. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997.

Weaver, Jace, ed. Defending Mother Earth: Native American Perspectives on Environmental Justice. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996.


Phillip White
SDSU Librarian

San Diego State University | SDSU Library and Information Access