Forward – Heinz W. Pyszczyk
I normally don’t advertise on this website. I make an exception here.
First, because I believe Tom Shay’s new book, Under Prairie Skies. The Plants and Native Peoples of the Northern Plains, published by the University of Nebraska Press, may appeal to those of you interested in Ethnobotany. Including Canadian Ethnobotany.1
Second, Tom Shay was my Master’s thesis advisor, 1974-1978, when I attended the University of Manitoba. As I reflect back on the many years I’ve known Tom, I realize what an important influence he had on my academic career. He was a wonderful mentor.
Below is information on Tom’s new book, and his upcoming colloquium on September 23rd, which some of you may wish to listen in on. I hope you enjoy the book and colloquium.
Book Promotion – University of Nebraska Press
Book Description and Biography
Flanked by humid forests on the east and high plains on the west, the northern Great Plains stretch over some 220,000 square miles of the mid-continent, across parts of two Canadian provinces and four American states, mainly between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Under Prairie Skies explores the relationships between plants this region’s many Native groups. Aided by useful maps and graphs, it is filled with appealing color photographs of plants and landscapes. A helpful glossary of common and scientific names is included along with an extensive bibliography.
Under Prairie Skies falls into three parts. The first sets the stage by looking at the region’s glacial history and capricious climate, factors that influence the abundance and distribution of plants and animals. It closes with a virtual tour across today’s prairies, woodlands, and marshes as well as places of Native heritage. The middle chapters cover the science behind the story including technical advances such as AMS dating and analysis of ancient DNA. They go on to show how early peoples managed the land and domesticated crops such as maize. The last part focuses on daily life as it was long ago, examining how plants were used for food, medicine, spiritual practices, and crafting material goods. The author, C. Thomas Shay, grew up in Minneapolis and earned his Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Minnesota. He taught at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg for 32 years, during which time he researched the environmental and human history of the northern plains in partnership with his late wife Jennifer, a professional botanist. Tom’s team has analyzed thousands of plant remains from several dozen archaeological sites in the region. He has authored two books, contributed a number of book chapters, and published thirty articles. In 1997, Tom was awarded the Manitoba Prix Award for Heritage Education. He is currently a Senior Scholar.
Colloquium Details
Colloquium Details
The Making of an Ethnobotanist
A talk by C. Thomas Shay
INTRODUCTION
Writing Under Prairie Skies was a labor of love for a land I know well. The founding ideas for the book came after I had taken a number of undergraduate courses in botany at the University of Minnesota, including plant ecology and especially “Plants Useful to Man: A Cultural Course in Botany.” These courses opened my eyes to new ways of thinking about humans and the botanical world. When I did my dissertation research on a bison kill site in northwestern Minnesota, I realized that to understand past plant uses at the site, I must first evaluate the area’s current flora. Granting some continuity in that flora, I compiled tables of the species useful for food, etc. in each nearby habitat. Later, together with my wife Jennifer, a botanist, I conducted botanical surveys around a number of sites in Manitoba and adjacent Saskatchewan.
The need to understand the plant resources available thus guided my early research for the book. Student assistants compiled a spreadsheet of the total flora of the northern plains, then noted those used by regional groups. This tally, along with the seed and charcoal finds from archaeological sites across the region, became the starting point of the book.
I also wanted to tell people about the most common plants and describe their uses. As we delved into uses for such plants as wild sage, chokecherries, prairie turnip, cattails, and stinging nettles, it soon became clear that Native oral tradition was the key to understanding.
Writing about societies vastly different from my own proved challenging. For help, I reached out to a network of experts both Native and non-Native. Over two dozen Native voices helped shape the book, but especially those by Edward Benton-Banai, Nicolas Black Elk, Wendy Geniusz, Basil Johnston, and Robin Wall Kimmerer.
As work progressed, the book’s contents naturally fell into three parts. Part One sets the scene, going back thousands of years to when the glaciers sculpted the land. This is followed by a review of the region’s variable weather, showing some of the challenges faced by early inhabitants. Then I take the reader on a virtual “tour” to explore a variety of habitats from Saskatchewan to Iowa. In Part Two, I describe some history about the tools that archaeologists use and what we currently know about early plant domestication. Part Three covers the many plants used for food, crafts, medicine, and spiritual life. In Chapter Eight, I ask: “Do you think you could build and furnish your home using only local natural materials?” I quickly assure the reader that, “Native people did this for generations.”
Their legacy is everywhere. Modern roads follow their footpaths, the names of every state and province in the region are derived from Native languages as are those of many rivers, lakes and towns. Moreover, physical traces of Native heritage: a bison jump, spiritual sands, a sacred cave, and a rock alignment, for example, can still be seen. And we must remember that the people themselves still exist, keeping their traditions as best they can, often under adverse circumstances. I sincerely hope that Under Prairie Skies will help shine a light on their impressive accomplishments.
- the scientific study of the traditional knowledge and customs of a people concerning plants and their medical, religious, and other uses.[↩]