Gifted Earth

Possibly the most comprehensive and user-friendly ethnobotanical guidebook available in the Pacific Northwest, Gifted Earth features traditional Native American plant knowledge, detailing the use of plants for food, medicines, and materials. Rather than reporting traditional plant use as a set of disconnected and dusty academic facts, it presents a rich and living tradition of plant use within the Quinault Indian Nation.

While this guide centers on a single Native American nation, its focus is not narrow. Quinault is a remarkably diverse tribal community, embodying the traditional knowledge of tribes along the entire Pacific Northwest coast; their membership consists of descendants of many tribes, from the northwestern Olympic Peninsula to the northern Oregon coast, who were relocated to Quinault in the 19th and early 20th centuries – including Chinooks, Chehalis, Quileute, Hoh, Tillamooks, Clatsops, and others. Individuals descended from each of these tribal communities have contributed to the current volume, giving it remarkable breadth and representativeness as a guide to Pacific Northwest tribal plant knowledge.

Part ethnobotanical guide and part 'how-to' manual, Gifted Earth prepares plant users for all of the minor hazards and pitfalls that accompany their quest – from how to avoid accidentally eating a bug hidden within a salal berry, to how to avoid blisters when peeling the tender stalks of cow parsnip. A celebration of enduring Native American knowledge, this book will also help non-specialists as they discover the potentials of the region's wild plants, learning how to identify, gather, and use many of the plants that they encounter in the Northwestern landscape.

As beautiful as it is informative, Gifted Earth sets the tone for a new generation of ethnobotanical guides – guided by the values, vision, and voice of Native American communities eager to promote a sustainable, balanced relationship between plant users and the rich plant communities of the Pacific Northwest.