As Long as the Grass Grows by Gilio-Whitaker, Canadians and the Natural Environment by Forkey, and Down to Earth by Steinberg provide accounts of Indigenous environmental history and Indigenous Peoples considering Canada and the U.S. from the early 19th century into the early twentieth century. The three show explicit similarities and inherent differences concerning the subject.
Gilio-Whitaker’s, As Long as the Grass Grows , presents an account of Indigenous environmental history and Indigenous Peoples focusing on the U.S. She creates a compelling narrative that focuses on the environmental justice that transpired for centuries regarding a long native conflict against the U.S. cultural and legal systems 1 . The author suggests that the systems remain firm in white supremacy and settler-colonial frameworks, which channels oppression. Some of the current case studies of environmental justice provided in the book include the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and extractive development expansion 2 . Another worthy mention of recent times regards the industrial revolution whose impact involved environmental and cultural degradation. Gilio-Whitaker presents an underlying theme concerning the paradigm shift that is necessary for environmental justice; transcending from “defined by norms of distributive justice within a capitalist framework” to another that “can accommodate the full weight of the history of settler colonialism…and embrace differences in the ways Indigenous peoples view land and nature” 3 . Gilio-Whitaker suggests an unending theme regards eradicating Indigenous worldviews by imposing dominant Christian settler-colonial ideologies. She offers a remedy for the situation by proposing a deeper understanding concerning the Indigenous worldview which posits that “there is no separation between people and land, between people and other life forms, or between people and their ancient ancestors” 4 . According to Whitaker, such an in-depth comprehension will open channels for freedom from environmental harms and injustices meted upon Indigenous communities.
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Forkey’s, Canadians and the Natural Environment , presents his account concerning Indigenous environmental history and Indigenous Peoples focusing on Canada. He generally suggests that “Canadians' experience with the natural world has been informed by two major impulses. The first is the need to exploit natural resources while the second is the desire to protect them” 5 . Forkey presents the idea that there is a complex interplay that involves a diverse and changing cast of characters whose goal involves exploiting or protecting Canadian natural resources. The author believes that the interplay is central to the formation of Canada. Forkey provides evidence of the exploitation of natural resources across Canada’s regions leading to environmental change until the 1850s citing “at different times and with varying degrees of impact ... environmental change was sporadic and localized” 6 . The author suggests colonial powers as a major contribution to the exploitation measures transcending to Canadian governments that existed before and following the confederation. Forkey submits that the governments “encouraged the exploitation of the environment for economic gain” 7 . There was an attempt to mitigate the adverse effects through state legislation at national and provincial level to regulate and rationalize the use of natural resources with the overall goal of reducing wastage. The set-up facilitated class and cultural bias with the turn of the 20 th century leading to Canadian and American authorities cooperating to manage valuable resources.
Steinberg’s, Down to Earth , presents his account concerning Indigenous environmental history and Indigenous Peoples focusing on the U.S. Steinberg provides a survey of American environmental history with shifts from climate and soil to explore aspects concerning PaleoIndians, Puritans, and pioneers 8 . He recounts how the environment significantly contributed to social, economic, and political development of the region. According to Steinberg, nature is a crucial engine for history in many places with an in-depth significance for the U.S. The author posits that the history concerning nature in America is extraordinarily generous and harsh. Steinberg submits a continuous theme suggesting that the reshaping of the environment emerged from the lifestyle of Indigenous people (the prehistoric American Indians. The author cites that “many coastal California environments were human artifacts, the product of Indian burning, and would have reverted to woody vegetation had the native peoples not intervened” 9 . Steinberg equally cites the devastating effect of livestock mainly channeled through cattle with their adversity meted upon marginal environments such as the semi-arid southern plains. The author cited the intervention measures seeking to rectify the problem felt by the environment by submitting that “when it comes to the human control of nature, beware: Things rarely turn out the way they are supposed to” 10 . He explores the colonial attempts to protect land as a natural resource transcending to provide significant historical events as having environmental ties such as the California Gold Rush, migration of Black Americans to the North facilitated by insect infestation 11 . Steinberg cites human role in attempting to reshape nature providing insight on mankind interaction with the natural world.
The three readings present similarities and differences in their accounts of Indigenous environmental history and Indigenous Peoples considering Canada and the U.S. from the early 19th century into the early twentieth century. The three focus on trends such as environmental degradation adversely impacting the natives with focus on people such as the settlers and regulators. The three accounts communicate how deeply rooted indigenous environmental history and indigenous people are considering aspects affecting the two such as people perception of land, use of the natural resources, and contribution to development. The accounts touch on the changes in policies for the two nations within the mentioned period targeting to impact the environment and the natives. Gilio-Whitaker’s and Steinberg’s accounts resonate with the former citing cultural and legal systems as facilitators of the long-standing native conflict as the latter submitting intervention measures as leading to opposite expectations. On the other hand, Forkey’s account suggests the regulations positively impacted protecting natural resources. The mentioned difference between the three accounts arises from the initial two touching on American history while the latter concerns Canada.
As Long as the Grass Grows by Gilio-Whitaker, Canadians and the Natural Environment by Forkey, and Down to Earth by Steinberg show similarities and differences in their accounts of the history of indigenous people and the environment for Canada and the U.S. The three generally coincide on vast matters with little differences due to the concerns of different regions.
Bibliography
Forkey, Neil Stevens. Canadians and the natural environment to the twenty-first century . Vol. 10. University of Toronto Press, 2012, pp. 1-83.
Gilio-Whitaker, Dina. As long as grass grows: The Indigenous fight for environmental justice, from colonization to Standing Rock . Beacon Press, 2019.
Steinberg, Ted. Down to earth: nature's role in American history . Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 4-168.
1 Gilio-Whitaker, Dina. As long as grass grows: The Indigenous fight for environmental justice, from colonization to Standing Rock . Beacon Press, 2019.
2 Gilio-Whitaker, Dina. As long as grass grows: The Indigenous fight for environmental justice, from colonization to Standing Rock . 2019.
3 Gilio-Whitaker, Dina. As long as grass grows: The Indigenous fight for environmental justice, from colonization to Standing Rock . 2019.
4 Gilio-Whitaker, Dina. As long as grass grows: The Indigenous fight for environmental justice, from colonization to Standing Rock . 2019.
5 Forkey, Neil Stevens. Canadians and the natural environment to the twenty-first century . Vol. 10. University of Toronto Press, 2012, pp. 1-83.
6 Forkey, Neil Stevens. Canadians and the natural environment to the twenty-first century . pp. 1-83.
7 Forkey, Neil Stevens. Canadians and the natural environment to the twenty-first century . pp. 1-83.
8 Steinberg, Ted. Down to earth: nature's role in American history . Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 4-168.
9 Steinberg, Ted. Down to earth: nature's role in American history . pp. 4-168.
10 Steinberg, Ted. Down to earth: nature's role in American history . pp. 4-168.
11 Steinberg, Ted. Down to earth: nature's role in American history . pp. 4-168.
