The River of Life : Sustainable Practices of Native Americans and Indigenous Peoples

Sustainability defines the need for any society to live within the constraints of the land's capacity to deliver all natural resources the society consumes. This book compares the general differences between Native Americans and western world view towards resources， It will provide the 'nuts and bolts' of a sustainability portfolio designed by indigenous peoples.This book introduces the ideas on how to link nature and society to make sustainable choices. To be sustainable， nature and its endowment needs to be linked to human behavior similar to the practices ofindigenous peoples. The main goal of this book is to facilitate thinking about how to change behavior and to integrate culture into thinking and decision-processes.

Sustainability: Learning from the Past 1
1 The Context for Our Sustainability Story 3
1.1 Post1492: European Colonialism Impacts on Peoples of
the Americas 3
1.2 Post1492: European Colonialism: Thirst for Resourcerich Lands
1.3 We Need A Different Glue to Make Sustainability Work 8
1.4 Essential Sustainability: Insights from A Water Metaphor 11
1.4.1 WaterA Scarce Global Common Resource 11
1.4.2 Water as A Sacred Resource 13
1.4.3 Water, Water Everywhere but Still Scarce 16
1.5 Our Coyote Mascot Blends the Dual Nature of Sustainability 20
1.6 A Tribal Perspective on Sustainability 21
Coyote Essentials 25
2 Battles to Eliminate Native American Traditions
and Cultures 27
2.1 European Colonial "Manifest Destiny" 28
2.1.1 Taming Indian Lands through Agriculture 29
2.1.2 EuroAmericans Settling the "Wild West" 30
2.1.3 Becoming Civilized: Redemption and Westward Migration 33
2.2 War on Native American Cultures and Traditions 36
2.2.1 U.S. Relocation, Termination and Assimilation Policies 37
2.2.2 Removal of Buffalo for "Manifest Destiny" 50
2.2.3 Removal of Salmon in the Pacific Northwest 51
2.2.4 Building Dams on Tribal Lands 55
2.3 Contemporary Context of Native American Lands and Resources 62
A Lens on Cultures and Traditions of Indigenous Peoples and
Local Communities 67
3 Introduction to Folklore and Cultural Survival 69
3.1 Western World Stories 69
3.2 Intergenerational Indigenous Cultural Stories 71
3.2.1 Learning Nez Perce Culture while Growing Up as Remembered
by Rodney 77
3.3 What Does It Mean to Be A Traditional Ecological Practitioner? 80
3.3.1 Break the Law When Practice Culture 80
3.3.2 Indian Spirituality 84
3.3.3 Native American Languages 91
Coyote Essentials 94
Portfolio for Sustainability: Native American Behavior Blended
with Western Science 95
4 The Nuts and Bolts of A Sustainability Portfolio 97
4.1 Practicing Indigenous Cultures and Traditions 100
4.1.1 Cultural Forest Practices in the Halimun Ecosystem Area,
Indonesia 102
4.1.2 Essential Practices of A Sustainable Portfolio as Summarized
by John D Tovey 105
4.2 Humanizing Sustainable Practices 111
4.3 Western World Ecosystem and Adaptive Management 113
4.4 Recognize Western World and Indigenous Community Differences in
How Humanize Sustainability 117
Coyote Essentials 120
5 Portfolio Element I : How to Connect Society
with Nature121
5.1 Divergent Models of "Wild" Nature and How Different Societies
Connect to It 121
5.2 Western World Model: Nature Bounded by Borders 125
5.2.1 Nature Needs to Be Controlled 127
5.2.2 Zoo Becomes A Nature Experience 129
5.2.3 Today's Nature: Bounded Larger Artificial Landscapes 133
5.3 Native American Model: Borderless Nature 134
5.3.1 American Tribes: Nature, Sense of Property Is Culturebased as
Told by Mike 136
5.3.2 No Walls: Active Landscape Management, Nature Not Wasted 139
Coyote Essentials 142
6 Portfolio Element ]I: How to Make Practical and
Realistic Decisions143
6.1 To Become Sustainable Don't "Throw Out the Baby with
the Bathwater" 143
6.2 Leave Your Individual Biases Outside the Door 146
6.2.1 "False" Indian Stories 146
6.2.2 Stories of "Real" Indians 151
6.2.3 The Life of John McCoy 155
6.3 Think Slowly and for the 7th Generation 156
6.4 Long Scientific History but Short Human Memory 159
6.5 Intergenerational Adaptation and Grandmothers as Told by
John D Tovey 163
6.6 Cultural Diversity the Norm in Regional Landscapes: Iban Tribe,
Indonesian Borneo 164
Coyote Essentials 167
7 Portfolio Element llI: Follow a Native American
Business Model169
7.1 Company Business Plans or Village Economics 169
7.1.1 Nontribal Business Plans 170
7.1.2 Tribal Business Plans 172
7.2 Western World Moving towards Humanizing Business Practices 176
7.2.1 Historical Recognition of Need to Humanize Economics 176
7.2.2 Human Development Index Rankings 177
7.2.3 Beyond Western Business Plans 180
7.3 How the Energy Intensive Business Model Made the Environment
and People of Iceland Less Resilient as Told by Raga 183
7.4 Reservation Lands Historically Undesirable but Rich in
Economic Resources Today 188
7.5 Trustee Exploitation of Tribal Resources on Reservations 189
Coyote Essentials 192
8 Portfolio Element 1V : Creative Governance from
Consensual Flexible Partnerships 193
8.1 Long Western World History: Few Stories of Consensual and
Equitable Governance 193
8.1.1 Historical Top Down Governance 193
8.1.2 Historical Western World Governance Structures that
Did Include People 195
8.2 American Indians: Village and Confederacies Make Natural
Resource Decisions 201
8.3 Link Taboos to Nonnegotiable Values When Making
Economic Decisions 205
Coyote Essentials 210
Culture as the Core of Native American Resource Leadership 211
9 Traditions Are Not Just Writings Found in Library Archives:
Native Americans Driving and Controlling
Resources Today 213
9.1 Salmon Restoration and Tribal Comanagement216
9.2 DamsRemoval, Mitigation and Redesign 219
Coyote Essentials 223
10 Final Words on Essential Native American Leadership 225
10.1 "Melting Pot" versus "Salad Bowl Assimilation" Discussion 226
10.2 Lessons from My Grandfather by Mike 227
10.3 Essential Tribal Leadership through Partnerships, Governance and
Sovereignty 229
10.3.1 One Tribal Business Model: Tulalip Tribes Building A
Federal City 233
10.3.2 Increasing Collaboration on Nature Using the Native
American Approach 239
10.4 Essential Sustainability: Building A Native American Behavior and
Thinking Toolkit 243
10.5 How to Do Business in A "Boom and Bust" Economy 246
Coyote Essentials 250
11 Summary of All Book Coyote Essentials 253
References 257
Index 267