BOOKFurther LISTS Reading FOR for TEACHERS Teachers
California & Native Americans
By Paula Henson Author of WHO NEEDS A FOREST FIRE?
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For a list of books for students: Click here Book descriptions below were not written by Paula list last updated 4/14/21
CALIFORNIA
Cunningham, Laura. A State of Change: Forgotten Landscapes of California. Berkeley, Calif: Heyday, 2010. Vernal pools, protected lagoons, grassy hills rich in bunchgrasses and,where the San Francisco Bay is today, ancient bison and mammoths roaming a vast grassland. Through the use of historical ecology, Laura Cunningham walks through these forgotten landscapes to uncover secrets about the past, explore what our future will hold, and experience the ever-changing landscape of California. Buy on Bookshop.org!
Duane, Daniel. A People’s History of the Sierra Nevada. Sierra Club, June 6, 2016. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2016-4-july-august/americas-national-parks/people-s- history-sierra-nevada
Kaufmann, Obi. The State of Water: Understanding California’s Most Precious Resource. Berkeley, California: Heyday, 2019. 144 pages ISBN: 978-1597144698 In this new book, full-color maps unravel the braided knot of California's water infrastructure and ecosystems, exposing a history of unlimited growth in spite of finite natural resources—a history that has led to its current precarious circumstances. Yet this built world depends upon the biosphere, and in The State of Water Kaufmann argues that environmental conservation and restoration efforts are necessary not only for ethical reasons but also as a matter of human survival. Buy on Bookshop.org!
Kaufmann, Obi. The California Field Atlas, Heyday, 2017. 552 pages ISBN: 978-1-59714-4025 This lavishly illustrated atlas takes readers off the beaten path and outside normal conceptions of California, revealing its myriad ecologies, topographies, and histories in exquisite maps and trail paintings. Buy on Bookshop.org!
Fradkin, Philip L. The Seven States of California: A Natural and Human History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. 474 pages ISBN: 978-0520209428 What explains California? To a large extent, as Philip Fradkin's rich, exuberant portrait makes clear, it's the multiple landscapes and the different states of mind that best define America's most populous, diverse, and fabled state. Fradkin divides California into seven distinct ecological and cultural provinces―from the hot deserts and high peaks to the rich agricultural Central Valley, the redwood forests of the north and sandy beaches of the south. Describing geographical regions based on their emblematic landscape features, Fradkin intertwines natural and social history. Buy on Bookshop.org!
Miller, Char. Not so Golden State: Sustainability vs. the California Dream. San Antonio: Trinity University Press, 2016. ISBN: 978-1595347824 In Not So Golden State, leading environmental historian Char Miller looks below the surface of California's ecological history to expose some of its less glittering conundrums. In this necessary work, Miller asks tough questions as we stand at the edge of a human-induced natural disaster in the region and beyond. Buy on Bookshop.org!
About Native Americans Native Americans
Anderson, Doug and Julie Comay and Lorraine Chiarotto. Natural Curiosity: A Resource for Educators: The Importance of the Indigenous Perspectives in Children’s Environmental Inquiry. The Laboratory School at the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, Ontario Institute for Studies, 2017. 284 pgs. ISBN: 978-0772726438 The second edition of Natural Curiosity supports a stronger basic awareness of Indigenous perspectives and their importance to environmental education. The driving motivation for a second edition was the burning need, in the wake of strong and unequivocal recommendations by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to situate Indigenous perspectives into the heart of Canadian educational settings and curricula, most notably in connection with environmental issues.
Anderson, M. Kat. Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California's Natural Resources, UC Press, 2005. 558 pgs. ISBN: 978-0-52024-8519 An unparalleled examination of Native American knowledge and uses of California's natural resources that reshapes our understanding of native cultures and shows how we might begin to use their knowledge in our own conservation efforts. Buy on Bookshop.org!
Bibby, Brian. Deeper Than Gold: A Guide to Indian Life In the Sierra Foothills Photography by Dugan Aguilar, Heyday Books, 2004. 224 pages ISBN: 978-0930588960 Brian Bibby brings together the present and the past—both ancient and recent—in a fascinating compilation of anecdote, myth, recollection, and reflection. Five years in the making and the result of almost thirty years of dedicated work among California’s native communities, Deeper Than Gold is a tribute to the people who know Gold Country best. Buy on Bookshop.org!
Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne and Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza. An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (for Young People), Beacon Press, 2019. 272 pages ISBN: 978-0807049396 Spanning more than 400 years, this classic bottom-up history examines the legacy of Indigenous peoples’ resistance, resilience, and steadfast fight against imperialism. Going beyond the story of America as a country “discovered” by a few brave men in the “New World,” Indigenous human rights advocate Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reveals the roles that settler colonialism and policies of American Indian genocide played in forming our national identity. 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Young Adult Honor Book 2020 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People,selected by National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and the Children’s Book Council 2019 Best-Of Lists: Best YA Nonfiction of 2019 (Kirkus Reviews) Best Nonfiction of 2019 (School Library Journal) Best Books for Teens (New York Public Library) Best Informational Books for Older Readers (Chicago Public Library) Buy on Bookshop.org!
Margolin, Malcolm. The Way We Lived: California Indian Stories, Songs and Reminiscences, Heyday Books, 2017. 272 pages ISBN: 978-1579-143936 Here, in their own words, indigenous voices reclaim the narrative of California Indians. Reflecting that diversity, this collection of personal histories, songs, chants, and stories draws together a range of experiences from throughout the state and across generations. Buy on Bookshop.org!
Margolin, Malcolm. The Ohlone Way: Indian Life in the San Francisco-Monterey Bay Area. Berkeley, Calif: Heyday Books, 2003. ISBN: 978-0930588014 Two hundred years ago, herds of elk and antelope dotted the hills of the San Francisco– Monterey Bay area. Grizzly bears lumbered down to the creeks to fish for silver salmon and steelhead trout. From vast marshlands geese, ducks, and other birds rose in thick clouds “with a sound like that of a hurricane.” This land of “inexpressible fertility,” as one early explorer described it, supported one of the densest Indian populations in all of North America. Buy on Bookshop.org!
Margolin, Malcolm and Yolanda Montijo. Native Ways: California Indian Stories and Memories, Heyday Books, 1995. 128 pages ISBN: 0-930588-73-8 California Indians vividly describe various aspects of traditional and contemporary Indian life, in a clear, easy-to-read style. With eighty photographs, index, map of Native California, and listing of California Indian resources. Native Ways has been approved by the California Department of Education and is listed in the Instructional Materials Approved for Legal Compliance Catalog. Very difficult to find!
Nixon (Redcorn), Guy. A History of the Enduring Washoe People: And Their Neighbors including the Si Te Cah by XLIBRIS, 2013. 94 pages ISBN: 978-1483651453 The original inhabitants of the Lake Tahoe Basin the Washoe are a fascinating people. With a history in the Sierra Nevada stretching back 9000 years they are the oldest tribe in California. In American history the Washoe guided Kit Carson and Charles Fremont through the Sierra Nevada, later they were the first to bring food to the stranded Donner Party. The Washoe have tribal lore that speaks of the Si Te Cah tribe otherwise known as Sasquach or Bigfoot truly did exist. Buy on Bookshop.org!
Stewart, Omer C. et al. Forgotten Fires: Native Americans and the Transient Wilderness, University of Oklahoma Press, 2009. 384 pages ISBN: 978-0-80614-0377 A common stereotype about American Indians is that for centuries they lived in stataic harmony with nature in a pristine wilderness that remained unchanged until European colonization. Most important, they regularly used fire to manage plant communities and associated animal species through varied and localized habitat burning. Buy on Bookshop.org!
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