Sustainable forest management (SFM) has become a prominent goal of current forest management approaches within the Unites [sic] States. A growing body of literature offers support for incorporating traditional and local knowledge (TEK) with current SFM methods in an effort to improve management planning and policies. By seeking Native American perspectives and incorporating traditional knowledge into current forest management methods, U.S. forest managers have the potential to increase their understanding of relationships between human, non-human, and the physical environment, thereby increasing their ability to manage our nation’s forests more effectively for all stakeholders involved. Using the qualitative data obtained from in-depth interviews and focus groups conducted with two Native American communities, this study examines the absent perspectives of Native American voices in the dialogue on sustainable forest management. This study argues that bringing in Native American viewpoints into sustainable forest management will add key missing perspectives to the national and global discussion. Results suggest that the abilities to maintain and manage natural resources are central to the survival of Native American communities, their spiritual beliefs, and their cultural practices, and that the human element in ecosystem functions is an essential factor in sustainable forest management from a Native American perspective.

The Cherokee are one of the largest Native American tribes in the United States, with more than three hundred thousand people across the country claiming tribal membership and nearly one million people internationally professing to have at least one Cherokee Indian ancestor. In this revealing history of Cherokee migration and resettlement, Gregory Smithers uncovers the origins of the Cherokee diaspora and explores how communities and individuals have negotiated their Cherokee identities, even when geographically removed from the Cherokee Nation headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Beginning in the eighteenth century, the author transports the reader back in time to tell the poignant story of the Cherokee people migrating throughout North America, including their forced exile along the infamous Trail of Tears (1838–39). Smithers tells a remarkable story of courage, cultural innovation, and resilience, exploring the importance of migration and removal, land and tradition, culture and language in defining what it has meant to be Cherokee for a widely scattered people.

Provides an overview of Native American philosophies, practices, and case studies and demonstrates how Traditional Ecological Knowledge provides insights into the sustainability movement.

With a long history and deep connection to the Earth’s resources, indigenous peoples have an intimate understanding and ability to observe the impacts linked to climate change. Traditional ecological knowledge and tribal experience play a key role in developing future scientific solutions for adaptation to the impacts. The book explores climate-related issues for indigenous communities in the United States, including loss of traditional knowledge, forests and ecosystems, food security and traditional foods, as well as water, Arctic sea ice loss, permafrost thaw and relocation. The book also highlights how tribal communities and programs are responding to the changing environments. Fifty authors from tribal communities, academia, government agencies and NGOs contributed to the book. Previously published in Climatic Change, Volume 120, Issue 3, 2013.

This handbook is designed for staff in protected areas around the world who encounter conflicts of all kinds. It presents a framework and strategies for responding to different types of conflicts, along with case studies that describe a variety of approaches for dealing with conflict.