Pearson Techonology Group - Defending the Land: Sovereignty and Forest Life in James Bay Cree Society (Part of the Cultural Survival Studies in Ethnicity and Change Series)

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Defending the Land: Sovereignty and Forest Life in James Bay Cree Society (Part of the Cultural Survival Studies in Ethnicity and Change Series) 1/e

Ronald Niezen
Published July 1997 by Allyn & Bacon
Copyright 1998, 160 pp., Paper
ISBN: 0-205-27580-X

List Price:
$27.60
Inventory Status:
Out-of-Stock
Due In-Stock:
07/1997

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Summary

What are the social forces that are destructive to a native society and how are their leaders trying to overcome them? Many have already heard of the campaign of the Cree people to protect their forest way of life from the impact of hydro-electric development in northern Quebec; few have heard in any detail the outcome of this campaign and what it means for the future of indigenous societies. KEY TOPICS: Readers will find a systemic method for documenting the social impact of large-scale development on village communities. This study serves to balance the more common theme that focuses exclusively on the forces of acculturation and social destruction of native communities.MARKET: Sociologists and anthropologists. Part of the Cultural Survival Series.

Features

Discusses healing as an important aspect of hunters' attachment to the land. This illustrates social and spiritual dimensions to hunting societies, rather than narrowing the focus to the Cree people's economy (Chapters 1 and 2).

Describes how the Cree people see formal education as significant for the development of effective native leadership. These chapters depict an unintended consequence of formal policies resulting in “assimilation” (Chapters 2 and 4).

Includes a discussion of the social impact of large-scale (hydro-electric) development and provides a systematic method for assessing the social impact of development (Chapter 4).

Contains a discussion of Cree participation in international politics, which differs from most case studies because it does not stress native powerlessness (Chapter 5).