Overview

North America was not empty nor were its inhabitants savages when Europeans arrived in 1492. Quite the opposite, North America was thickly populated by indigenous people who lived in clean cities, had a thriving economy, and transformed the landscape into bountiful productivity. Forgotten Landscapes reveals the incredible extent to which Native Americans manipulated and shaped their surrounding environs through agricultural practices and urban engineering, resulting in one of the most prosperous civilizations of their time. Well before European contact, North American cities and villages were bound together by an intricate trade network. Today, Spiro Mound in rural Oklahoma is a few piles of dirt, not on the road to anywhere. But at the time of the Mississippian civilization, about a thousand years ago, it was one of the largest cities in the world. With the controlled use of fire, Native Americans had transformed thick forests into open woodlands and expanded the ranges of prairies. Through organized hunting, Natives controlled the populations of prey animals such as passenger pigeons, and when Native populations grew large enough, they developed agriculture including irrigated crops, and even orchards. In this fascinating and overdue book, author Stanley A. Rice shows readers the Pre-Columbian landscape of America that has been largely forgotten.

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9781493088669

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""This book fills an important niche illustrating the many ways Native Americans shaped our ecosystems. It is written in a style that will make it available to a diverse audience and provide a valuable and entertaining history of indigenous populations in North America.""--Jon E. Keeley, Senior Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Adjunct Full Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles ""This marvelous book makes visible the hidden Native histories and their subtle legacies that exist across the Continent we count as home. These often-ignored legacies reflect the fact that the ""new"" world has long been home to Native peoples, who have shaped the landscapes we inhabit. Where people live, they farm, irrigate, burn, hunt, manage, and build monuments to their lives and communities. The United States' myth of primeval wilderness has hidden these complex landscapes from most of us. Rice, a skilled writer for the public, an experienced educator, a respected scientist, and representative of a ten-generation Cherokee lineage, shows us through his words, his ancestors' stories, and his photographs how wrong the American myth of primeval wilderness is, and how rich are the legacies of the landscapes this country has appropriated.""--Steward T.A. Pickett, PhD, Distinguished Senior Scientist, Emeritus, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies ""Forgotten Landscapes is a paradigm-jogging approach to North American history, in a lively narrative blending deep understanding of ecology with personal knowledge and fresh recognition of impacts of Native peoples on the landscape. Rice challenges us to learn from millennia of agricultural practices valuing diversity and coexistence in order to achieve a sustainable future.""--Judy Parrish, Professor of Biological Sciences, Millikin University

""This book fills an important niche illustrating the many ways Native Americans shaped our ecosystems. It is written in a style that will make it available to a diverse audience and provide a valuable and entertaining history of indigenous populations in North America.""--Jon E. Keeley, Senior Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Adjunct Full Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles ""This marvelous book makes visible the hidden Native histories and their subtle legacies that exist across the Continent we count as home. These often-ignored legacies reflect the fact that the ""new"" world has long been home to Native peoples, who have shaped the landscapes we inhabit. Where people live, they farm, irrigate, burn, hunt, manage, and build monuments to their lives and communities. The United States' myth of primeval wilderness has hidden these complex landscapes from most of us. Rice, a skilled writer for the public, an experienced educator, a respected scientist, and representative of a ten-generation Cherokee lineage, shows us through his words, his ancestors' stories, and his photographs how wrong the American myth of primeval wilderness is, and how rich are the legacies of the landscapes this country has appropriated.""--Steward T.A. Pickett, PhD, Distinguished Senior Scientist, Emeritus, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies ""Forgotten Landscapes provides a wonderfully accessible overview of what we know about Native American agricultural and land-management practices in the pre-Columbian era... Anyone interested in learning more should dig into the extensive bibliography. A fascinating work filling an important niche."" -- ""Booklist"" ""Forgotten Landscapes is a paradigm-jogging approach to North American history, in a lively narrative blending deep understanding of ecology with personal knowledge and fresh recognition of impacts of Native peoples on the landscape. Rice challenges us to learn from millennia of agricultural practices valuing diversity and coexistence in order to achieve a sustainable future.""--Judy Parrish, Professor of Biological Sciences, Millikin University

Author Information

Stanley A. Rice is emeritus professor of biological science at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. During his teaching career, his passion was on relating scientific concepts to his Cherokee experience and the Native viewpoint. Rice has contributed papers to the biennial Native American Symposium at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, and he is past president of the two major scientific societies in Oklahoma: Oklahoma Academy of Science and Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education.

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