Gifted Earth: The Ethnobotany of the Quinault and Neighboring Tribes by Douglas Deur

Abstract

Reviewed by: Gifted Earth: The Ethnobotany of the Quinault and Neighboring Tribes by Douglas Deur David Harrelson GIFTED EARTH: THE ETHNOBOTANY OF THE QUINAULT AND NEIGHBORING TRIBES by Douglas Deur and the Knowledge-Holders of the Quinault Indian Nation Oregon Sate University Press, Corvallis, 2022. Photographs, maps, bibliography, index. 272 pages. $29.95 paper. The author’s collaboration with Quinault Tribal Government and its citizens has created a field guide conveying aspects of human-plant relationships and cultural obligations known to the Quinault people. This compilation is presented as a gift to the Tribe, insuring that the lessons, responsibilities, and practices of stewardship are available for future generations. In the author’s words: “By respecting this natural and cultural inheritance, and by continuing to learn of it and embrace it, countless future generations of Quinault people will be sustained, along with their new neighbors in the Pacific Northwest — This place we together call home” (p. xvii). This volume is centered on the point where Indigenous voice, knowledge, and responsibilities intersect with the floral-botanical world of southwest Washington State. In this manner, it distinguishes itself from many other field guides catering to a Euro-American extractive approach to floral resources. Readers are invited into an understanding of People’s and Tribe’s interaction with plants today as the result of relevant, ongoing, cultural practice. Prior to this guide, readers with a desire to understand the region’s Indigenous botanical information turned to Erna Gunther’s Ethno-botany of Western Washington: Knowledge and Use of Indigenous Plants by Native Americans, a volume with inconstancies in tribal understanding of the flora of the region. It is commonly known among tribal people that Gunther’s book was based on anthropological work done with tribal peoples that was not focused on ethnobotany. In refreshing contrast, this book is the outcome of ethnobotanical research conducted in partnership with tribal people. Indigenous voices are present throughout as direct and relevant citations from community. This volume follows a trend seen elsewhere by which publication of ethnobotanical information is understood to be the information and authority of sovereign tribal governments. It is theirs to share, translate, or limit to outside audiences. This is significant because voices of Indigenous peoples and their nations have long been seen as an extractive commodity by which uninvited authors reap personal benefit. This volume, however, upholds the best intentions of collaborative informed consent centered on Indigenous understanding and intellectual property. It is important to note [End Page 99] that the monetary value of time for this project sponsored by Quinault as well as volunteered by others is unlikely to be recaptured within a person’s lifetime. The value of this work is an assurance that the knowledge will not be forgotten. Gifted Earth will be of interest to future generations of the Quinault people. Other audiences who will find interest in this volume include Quinault’s neighbors in the Pacific Northwest. Neighbors who are likely to find the greatest interest are those engaged in conservation, applied anthropology, and botany. The guide’s color-coded section tabs make identifying sections of the book accessible. Headings such as “Traditional uses,” “What it looks like,” “Where to find it,” “When to gather,” “Traditional management and care,” and “Cautions” encourage readers to develop their own understanding of plants. It is clear that Douglas Deur and Quinault staff gave deliberate care and consideration to responsibly sharing cultural knowledge regarding the treatment and transmission of the Tribe’s intellectual property. Sensitive information has been paraphrased or redacted and numerous warnings and advisories provided. Nevertheless, this guide is likely to be of interest to individuals identified by tribal communities as culture vultures. This term is reserved for the type of person who seeks cultural information from tribes to fulfill their own selfish needs, profits, or other extractive practices. Those who choose this path disregard relationships, customs, responsibilities, or obligations associated with knowledge. They do not seek to be in a reciprocal relationship with the people from whom the knowledge originates, nor the plant communities depended on. Individuals using this book can honor what is asked of them in the book: “The tribe chooses to share this information so that the...