Islands Spirit Rising

Set in the rich natural, cultural, and political landscape of Haida Gwaii, Islands' Spirit Rising examines the long-term conflict over the islands' ancient forests and recent events that unfolded in the context of collaborative land-use planning. In response to threats posed by a century of logging, a local indigenous-environmental-community movement built enough momentum to challenge the multinational forest industry and the political structures enabling it. This book traces the evolution of this dynamic force, from the early days of Haida resistance to the modern context of alliances, legal battles, and evolving forms of governance.

Growing up, I knew two things to be true: My dad was a drunk. Being an Indian was complicated. When I joined the Navy, these two ideas were cemented when my fellow sailors, after finding out that I was an American Indian, would ask me if I drank a lot or if I still lived in a TeePee. They were asking questions because that’s what they knew and I couldn’t blame them. I could only answer “no” to both. These questions, posed by my curious new friends, made me wish that I knew more about my background, about me. Dad tried to teach us the language, the culture, what it meant to be Ojibwe. But no one wants to learn from a drunken Indian, least of all, me. Then, in the winter of 1980, my dad nearly died. When he awoke, everything changed. This is his story. Warrior Spirit Rising is the inspiring true account of Gene Goodsky, as told through the eyes of his oldest daughter, Dianna. Gene was raised in the North Woods of Minnesota, on the tribal lands of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa. Surviving years of cultural genocide, racism, and the Vietnam War left him broken—battling severe PTSD and alcohol abuse. In this stunning tale of Native American perseverance, Good Sky unravels the history of her father, her family, and her people, and the near-death experience that would change their lives forever. With both wit and honesty, she explores the devastating loss of heritage that has impacted generations of Native Americans, and how the powerful choice to forgive can leave a legacy.

Haida Gwaii, the ancient territory of the Haida people, is a West Coast archipelago famous for its wild beauty and rich species diversity. But that natural bounty, since European contact, has also been a magnet for industry. In the mid-1970s, the Haida rallied with environmentalists to end the rapacious logging of their monumental old-growth forests—and to reassert their title and rights to their homeland. Combining first-person accounts with his own vivid prose, Ian Gill traces the struggle from its early days. The battle became epic, stretching from the backwoods of British Columbia to the front benches of Canada’s parliament and uniting a colourful cast of characters. There were many setbacks, but also amazing victories, including the creation of Gwaii Haanas, a world-renowned protected area, and landmark legal decisions. Perhaps the fiercest champion of the Haida’s visionary new stewardship ethic has been Guujaaw—artist, orator, strategist and four-term president of the Council of the Haida Nation. In 2004, the Haida laid claim to their entire traditional territory: the land, seabed and waters of Haida Gwaii. It was an audacious move, and one that set a benchmark for indigenous rights around the world. In telling this incredible story of political and cultural renaissance, Ian Gill has crafted a gripping, ultilayered narrative with far-reaching reverberations.

A narrative of occupation, resistance and hard-won sovereignty.

This book is the product of the 2nd World Conference on Environmental History, held in Guimarães, Portugal, in 2014. It gathers works by authors from the five continents, addressing concerns raised by past events so as to provide information to help manage the present and the future. It reveals how our cultural background and examples of past territorial intervention can help to combat political and cultural limitations through the common language of environmental benefits without disguising harmful past human interventions. Considering that political ideologies such as socialism and capitalism, as well as religion, fail to offer global paradigms for common ground, an environmentally positive discourse instead of an ecological determinism might serve as an umbrella common language to overcome blocking factors, real or invented, and avoid repeating ecological loss. Therefore, agency, environmental speech and historical research are urgently needed in order to sustain environmental paradigms and overcome political, cultural an economic interests in the public arena. This book intertwines reflections on our bonds with landscapes, processes of natural and scientific transfer across the globe, the changing of ecosystems, the way in which scientific knowledge has historically both accelerated destruction and allowed a better distribution of vital resources or as it, in today’s world, can offer alternatives that avoid harming those same vital natural resources: water, soil and air. In addition, it shows the relevance of cultural factors both in the taming of nature in favor of human comfort and in the role of the environment matters in the forging of cultural identities, which cannot be detached from technical intervention in the world. In short, the book firstly studies the past, approaching it as a data set of how the environment has shaped culture, secondly seeks to understand the present, and thirdly assesses future perspectives: what to keep, what to change, and what to dream anew, considering that conventional solutions have not sufficed to protect life on our planet.

Aboriginal people in Canada have long struggled to regain control over their traditional forest lands. There have been significant gains in the quest for Aboriginal self-determination over the past few decades, including the historic signing of the Nisga’a Treaty in 1998. Aboriginal participation in resource management is on the rise in both British Columbia and other Canadian provinces, with some Aboriginal communities starting their own forestry companies. Aboriginal Peoples and Forest Lands in Canada brings together the diverse perspectives of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal scholars to address the political, cultural, environmental, and economic implications of forest use. This book discusses the need for professionals working in forestry and conservation to understand the context of Aboriginal participation in resource management. It also addresses the importance of considering traditional knowledge and traditional land use and examines the development of co-management initiatives and joint ventures between government, forestry companies, and native communities.

How does religion relate to our global environment? Religion and the Environment provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to this controversial question by covering the following important themes: the religion-environment interface pre- and post-industrial religious practices related to resource extraction and the rise of the Anthropocene an analysis of religious response to the impacts of contemporary industrialization, globalization, and urbanization religious thought, leadership, policy formation, and grassroots activism relative to the environment. Religion and the Environment will offer students and general readers a sophisticated yet accessible exploration of the relationship between religion and the environment, through case studies ranging from climate change to the impacts of warfare. This engaging book will be an excellent addition to introductory courses and those approaching the topic for the first time.

The fifth and final volume of the Canadian State Trials series examines political trials and national security measures during the period of 1939 to 1990. Essays by historians and legal scholars shed light on experiences during the Second World War and its immediate aftermath, including uses of the War Measures Act and the Official Secrets Act with the unfolding of the Cold War and legal responses to the FLQ (including the October Crisis), labour strikes, and Indigenous resistance and standoffs. The volume critically examines the historical and social context of the trials and measures resulting from these events, concluding the first comprehensive series on this important area of Canadian law and politics. The fifth volume’s exploration of state responses to real and perceived security threats is particularly timely as Canada faces new challenges to the established order ranging from Indigenous nations demanding a new constitutional framework to protestors challenging discriminatory policing and contesting public health measures. (Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History)