The subsistence economies of indigenous North American societies : a handbook

Book

The subsistence economies of indigenous North American societies : a handbook / edited by Bruce D. Smith.

Smith, Bruce D. (Bruce David), 1946- (Added Author).

Summary:

"The Subsistence Economies of Indigenous North American Societies provides a comprehensive and in-depth documentation of how Native American societies met the challenges of adapting to the varied ecosystems of North America over the past 10,000 years. The contributors identify a number of recurrent themes and questions which have shaped debates regarding the nature of Native American interaction with and impact on their local environments throughout the Holocene.

The volume features full ecosystem coverage of North America, detailing the use of wild plant and animal resources in each of eight broadly defined geographical regions. The independent domestication of eastern North American plants and the subsequent introduction of domesticated crops, first from Mexico and subsequently from Eurasia, are described in detail, as is the introduction of Eurasian domesticated livestock, and the role of the turkey, the dog, and tobacco in indigenous North American societies. Drawing from this rich analysis, the volume closes by considering the ways in which and the degree to which Native American societies actively shaped their natural environments."--pub. desc.

Record details

ISBN: 9781935623014 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN: 193562301X (cloth : alk. paper)
Physical Description: xi, 616 pages : illustrations, maps ; 29 cm.
Publisher: Washington, D.C. : Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press ; 2011.

Content descriptions

General Note:: "A Smithsonian contribution to knowledge."
Bibliography, etc. Note:: Includes bibliographical references.
Formatted Contents Note:: Introduction: Indigenous North American socities and the environment / Bruce D. Smith -- Plant use by Arctic and Subarctic indigenous peoples / Alestine Andre, Amanda Karst, and Nancy J. Turner -- Archaeological and ethnographic evidence for indigenous hunting and fishing economies in the North American Arctic and Subarctic / Christyann M. Darwent -- Plant use by Northwest Coast and Plateau indigenous peoples / Fiona Hamersley Chambers and Nancy J. Turner -- Prehistoric Native American use of animals on the Northwest Coast and Plateau / Sarah K. Campbell and Virginia L. Butler -- Archaeological and ethnographic evidence for indigenous plant use in California / Robert L. Bettinger and Eric Wohlgemuth -- Native hunting adaptations in California : changing patterns of resource use from the Early Holocene to European contact / William R. Hildebrandt and Kimberly Carpenter -- Subsistence through time in the greater Southwest / Karen R. Adams and Suzanne K. Fish -- Prehistoric hunting and fishing patterns in the American Southwest / Steven R. James -- Plant foods and foodways among the Great Basin's indigenous peoples / Catherine S. Fowler and David E. Rhode -- Animal use in the Great Basin of North America : ethnographic and archaeological evidences / Joel C. Janetski --

Patterns of plant use in the prehistoric Central and Southern Plains / Mary J. Adair and Richard R. Drass -- Native American use of animals on the North American Great Plains / John R. Bozell, Carl R. Falk, and Eileen Johnson -- The role of plants in Southeastern subsistence economies / Kristen J. Gremillion -- Animals in Southeastern Native American subsistence economies / Heather A. Lapham -- People and plant interactions in the Northeast / Gary W. Crawford -- Animal use by Holocene aboriginal societies of the Northeast / Bonnie W. Styles -- Native American domestication and husbandry of plants in eastern North America / C. Margaret Scarry and Richard A. Yarnell -- The role of "tropical" crops in early North American agriculture / Gayle J. Fritz -- Tobacco and smoking in native North America / Sandra L. Dunavan and Volney H. Jones -- The diversity and origin of American dogs / Lynn M. Snyder and Jennifer A. Leonard -- Domestication of the turkey in the American Southwest / Natalie D. Munro -- Fusion gardens : Native North America and the Columbian exchange / Lee A. Newsom and D. Ann Trieu Gahr -- Eurasian domesticated livestock in Native American economies / Burnet Pavao-Zuckerman and Elizabeth J. Reitz -- Shaping the natural world : patterns of human niche construction by small-scale societies in North America / Bruce D. Smith.