Includes bibliographical references (pages 262-283) and index.

Prologue: the land and the peoples -- Wealth and value in a changing world -- Land-based stories of peoples and home places -- A kincentric approach to nature - Honouring nature through ceremony and ritual -- Blanace between humans and nature - Looking after the lands and waters -- Everything is one -- Finding meaning in a contemporary context.

"Early in the twentieth century, ethnographer James Teit wrote of the belief among the Nlaka'pmx people that plants and grasses are the blanket of the earth, and that if too much vegetation is destroyed, the earth weeps. In The Earth's Blanket, ethnobotanist Nancy Turner explores the wealth of ecological knowledge and the spiritual connection to the natural world that is fundamental to indigenous cultures. Turner has worked with Aboriginal peoples in North America for more than twenty-five years, and her indigenous teachers have allowed her to share their perspectives about the natural world. Their teachings describe a rich variety of methods of harvesting - while maintaining and enhancing - our natural resources. More than just stories, these narratives underlie a belief system that informs everyday attitudes toward the earth."-- Back cover.