Enrique Salmón: Iwígara: American Indian Ethnobotanical Traditions and Science

Iwígara: American Indian Ethnobotanical Traditions and Science, The Kinship of Plants and People — Enrique Salmón –Timber Press — 978-1-60469-880-0 — Hardcover – $34.95 – ebook and audio book versions available at lower prices

This is a truly incredible and hugely inspiring book for me. Enrique Salmón, a member of the Raramuri tribe from Mexico, has spent a lifetime learning and studying the medicinal and cultural properties of North American plants. He now teaches at California State University-East Bay in Hayward, California. His work may place him in academia, but he is fully engaged in the natural world.

Salmon begins his work with the deeply held knowledge that all life-forms are interconnected and share the same breath, which is called Iwígara in the Raramuri tribe.

In this book, Salmón presents us with eighty of the most important plants used by North American indigenous peoples. Of course, plants have always been used as food and medicine by indigenous peoples. What is important knowledge for those who are interested in engaging with a plant centric life are the passed down information about identification and harvest, the nature and applications of plants for food and medicine, and to understand how they have been central to traditional stories and myths for the disparate cultures across this continent.

Salmón honors the traditions and practices of so many different tribes here, and helps us understand the variation across different biomes and cultures of the people who live in them. Some of us learn deeply in a specific place across long periods of time, while others may trade breadth for depth. Native peoples are among the former, but most modern people fall into the latter category. A book like this one helps bridge the two different approaches to knowledge. Salmón recognizes that tension, and manages it well here. He understands that one cannot live in deep connection to the natural world without choosing a place in which to live. But readers need to know where to begin, and this book can be an introduction for anyone who wants to begin their own journey of learning and knowledge about plants, healing and cultural traditions.

I should mention also that the book is beautifully designed and includes many excellent photographs and illustrations, most in color. It is excellent work, combining narrative with references suited to beginners and experienced naturalists alike.

Enrique is also the author of Eating the Landscape: American Indian Stories of Food, Identity, and Resilience (2012).

I was honored to have the opportunity to speak with Enrique Salmón for Writerscast about his work, and hope you will enjoy listening to a truly knowledgeable plant practitioner.

Purchase Iwígara from Bookshop.org

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Patrick Lynch: A Field Guide to Long Island Sound

A Field Guide to Long Island Sound: Coastal Habitats, Plant Life, Fish, Seabirds, Marine Mammals, and Other Wildlife – Patrick Lynch – Yale University Press – paperback (flexibind) – $27.50 – 9780300220353 – 416 pages

I grew up around Long Island Sound, and have lived near it most of my life. I have always loved the shoreline and the water, the birds, marine life and the landscapes of the coast, and I have enjoyed its beauty and diversity, and even spent time as an amateur naturalist studying its ecosystems, but it was not until I read Pat Lynch’s comprehensive guidebook that I felt I fully understood this magnificent environment.

This book is beautifully illustrated, and full of fascinating and readable information about the natural history of Long Island Sound, and its varying New York and Connecticut coastlines. This estuarine body of water is surrounded by millions of people – and threatened not only by over-population and industry, but now by climate change as well. While we have made a great deal of progress in recent decades in improving the ecological health of our waters, we must increase our level of involvement now, as climate change will have tremendous impacts on the all important marshlands of the Sound and other coastal zones.

Long Island Sound comprises a diverse collection of marine, estuarine, and terrestrial ecosystems, and is located in one of the most densely populated regions in the United States. The Sound and its coastlines are home not only to myriad species of plants and animals—from shorebirds and turtles to whales, seals, and fish—but also to more than twenty million people.

Author and illustrator Patrick Lynch has put together a thoroughly engaging guide to this incredibly complex set of environments. The book includes maps, photographs, and drawings, and covers every aspect of the Sound’s various ecosystems and locales.

On reading the book, I felt that I learned more than I have done in a lifetime of living on or near the Sound and for me, it is now an indispensable companion whenever I walk the coastline or am lucky enough to get out on the water near where I live. If you live anywhere near New York or Connecticut, this book will help you fully understand the importance and breadth of the Sound environments. And even if you live in another part of the country, Long Island Sound is well worth learning about, just as any other great natural area would be. I only wish we could have had this conversation at the beach or some other interesting outdoor venue, but the Sound is too windy for making intelligible recordings.

Patrick J. Lynch is a former senior digital officer in Yale University’s Office of Public Affairs and Communications and is an award-winning author, designer, illustrator, and photographer. He lives in North Haven, Connecticut. He was kind enough to spend some time with me in New Haven recently to talk about this book and his sense of the future of Long Island Sound.

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