John Muir was an early proponent of a view we still hold today - that much of California was pristine, untouched wilderness before the arrival of Europeans. But as this groundbreaking book demonstrates, what Muir was really seeing, when he admired the grand vistas of Yosemite and the gold and purple flowers carpeting the Central Valley, were the fertile gardens of the Sierra Miwok and Valley Yokuts Indians, modified and made productive by centuries of harvesting, tilling, sowing, pruning, and burning. Marvellously detailed and beautifully written, "Tending the Wild" is an unparalled examination of Native American knowledge and uses of California's natural resources that reshapes our understanding of native cultures, and shows how we might begin to use their knowledge in our own conservation efforts.
- ISBN10 128235910X
- ISBN13 9781282359109
- Publish Date 1 January 2005
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 3 June 2015
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University of California Press
- Format eBook
- Pages 526
- Language English