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Gifted Earth: The Ethnobotany of the Quinault and Neighboring Tribes
Published in cooperation with the Quinault Indian Nation
Gifted Earth features traditional Native American plant knowledge, detailing the use of plants for food, medicines, and materials. It presents a rich and living tradition of plant use within the Quinault Indian Nation in a volume collaboratively developed and endorsed by that tribe.
The Quinault Reservation on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state is a diverse tribal community, embodying the traditional knowledge of tribes along the entire Pacific Northwest coast. Its membership consists of descendants of many tribes—from the northwestern Olympic Peninsula to the northern Oregon coast—including the Quinault, but also many others who were relocated to the reservation in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Individuals descended from these tribal communities, including Chinook, Chehalis, Hoh, Quileute, Queets, Cowlitz, Tillamook, Clatsop, and others, have contributed to Gifted Earth, giving it remarkable breadth and representation.
A celebration of enduring Native American knowledge, this book will help non-specialists as they discover the potential of the region’s wild plants, learning how to identify, gather, and use many of the plants that they encounter in the Northwestern landscape. Part ethnobotanical guide and part “how-to” manual, Gifted Earth also prepares plant users for the minor hazards and pitfalls that accompany their quest—from how to avoid accidentally eating a bug hidden within a salal berry to how to prevent blisters when peeling the tender stalks of cow parsnip.
As beautiful as it is informative, Gifted Earth sets the standard for a new generation of ethnobotanical guides informed by the values, vision, and voice of Native American communities eager to promote a sustainable, balanced relationship between plant users and the rich plant communities of traditional tribal lands.
Gifted Earth features traditional Native American plant knowledge, detailing the use of plants for food, medicines, and materials. It presents a rich and living tradition of plant use within the Quinault Indian Nation in a volume collaboratively developed and endorsed by that tribe.
The Quinault Reservation on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state is a diverse tribal community, embodying the traditional knowledge of tribes along the entire Pacific Northwest coast. Its membership consists of descendants of many tribes—from the northwestern Olympic Peninsula to the northern Oregon coast—including the Quinault, but also many others who were relocated to the reservation in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Individuals descended from these tribal communities, including Chinook, Chehalis, Hoh, Quileute, Queets, Cowlitz, Tillamook, Clatsop, and others, have contributed to Gifted Earth, giving it remarkable breadth and representation.
A celebration of enduring Native American knowledge, this book will help non-specialists as they discover the potential of the region’s wild plants, learning how to identify, gather, and use many of the plants that they encounter in the Northwestern landscape. Part ethnobotanical guide and part “how-to” manual, Gifted Earth also prepares plant users for the minor hazards and pitfalls that accompany their quest—from how to avoid accidentally eating a bug hidden within a salal berry to how to prevent blisters when peeling the tender stalks of cow parsnip.
As beautiful as it is informative, Gifted Earth sets the standard for a new generation of ethnobotanical guides informed by the values, vision, and voice of Native American communities eager to promote a sustainable, balanced relationship between plant users and the rich plant communities of traditional tribal lands.
242 pages, Paperback
Published May 26, 2022
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128 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 23, 2023
This book is a beautiful product of a community and researcher working together for the preservation of indigenous knowledge. Well-researched, well-organized, and beautifully laid out, it details traditional uses for a variety of native coastal plants, including food, medicine, basket-weaving, woodworking, ritual uses, games, and more.
The introduction was powerful, discussing the history of the tribes and the challenges facing a people who want some traditional knowledge recorded to be passed down but to hold some things sacred and not available for public knowledge. I appreciated the excerpts of interviews with Quinault knowledge-holders and elders in the margins. Where many would show only the traditional, as in a museum showing only the past, it is such an important portrait of a surviving people to show modern uses compared with more traditional uses, as well as comparing modern challenges facing traditional harvesting areas and their traditional maintenance, noted in each entry. Overall, this is a powerful and beautifully executed work that I greatly appreciated the privilege of reading.
The introduction was powerful, discussing the history of the tribes and the challenges facing a people who want some traditional knowledge recorded to be passed down but to hold some things sacred and not available for public knowledge. I appreciated the excerpts of interviews with Quinault knowledge-holders and elders in the margins. Where many would show only the traditional, as in a museum showing only the past, it is such an important portrait of a surviving people to show modern uses compared with more traditional uses, as well as comparing modern challenges facing traditional harvesting areas and their traditional maintenance, noted in each entry. Overall, this is a powerful and beautifully executed work that I greatly appreciated the privilege of reading.
December 14, 2025
Tribal elder wisdom on the various traditional uses of plants native to the Pacific Northwest. Like any foraging book, proceed with caution, as the actual strength/quantity eaten varies from site to site and person to person. Interesting information to know just to understand the importance of the plants better.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews