Make Prayers to the Raven: A Koyukon View of the Northern Forest

"Nelson spent a year among the Koyukon people of western Alaska, studyingtheir intimate relationship with animals and the land. His chronicle ofthat visit represents a thorough and elegant account of the mysticalconnection between Native Americans and the natural world."—Outside"This admirable reflection on the natural history of the Koyukon Riverdrainage in Alaska is founded on knowledge the author gained as a studentof the Koyukon culture, indigenous to that region. He presents theseAthapascan views of the land—principally of its animals and Koyukonrelationships with those creatures—together with a measured account of hisown experiences and doubts. . . . For someone in search of a nativeAmerican expression of 'ecology' and natural history, I can think of nobetter place to begin than with this work."—Barry Lopez, Orion Nature Quarterly"Far from being a romantic attempt to pass on the spiritual lore of NativeAmericans for a quick fix by others, this is a very serious ethnographicstudy of some Alaskan Indians in the Northern Forest area. . . . He haspainstakingly regarded their views of earth, sky, water, mammals and everycreeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. He does admire their love ofnature and spirit. Those who see the world through his eyes using theireyes will likely come away with new respect for the boreal forest and thosewho live with it and in it, not against it."—The Christian Century"In Make Prayers to the Raven Nelson reveals to us the Koyukonbeliefs and attitudes toward the fauna that surround them in their forestedhabitat close to the lower Yukon. . . . Nelson's presentation also givesrich insights into the Koyukon subsistence cycle through the year and intothe hardships of life in this northern region. The book is written withboth brain and heart. . . . This book represents a landmark: never beforehas the integration of American Indians with their environment been so wellspelled out."—Ake Hultkrantz, Journal of Forest History