Birds Through Indigenous Eyes: Native Perspectives on Birds of the Eastern Woodlands

An intimate and personal account of the profound roles birds play in the lives of some Indigenous people

For many hours over a period of years, white anthropologist Dennis Gaffin and two Indigenous friends, Michael Bastine and John Volpe, recorded their conversations about a shared passion: the birds of upstate New York and southern Ontario. In these lively, informal talks, Bastine (a healer and naturalist of Algonquin descent) and Volpe (a naturalist and animal rehabilitator of Ojibwe and Métis descent) shared their experiences of, and beliefs about, birds, describing the profound spiritual, psychological, and social roles of birds in the lives of some Indigenous people. Birds through Indigenous Eyes presents highlights of these conversations, placing them in context and showing how Native understandings of birds contrast with conventional Western views.

Bastine and Volpe bring to life Algonquin, Ojibwe, and Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) beliefs about birds. They reveal how specific birds and bird species are seamlessly integrated into spirituality and everyday thought and action, how birds bring important messages to individual people, how a bird species can become associated with a person, and how birds provide warnings about our endangered environment. Over the course of the book, birds such as the house sparrow, Eastern phoebe, Northern flicker, belted kingfisher, gray catbird, cedar waxwing, and black-capped chickadee are shown in a new light--as spiritual and practical helpers that can teach humans how to live well.

An original work of ethno-ornithology that offers a rare close-up look at some Native views on birds, Birds through Indigenous Eyes opens rich new perspectives on the deep connections between birds and humans.

Author: Dennis Gaffin
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 04/30/2024
Pages: 176
Binding Type: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780691250847


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 02/12/2024

About the Author
Dennis Gaffin is professor emeritus of anthropology at SUNY Buffalo State University and the Great Lakes Center for Environmental Research and Education. Michael Bastine is a healer and naturalist of Algonquin descent, a member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation of western Quebec, and a resident of Erie County, New York. John Volpe is a naturalist and animal rehabilitator of Ojibwe and Métis descent, a member of the Nipissing First Nation of Ontario, and a resident of Wyoming County, New York.