Living with Nature, Cherishing Language: Indigenous Knowledges in the Americas Through History

This open-access book explores the deep connections between environment, language, and cultural integrity, with a focus on Indigenous peoples from early modern times to the present. It illustrates the close integration of nature and culture through historical processes of environmental change and the nurturing of local knowledge through ancestral languages and oral traditions. It combines interdisciplinary methods and initiates a dialogue between scientifically trained scholars and local communities to compare their perspectives on well-being in remote and recent historical periods.

Format: Hardback
Length: 410 pages
Publication date: 11 November 2023
Publisher: Springer International Publishing AG

This open-access book delves into the profound connections between environment, language, and cultural integrity, with a particular focus on Indigenous peoples from early modern times to the present. It showcases the intricate interplay between nature and culture through historical processes of environmental change in North, Central, and South America, as well as the preservation of local knowledge through ancestral languages and oral traditions. This volume occupies a distinctive niche by bringing together the themes of environment, language, and cultural integrity within the historical and cultural contexts of Latin America. It examines the reciprocal and essential relationships between language/culture and environment, exploring how they can foster sustainable practices. Moreover, it sheds light on how environmental knowledge and sustainable practices are reflected in local languages, local sources, and local socio-cultural practices. The book employs interdisciplinary approaches and fosters a dialogue between scientifically trained scholars and local communities to compare their perspectives on well-being in remote and recent historical periods. This work will appeal to students and scholars specializing in sociolinguistics, (ethno)history, linguistic anthropology, cultural studies, and cultural anthropology, as well as environmental studies and Indigenous/minority studies.

Weight: 683g
Dimension: 210 x 148 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783031387388
Edition number: 1st ed. 2024