Spirit of the Earth: Indian Voices on Nature

Often spoken at the end of a prayer, a well-known Sioux phrase affirms that “we are all related.” Similarly, the Sioux medicine man, Brave Buffalo, came to realize when he was still a boy that “the maker of all was Wakan Tanka (the Great Spirit), and . . . in order to honor him I must honor his works in nature.” The interconnectedness of all things, and the respect all things are due, are among the most prominent—and most welcome—themes in this collection of Indian voices on nature.

Within t...