Sacred Ecology

Fikret Berkes is Distinguished Professor Emeritus and former Tier I Canada Research Chair at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. His studies on community-based resource management have led to explorations of traditional knowledge and stewardship, in addition to contributions to commons studies and social-ecological resilience. He has authored or co-authored some 280 scholarly publications, and authored or edited 15 books, including Linking Social and Ecological Systems (1998), Navigating Social-Ecological Systems (2003), Advanced Introduction to Resilience (2023), and Governing for Transformation towards Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (2025).

Sacred Ecology has become the book to go to for understanding the deep cultural relationship between traditional people (especially North American Indian people) and their environments. I have successfully used the book in undergraduate and graduate classes. Students learn easily from the many useful cases. Simply outstanding.Richard W. Stoffle, School of Anthropology, University of ArizonaBerkes’ interdisciplinary approach to understanding traditional ecological knowledge is unique, rigorous, and applicable. Without romanticizing or patronizing local and Indigenous societies, Sacred Ecology honors diverse voices and delivers insightful responses to emerging environmental concerns.Paul Faulstich, Professor of Environmental Analysis, Pitzer CollegeEach new edition of this book deepens and broadens insights into traditional ecological knowledge, including how such knowledges are crucial to our continued survival as a species. The wisdoms of indigenous ways of knowing have an able and sensitive collaborator in Fikret Berkes. This book provides the central text in my undergraduate Anthropology and Environment course. It never fails to engage students, open new ways of thinking, and inspire all of us to the difficult, important work of re-thinking our human place in relation to the other-than-human persons with whom we have the fortune and responsibility of co-existing.David Syring, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Duluth and Co-Editor-in-Chief of Anthropology and HumanismIn this age of the urgency of climate change, Berkes’ book is more than timely. Teaching courses in environmental anthropology, I have come to value Sacred Ecology as a text that helps students grapple with the complexities and importance of TEK. His inclusion in this edition of more indigenous voices is particularly valuable, especially in light of the struggles of Native peoples around the world (the resistance against the Dakota Access Pipeline being a critical case in point). I appreciate the ways in which Berkes integrates scientific and traditional ecological knowledge, effectively demonstrating the ways in which these forms of knowledge complement each other and validating the need for interdisciplinary research to deal with climate change and environmental problems.Sue Darlington, Professor of Anthropology and Asian Studies, Hampshire CollegeFor years I have used Sacred Ecology as a primary text for my course in Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Development, and the book, especially the exhaustive sections on Cree worldview and ecological practices, has been universally appreciated by graduate and undergraduate students. Berkes’ critical purpose of delineating an environmental, science-compatible understanding of indigenous knowledge remains the same, however, this edition of Sacred Ecology brings crucial improvements and updates to this important text, especially in accurately reflecting the depth of research on traditional ecological knowledge that has been undertaken by indigenous scholars. I will gratefully continue to use Sacred Ecology as a key text.Claudia J. Ford, Lecturer, Rhode Island School of Design

• 1. Context of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, 2. Appreciating Indigenous Knowledge, 3. Traditional Knowledge Systems in Practice, 4. Cree Worldview “From the Inside”, 5. Cree Fishing Practices as Adaptive Management, 6. A Story of Caribou and Social Learning, 7. How Indigenous and Local Knowledge Develop, 8. Conservation, Indigenous Knowledge, and Stewardship, 9. Indigenous Holism and Complex Systems, 10. Climate Change and Indigenous Resilience, 11. Developing Perspectives in Indigenous Knowledge, 12. Toward a Unity of Mind and Nature