Footprints of the Forest - (Biology and Resource Management) by William Balée (Paperback)

About the Book

Footprints of the Forest is the clearest and most comprehensive account to date of the relationship between and Amazonian people and their botanical environment. Based on Balee's ten years of ethnographic and botanical research among the Ka'aper Indians of eastern Amazonia, this book documents how the Ka'apor use, manage, name, and classify hundreds of plant species found in their habitat.

Book Synopsis

Footprints of the Forest is the clearest and most comprehensive account to date of the relationship between an Amazonian people and their botanical environment.

Based on Balée's ten years of ethnological and botanical research among the Tupi-Guarani-speaking Indians, especially the Ka'apor, of eastern Amazonia, this book documents the ways in which the Ka'apor use, manage, name, and classify many hundreds of plant species found in their habitat. From a historical and ecological perspective, Balée shows that Ka'apor ethnobotany represents an interpenetration of Amazonian culture and nature and thus constitutes a domain of scientific inquiry in its own right.

The substantive chapters explore the history of the Ka'apor and their present modes of land use, the Ka'apor's influence on the composition of fragile forests in their habitat, and Ka'apor forest management practices. Balée also discusses the nomenclature and classification of indigenous plants as well as the cognitive aspects of magical, medicinal, and poisonous plants.

Footprints of the Forest concludes with an explanatory framework for understanding the similarities and differences among the ethnobotanical systems of diverse Amazonian peoples and ten cross-referenced appendices, which will aid those readers interested in specific Amazonian plants and their native names, habitats, and exact uses by the Ka'apor.

Review Quotes

The complete ethnobotany has yet to be written, but Footprints of the Forest... moves one step closer to that Sisyphean goal.... I know of no other work as comprehensive as this one.-- "BioScience"

The most detailed and thorough analysis ever produced of indigenous plants and plant use in Amazonia.... Balée's perspective skillfully integrates historical and ethnohistorical data with his contemporary research, yielding a finely nuanced view of Ka'apor ethnology and neatly meshed comparisons with a number of other Amazonian groups.-- "American Anthropologist"

This book provides a unique insight into the relationships between an Amazonian people and the botanical environment of the Amazon Basin.-- "Southeastern Naturalist"

About the Author

William Balée is a professor of anthropology at Tulane University and the editor of Advances in Historical Ecology.