Seventh Generation Earth Ethics

Wisconsin's rich tradition of sustainability rightfully includes its First Americans, who along with Aldo Leopold, John Muir, and Gaylord Nelson shaped its landscape and informed its "earth ethics." This collection of Native biographies, one from each of the twelve Indian nations of Wisconsin, introduces the reader to some of the most important figures in Native sustainability: from anti-mining activists like Walt Bresette (Red Cliff Ojibwe) and Hillary Waukau (Menominee) to treaty rights advocates like James Schlender (Lac Courte Oreille Ojibwe), artists like Truman Lowe (Ho-Chunk), and educators like Dorothy "Dot" Davids (Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians), along with tribal geneologists, land stewards, and preservers of language and culture. Each of the biographies speaks to traditional ecological values and cultural sensibilities, highlighting men and women who helped to sustain and nurture their nations in the past and present.

The Native people whose lives are depicted in Seventh Generation Earth Ethics understood the cultural gravity that kept their people rooted to their ancestral lands and acted in ways that ensured the growth and success of future generations. In this way they honor the Ojibwe Seventh Generation philosophy, which cautions decision makers to consider how their actions will affect seven generations in the future--some 240 years.

About the Author: Patty Loew, PhD, is a professor in the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and Co-Director of NU's Center for Native American and Indigenous Research. Patty a documentary producer, and former broadcast journalist in public and commercial television. A member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe, Patty is the author of four books: Native People of Wisconsin, which is used by 18,000 Wisconsin school children as a social studies textbook; Teachers Guide to Native People of Wisconsin; Indian Nations of Wisconsin: Histories of Endurance and Renewal; and Seventh Generation Earth Ethics, a collection of biographies of Native American environmental leaders. Patty produced many documentaries for public and commercial television, including Way of the Warrior, which aired nationally on PBS in 2007 and 2011.