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5 oeuvres 39 utilisateurs 4 critiques

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Œuvres de Marilyn Walker

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Partage des connaissances

Date de naissance
1949
Sexe
female
Courte biographie
Marilyn Walker is an anthropologist and ethnobotanist who currently teaches in the Department of Sociology/Anthropology at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick. She has published a book, harvesting the Northern Wild: A guide to Historic and Contemporary Uses of Edible Forest Plants of the Northwest Territories, which has become a classic in the North. She is currently working on another book on indigenous Arctic architecture based on her work as curator, archaeologist, and anthropologist.

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Critiques

If you already know how to identify wild food, this book could provide some ideas about further uses -- for example, the fact that Dock is a member of the buckwheat family means that it's not surprising that the seeds are edible, and this book tells how to prepare them. However, there are three species of dock listed and, just as in the rest of the book, no diagrams or coloured photos to help in identification. One difficult-to-decode, small, black-and-white photo and a couple of grey leaf prints suffice for each plant. I was especially disappointed with the treatment of Lambs-Quarters. It gets one page, no photo, a couple of leaf prints (the kind that your child can do with a brayer and ink), and that's it. The thing about lambs-quarters is that there are several species ("there are many similar, mostly edible, species, which are difficult even for a botanist to tell apart" she says). (And typing this, I wonder: wait, what does she mean "mostly" edible?) My husband and I have been harvesting lambs-quarters for decades, and despite our lack of botanist credentials, we have long distinguished "the best greens" -- Chenopodium album, the introduced European species -- from "the tough-stemmed ones" -- which our WEEDS book (by France Royer) informs us are native species. Although Royer is not at all interested in consuming Chenopodia, she further notes that the seeds of these native species (maple leaf, oak leaf, berlandieri) are twice the size of those of European lambs-quarters. No wonder the native peoples ate them. In fact, as Marilyn Walker does not tell us and WEEDS does, quinoa is a chenopodium. We're definitely collecting seeds this year.

Marilyn Walker's treatment of the historical background relies on historical sources and present-day First Nations oral traditions. She misses a huge and vitally interesting aspect of history by ignoring the contributions of anthropology and archaeology to food history of the pre-contact era. Because we read about such things, we know that the First Nations ate chenopodium seeds until about 1000 years ago; Walker doesn't tell us. (Although interest in "lost crops" and ethnobotany has grown since publication of this book, information was available in the early 2000s.)

Long story short, in a book about edible wild plants, I absolutely expect clear depictions of the plants in question that will enable a forager to identify dinner with a minimum of uncertainty. This book falls short on that count.
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Signalé
muumi | 2 autres critiques | Jun 30, 2018 |
I really enjoyed this book; the many facts, the details on identifying, harvesting and using the wild plants, the natural bounty of Eastern Canada is both interesting and very informative (and the fact that the author is a professor at my Alma Mater, Mount Allison University, was/is an added bonus). And while many books on harvesting and using wild plants restrict themselves to the present, Wild Plants of Eastern Canada also presents and describes much detailed historical information, especially about Canada's First Nations and how they used and continue to use many of the wild plants featured.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in harvesting, foraging the wild bounty of Eastern Canada, and you are probably wondering why, with such high praise, I have rated this book with only three and a half stars. I know I am probably being extremely exacting, but there are a few points in the introduction that kind of rub me the wrong way, that feel somewhat illogical and academically suspect (especially considering that the author is a university professor). First and foremost, I have a real issue with the fact that while the author writes at length about the cultural genocide experienced by Canada's First Nations, she only makes a very cursory allusion to the expulsion of the Acadians by the British. Now, I have no problem with the fact that Marilyn Walker has described the cultural genocide experienced by Canada's First Nations in such detail (in fact, it is one of the high points of the historical introduction, and is something every Canadian should know, should be taught). However, the Acadian Expulsion, although not as traumatic as what Canada's First Nations experienced, was (and still is) a very problematic and tragic episode in Canadian history. The Acadians were not simply asked to relocate to Louisiana, they were forced off their land, families were deliberately separated, they experienced hardship, savage cruelty and worse, and I really wish that the author had made more than just a cursory mention of this fact.

Another, maybe minor and/or incredibly pernickety issue I have is with one sentence at the beginning of the book, where the author seemingly separates insects from other animals. She writes that "before animals, insects and plants developed an evolutionary mutualism" which simply does not make much sense, as insects are not separate from other animals, insects are part of the animal kingdom, just like reptiles, birds, mammals etc. are part of the animal kingdom (as a university professor, and one who specialises in medical anthropology and ethnobotany, Marilyn Walker should really not have made that kind of a mistake, should know that insects are also classified as being part of kingdom animalia).

These issues notwithstanding, Wild Plants of Eastern Canada is a truly wonderful and informative book, great for browsing, for discovering wild plants and their uses, their historical significance, but also a valuable information resource for individuals who are serious about harvesting the wild, or propagating wild, edible plants in their own gardens. The recipes at the back of the book look tempting as well, and although most of them are not vegan (or even vegetarian), I think the majority of them could easily be veganised (I have not tried any of them as yet, and I will likely also not be foraging for wild plants anytime soon, I just found and find the information presented interesting and informative).
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½
 
Signalé
gundulabaehre | 2 autres critiques | Mar 31, 2013 |
Throughout history humans have turned to plants for food, drink, and medicine. In this multi-faceted work Walker looks briefly at the history of plants, their identification, and culinary uses. The geographic area covered is the Atlantic coast, from Maine to Labrador, including Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.
The historical review section of the text touches on the plants likely encountered by various Aboriginal groups and European explorers and settlers, then mentions some of the ways in which these groups utilized plants. There is recognition of the impact settlement and land clearing had on changing the distribution of specific plants, the move of some native plants into cultivated gardens, and the naturalization of some garden escapees. The work explains the First Nations’ “protocol of respect” when gathering wild plants and advocates for harvesting practices that do nothing to endanger biodiversity.
The field guide section of the work introduces 50 wild plants, giving the common and scientific names, range, habitat, description, food and medicinal uses, cautions (if applicable), and potential for use in gardens. The selection includes many familiar plants such as clover, dandelion, day lily, mint, pond lily, marsh marigold, wild grape, strawberry, and horsetail. For each there’s a full-size leaf print, and most are illustrated with a poor quality black and white photo. The text admonishes readers to learn to recognize certain poisonous plants, yet this is the very section of the field guide for which both leaf prints and photos are absent. Fifty recipes using wild plants complete the work. These include the expected—teas, bannock, raspberry vinegar, salads—plus a few more innovative dishes such as wild pizza, goldenrod crepes, and cranberry ketchup. The recipes list ingredients in both imperial and metric measurements. The book attempts too much and fails in most respects. The history section, packed with interesting information, is flat and monotonous. The field guide section misses the mark in size—it is not suitable for use in the field—and the lack of clear identification visuals. The brief recipe section, although the strongest part of the work, is too limited in scope to be of serious use and is missing nutritional data and illustrations.
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Signalé
north_berendey | 2 autres critiques | Sep 13, 2012 |
The idea of living off the land is fascinating to most of us. Could we actually survive in the wilderness? Should we let all that free food go to waste? Shall we sample what the native people ate, for the fun of it or the learning experience? Many wild plants are amazingly high in vitamins compared to garden vegetables, so they are worth eating. Many are bitter and need to be boiled in several waters. The recipes given here are not just for the camper but to be tried at home in your kitchen. Examples are rose-petal honey or potato salad with fireweed.

The contents include descriptions of forty-seven edible plants with drawings, five edible lichens, poisonous plants, over sixty recipes, and an index. The plants are listed by their common names, habitat, description, and use, followed by quotations from historical writings of early explorers. Most of these plants or their near relatives are familiar to southerners as well as to northerners, so the book can be used even if one does not cross the boundary line.

The author of this lay reader's guide, an anthropologist now at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, spent a number of years in the North. The illustrator has specialized in watercolours of Manitoba wild flowers and has one guide to flowers of the Churchill region. The author is training in anthropology is shown in her interesting use of historical material. Quotations from such early explorers as Bishop Bompas and his wife, John Franklin, and Samuel Hearne describe the foods shown to them by the native peoples and add an extra dimension to the observation of wild plants.

The introduction includes short accounts of all the Athapascan peoples, or the Dene as we now know them, something you might not expect to find in a plant guide. The book is a must for the territories and useful over a much wider range of the country.
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Signalé
north_berendey | Sep 12, 2012 |

Statistiques

Œuvres
5
Membres
39
Popularité
#376,657
Évaluation
½ 3.5
Critiques
4
ISBN
4