
Wings in the Desert
A Folk Ornithology of the Northern Pimans
Amadeo M. Rea(Author)
University of Arizona Press
Will be published approx. on 30. May 2008
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-0-8165-2459-4 (ISBN)
Description
There is a common but often unspoken arrogance on the part of outside observers that folk science and traditional knowledge the type developed by Native communities and tribal groups?is inferior to the formal science? practiced by Westerners. In this lucidly written and humanistic account of the Oodham tribes of Arizona and Northwest Mexico, ethnobiologist Amadeo M. Rea exposes the limitations of this assumption by exploring the rich ornithology that these tribes have generated about the birds that are native to their region. He shows how these peoples? observational knowledge provides insights into the behaviors, mating habits, migratory patterns, and distribution of local bird species, and he uncovers the various ways that this knowledge is incorporated into the communities traditions and esoteric belief systems. Drawing on more than four decades of field and textual research along with hundreds of interviews with tribe members, Rea identifies how birds are incorporated, both symbolically and practically, into Piman legends, songs, art, religion, and ceremonies.
Through highly detailed descriptions and accounts loaded with Native voice, this book is the definitive study of folk ornithology. It also provides valuable data for scholars of linguistics and North American Native studies, and it makes a significant contribution to our understanding of how humans make sense of their world. It will be of interest to historians of science, anthropologists, and scholars of indigenous cultures and folk taxonomy.
Through highly detailed descriptions and accounts loaded with Native voice, this book is the definitive study of folk ornithology. It also provides valuable data for scholars of linguistics and North American Native studies, and it makes a significant contribution to our understanding of how humans make sense of their world. It will be of interest to historians of science, anthropologists, and scholars of indigenous cultures and folk taxonomy.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Tucson
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Paper over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 305 mm
Width: 238 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
1243 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8165-2459-4 (9780816524594)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
04/2022
1st Edition
University of Arizona Press
€132.99
Available for download
Person
Amadeo M. Rea is an ethnobiologist and ornithologist who has conducted research on the Gila River Indian Reservation over a period of thirty years. He is also the author of Once a River: Bird Life and Habitat Changes on the Middle Gila