Indigenous Ingenuity
A Celebration of Traditional North American Knowledge
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1.0 • 1 Rating
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Celebrate Indigenous thinkers and inventions with this beautifully designed, award-winning interactive nonfiction book—perfect for fans of Braiding Sweetgrass.
Corn. Chocolate. Fishing hooks. Boats that float. Insulated double-walled construction. Recorded history and folklore. Life-saving disinfectant. Forest fire management. Our lives would be unrecognizable without these, and countless other, scientific discoveries and technological inventions from Indigenous North Americans. Spanning topics from transportation to civil engineering, hunting technologies, astronomy, brain surgery, architecture, and agriculture, Indigenous Ingenuity is a wide-ranging STEM offering that answers the call for Indigenous nonfiction by reappropriating hidden history. The book includes fun, simple activities and experiments that kids can do to better understand and enjoy the principles used by Indigenous inventors. Readers of all ages are invited to celebrate traditional North American Indigenous innovation, and to embrace the mindset of reciprocity, environmental responsibility, and the interconnectedness of all life.
★ "This book will amaze readers and teachers. Completely unique and important." —SLJ, starred review
★ "Engaging and informative." —Booklist, starred review" Essential for kids and adults. We need this book." —Candace Fleming, award-winning author of The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh and The Family Romanov
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY School Library Journal • Shelf Awareness • National Education Society • American Association of Geography • Canadian Children’s Book Centre • Nerdy Book Club • NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Awards • The Green Earth Book Award
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this approachable work, Saddle Lake Cree Nation author Havrelock (Buffalo Wild!) and Kay (the Gross Science series) focus on "precontact North American Indigenous STEM. That is, the traditional knowledge that Indigenous people were already using before 1492." Via authoritative, meticulously researched prose, the creators detail Native peoples' significant strides in scientific pursuits. Outlining ongoing advancements and detailing informational STEM practices, chapters cover sustainable land management and ecology, communications technology, transportation, health sciences, architecture and civil engineering, and more. In a chapter highlighting agriculture and food technology, the authors note how, 9,000 years ago, Mesoamerican Indigenous farmers genetically engineered select grass seeds to create corn as it is known today. By connecting Indigenous peoples' overlooked endeavors to the concepts' modern-day counterparts—for example, coats made of animal intestines, which the Inuit called annuraaq, were eventually adopted by British colonizers, who called them anoraks—Havrelock and Kay showcase Native tribes' continual and enduring impact. Photographs, as well as interactive activities detailing recipes and science experiments, feature throughout, lending a hands-on approach to this clear and concise work. Back matter includes tribal territories, a glossary, a list of Indigenous science organizations, and more. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12.
