This section gathers the histories, ecologies and lived stories of the prairie landscape. Many materials – though certainly not all – will focus on Treaty 7. Here you will find resources that deepen understanding of how this land was shaped, from geology, culture and agriculture, and how people have related to it over time. These resources help ground stewardship in context, reminding everyone that we are part of a much longer story of place.

Wherever possible, I link to authors’ own writing, publisher pages, or organizations connected to their work. For historical figures, I link to foundations or reputable reference sources. I don’t include direct contact information for private individuals, but readers are welcome to seek out further material through their own research.

---

Indigenous History and Perspectives

(These works include both Indigenous-authored materials and works by non-Indigenous scholars writing about Indigenous knowledge, history, and land relationships. I list them here in gratitude for what they have taught me about this place. Readers are encouraged to approach these sources with care and respect, and to seek out Indigenous voices wherever possible.)

“Medicine Wheel for the Planet, A Journey Toward Personal and Ecological Healing”; Dr. Jennifer Grenz; Vintage Canada, 2025
“These Mountains Are Our Sacred Places, The Story of the Stoney People”; Chief John Snow; Fifth House, 2005
“Clearing The Plains, Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Indigenous Life”; James Daschuk, opening by Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair, foreward by Elizabeth A. Fenn; University of Regina Press, 2019
“A Cree Healer and His Medicine Bundle, Revelations of Indigenous Wisdom, Healing Plants, Practices and Stories”; David Young, Robert Rogers and Russell Willier; North Atlantic Books Berkley, California, 2015
“The Sacred Pipe, Black Elk’s Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux”; Recorded and Edited by Joseph Epes Brown; University of Oklahoma Press, 1953. For more on Black Elk
“Mythology of the Blackfoot Indians” Second Edition; Compiled and translated byClark Wissler and D.C. Duvall; University of Nebraska Press, 1995
“The Serviceberry, Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World”; Robin Wall Kimmerer; Scribner, 2024
“Braiding Sweetgrass, Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants”; Robin Wall Kimmerer; Milkweed, 2013
“Indian Use of Wild Plants for Crafts, Food, Medicine and Charms”; F. Densmore; Iroqrafts Indian Publications, reprint 1987
“The Sun Came Down, The History of the World as My Blackfeet Elders Told It”; Percy Bullchild; Harper and Row, 1985
“The Feather and the Drum, The History of Banff Indian Days 1889-1978”; Patricia Parker; Consolidated Communications, 1990
“Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden, The Classic Account of Hidatsa American Indian gardening techniques”; Gilbert L. Wilson; Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1987
“Being Together in Place, Indigenous Coexistence in a More Than Human World”; Soren C. Larsen and Jay T. Johnson; University of Minnesota Press, 2017
“Living on the Land, Indigenous Women’s Understanding of Place”; edited by Nathalie Kermoal and Isabel Altamirano-Jiménez; AU Press, 2016
“Driving Bison and Blackfoot Science”; Russel Lawrence Barsh and Chantelle Marlor; Plenum Publishing Corporation, 2003
“Better Homes and Pastures: Human agency and the construction of place in communal bison hunting of the Northern Plains”; Gerald Anthony Oetelaar; Plains Anthropological Society, Vol. 59, No. 229, p. 9-37, 2014
“The New Ecology and Landscape Archaeology: Incorporating the Anthropogenic Factor in Models of Settlement Systems in the Canadian Prairie Ecozone”; Gerald A. Oetelaar and D. Joy Oetelaar; Canadian Journal of Archaeology 31, p. 65-92, 2007
“The Structured World of the Niitsitapi, The Landscape as Historical Archive among Hunter-Gatherers of the Northern Plains”; Gerald A. Oetelaar and D. Joy Oetelaar
“Nature versus Culture: A Comparison of Blackfoot and Kayapó Resource Management”; Dr. Lindsay Amundsen-Meyer; Canadian Journal of Archaeology, 37, p. 219-247, 2013

---

“Prairie, A Natural History of the Heart of North America”; Candace Savage; Greystone Books, 2020
“Peace River Chronicles”; Selected and edited by Gordon E. Bowes; Prescott Publishing Company, 1952
“Mission Among the Buffalo, The Labours of the Reverends George M. and John C. McDougall in the Canadian Northwest”; James Ernest Nix; Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1960
“Highlights of Sheep History in the Canadian West”; Grant MacEwan; Parkland Colorpress, 1991

---

Land Tenure and Ownership

“Land, How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World”; Simon Winchester; Harper Collins, 2021

“Range and Pasture Management”; Arthur W. Sampson, M.A., PhD; John Wiley and Sons Inc, Seventh Printing, 1947
“Old Man’s Garden, The History and Lore of Southern Alberta Wildflowers”; Annora Brown, Introduction by Mary-Beth Laviolette, Foreward by Niitsitapi (Siksika) Bishop, the Right Reverend Sidney Black; Rocky Mountain Books, 2020
“Wildflowers of the Rocky Mountains”; George W. Scotter and Hälle Flygare; Whitecap, 2007
“Rangeland Health Assessment for Grassland, Forest and Tame Pasture“; Government of Alberta, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development Lands Division, Rangeland Management Branch, 2009
“On Being Alive, Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description”; Tim Ingold; Routledge, 2011
“Grazing Management of Native Grasslands”; W.D. Willms, B.W. Adams, J.F. Dormaar; Agriculture Canada Publications, 1992

---

Early Journals and First Person Accounts

“The Diary of Robert Campbell” (University of Calgary archive), 1890
“Clearing in the West”; Nellie McClung; Thomas Allen and Son, Toronto, 1976
“Blazing the Old Cattle Trail”; Grant MacEwan; Western Producer Prairie Books, 1975