| OUT OF PRINT AlterNatives: Community, Identity and Environmental Justice on Walpole Island is a monograph in the Cultural Survival Studies in Ethnicity and Change series published by Pearson Education. This is a case study of Walpole Island and its Heritage Centre’s efforts to deal with its unique environment, pollution and heritage. The monograph covers the history of Walpole, wetlands management, and the chemical industries’ pollution of water resources. Located in Southern Ontario next to the St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair, this Ojibwe community maintains a unique ecosystem. Their territory's ecosystem is called a broadleaf Carolinian life zone that is renowned for its distinct and rare plants, tall grass prairie, and oak savanna sites. The community through its Heritage Centre has aggressively protected its unique territory and the wetlands. Despite living in the wake of huge chemical plants with regular spills, this First Nation mobilizes its citizens around the environmental justice movement. The author has spent lengthy stays in the community and has witnessed the efforts to clean up the toxic blob in the St. Clair. Drawing on the community's strengths in the area of historical identity and spirituality, the author places Walpole Island at the forefront of the Native environmental movement. He draws on extensive interviews and research for his conclusions. Applying a theoretical framework to the case study, this book offers a valuable introduction to anyone studying First Nations or environmental activism. The book contains a map, bibliography, and index. |
