Along with Caduto and Bruchac's Keeper series, Native American Gardening is dsigned to be part of an elementary-school practical science curriculum, either at school or home. I liked this one a lot: science is explicitly linked to culture and worldview; the fundamental perceptual unit is the ecology / community, not the organism or individual; cultural elements are presented as part of an integrated whole. That last is especially important: cultural stories don't make proper sense outside of their context, and Bruchac is careful to make sure that the stories are supported with all the knowledge that an inside-the-culture listener is expected to bring to the circle.

They call this a science text, but it could just as easily be a text about worldview, culture, or philosophy, depending on how one chose to spin it. Reading this one, I can't help but imagine all the lesson plans I could launch from this: it's rich, and highly usable.

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