The Power of the Talking Stick: Indigenous Politics and the World Ecological Crisis by Sharon J. Ridgeway and Peter J. Jacques (review)

THE HISTORY OF HUMANKIND’S USAGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES throughout the world is both rich and often troublesome. For while Indigenous peoples have traditionally remained steadfast in respecting the sanctity of nature by using only the minimal amount of resources that are needed for survival, industrial nations have exhibited an insatiable appetite for Earth’s resources. Yet, in recent years, many people have realized that human attempts to harness the riches of nature have significantly depleted the planet’s finite resources.

In The Power of the Talking Stick Sharon Ridgeway and Peter Jacques employ the contributions of experts in the fields of environmental studies, Native American studies, and political science to systematically demonstrate that economic growth at the hands of industrial nations has led to a worldwide ecological crisis, one that can be mitigated by adhering to the principles that Indigenous peoples have practiced for years. Their approach is designed to inform the reader that contemporary policies are contributing to the destruction of the Earth and that the methods used to reverse this trend by modern scientists are simply not working.

Throughout, the authors demonstrate how social institutions, economic practices, and government hegemony from the beginning of the nation-state to current globalization has created the present state of Earth’s ecological decline. One of the biggest contributors to the present ecological state has been the corporate–government alliance that came to fruition at the end of World War II with the creation of the Bretton Woods Institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. At the forefront has been the United States, which has enabled corporate elite to gain further wealth at the expense of Third World countries and global ecological systems. Whether specifically discussing policy decisions by American presidents or providing statistics which reveal that most of the food resources in the world are being consumed by the wealthiest nations, Ridgeway and Jacques expertly establish that industria’s corporate leaders control world resources at the expense of the planet’s ecological life support systems and those who live on the periphery.

Additionally, Ridgeway and Jacques demonstrate that indigenous leaders who have the Earth’s best interests at heart are ignored by contemporary globalized culture. In fact, a global Indigenous movement seeks to instill a planetary consciousness in individuals to protect the Earth and enable Indigenous peoples to practice self-determinism. Yet the authors believe these voices are being suppressed by the same few elites who are leading the capitalist charge to reap profits at the expense of Mother Earth. In contrast to these elites, Ridgeway and Jacques cite traditional beliefs of specific tribes such as the Māori, Pueblo, and Lakota who value as well as manage the planet’s abundance. As a result, the reader is implored to abandon the destructive ways of the powerful few of industria and instead actively join the Indigenous worldwide movement.

Indeed, the authors effectively address the measures needed to be taken by the reader in order to become part of an Indigenous-led global movement that takes on the corporate–government alliances that have placed the world’s ecological systems in a precarious state. The authors hope that by reading this work and listening to the Indigenous leaders, people will understand that a greater good comes from only consuming what is required for survival, and not continually seeking to profit at the expense of humanity and nature. While the authors acknowledge that it will not be easy to overturn years of subscribing to a destructive ideology, especially that of enriching a few at the expense of the many, it is vital for the existence of this planet.

Ultimately, The Power of the Talking Stick: Indigenous Politics and the World Ecological Crisis persuasively serves as a wake-up call for humankind to understand that corporate greed emboldened by political backers has placed...