Beaver, Bison, Horse

In her ground-breaking study for its time, R. Grace Morgan’s work, Beaver, Bison, Horse brought together Indigenous Traditional Knowledge with Western empirical ecology, demonstrating how Indigenous Plains Nations were the “ecologists of the highest order.”



As one of North America's most unique ecologies, the Great Plains have fostered symbiotic relationships between humans and animals for millennia. Among these, Indigenous bonds to beavers, bison, and horses have been the subject of numerous anthropological and scientific surveys. Beaver, Bison, Horse is an interdisciplinary account that centers on Indigenous knowledge and tradition. R. Grace Morgan's research, considered essential reading in the field, shows an ecological understanding that sustained Indigenous Peoples for thousands of years prior to colonial contact, with critical information on how the beaver manages water systems and protects communities from drought on the Plains. Morgan's work is a game-changer. For the first time in print, her important research now appears with a foreword by James Daschuk, bestselling and award-winning author of Clearing the Plains , and an afterword by Cristina Eisenberg, author of The Carnivore Way and The Wolf's Tooth . "Morgan's work takes archaeological interpretations beyond basic descriptions of past technologies and foodways to considerations of how Indigenous Plains Peoples interacted with and maintained their lands—and why they occupied their lands as they did. Further, Eisenberg's final chapter brings Morgan's work into a contemporary context."— David Meyer , Professor Emeritus, Department of Archeology and Anthropology, University of Saskatchewan "An important book. The detail on beaver habitat manipulation...is rich and nuanced and cannot be found elsewhere."— Norman Henderson , author of Rediscovering the Great Plains