"Basil Johnston writes of the real world at a atime when reality seems to be disappearing from our vision. He knows what his ancestors have always known, that the only way to live on earth is to be a part of it. His new book is a remarkable examination of the connection of human beings to the Earth Mother. I heartily recommend it."

Farley Mowat.

"To you Kitchi-Manitou has given the Book
To us He has given the Earth."
Red Jacket of the Seneca Nation

"North American Indians were as keen observers as the scientists of today. But, unlike modern scientists who conduct their research indoors, North American Indians conducted their studies in the natural setting of the earth under natural conditions. Nor did they limit their reports to fact and data. They went beyond that. They used fact and data as bases for stories that exemplified something of human nature and conduct to be imitated or spurned.

It was through stories drawn from the dramas taking place on the earth among other living creatures that tribal teachers passed along the tribe's values, beliefs, teachings, traditions, understandings . everything. Manitous, insects, birds, animals, fish and humans were characters in these stories, just as they play large roles in life.