Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Review Of F. P. Grove In Europe And Canada: Translated Lives By Klaus Martens, Irene Gammel

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Canada's leading prairie author Frederick Philip Grove (1879-1948) had a predilection for strong and silent heroes: the unforgettable Niels Lindstedt in Settlers of the Marsh (1925), Abe Spalding in Fruits of the Earth (1933), John Elliot in Our Daily Bread (1928). Grove's fictional landscape was a multicultural potpourri of immigrants from Sweden, Iceland, Germany, and Russia with new-world men and women transforming the prairie wilderness into fertile and flourishing settlements. Yet Grove, aka German author and translator Felix Paul Greve, was also a literary con man who led his audience down the garden path in a fictionalized autobiography, In Search …

Review Of Letters From The Dust Bowl By Caroline Henderson, Brian Q. Cannon

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

In 1907, Caroline Boa, a thirty-year-old school teacher and graduate of Mount Holyoke College, filed on a quarter section in the Oklahoma Panhandle. The following year she married Will Henderson, a one-time cowboy, well-digger, and would-be rancher. For the next fifty-seven years the couple farmed their homestead, although Caroline also taught school for three years in another community and later spent two years working on a master's degree.

Henderson is best known for her "Letters from the Dust Bowl," published by Atlantic Monthly in 1936, one of dozens of articles she wrote for popular magazines between 1913 and 1937. In …

Review Of Teaching Spirits: Understanding Native American Religious Traditions By Joseph Epes Brown With Emily Cousins, Kathleen Danker

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

This volume passes on to readers some of the teachings of the late scholar and educator Joseph Epes Brown. In consultation with Brown's wife Elenita Brown and daughter Marina Brown Weatherly, writer and editor Emily Cousins has produced a clear and succinct synthesis of what Brown taught his classes at the University of Montana about Native American concepts of the sacred. She accomplishes this through the complex task of blending some of his class lecture notes, published articles, and conference talks with recollections from his students and quotations from published Native American sources.

Following Brown's example in his lectures, Cousins …

Review Of Plain Speaking: Essays On Aboriginal Peoples And The Prairie Edited By Patrick Douaud And Bruce Dawson, L. Brooks Hill

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Primarily derived from a March 2001 conference held in Regina, Saskatchewan, these essays present diverse perspectives on various connections between First Nations and Metis peoples and the Canadian Plains. Designed to create a more holistic perspective, the conference and this companion book used a wide variety of presentational formats to capture the diversity of past and present connections between Aboriginal Peoples and the prairies. The twelve articles range from traditional academic reports to autobiographical commentaries, photo essays, and transcribed interviews from an Elders' roundtable.

Essential to this collection is the confrontation of modernism with traditionalism. In his article Neal McLeod …

Review Of Rebirth Of The Blackfeet Nation, 1912-1954 By Paul C. Rosier, Darrell Robes Kipp

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

As a Blackfeet tribal member researching my tribe for over twenty-five years through the medium of its language, I read Paul Rosier's book with trepidation because accurate accounting is not a hallmark of most historical analysis done on the tribe. Too often I detect research flaws based on notions contrary to our oral tradition, and I marvel at the distorted interpretations. Rosier's book is excruciatingly revealing, honest, and important. Not just to me, despite my hardened edge, but for the uninformed reader as well. The chronicle is powerfully laced with pages of stark reality, and wanton subterfuge. One of the …

Review Of Orphan Trains: The Story Of Charles Loring Brace And The Children He Saved And Failed By Stephen O' Connor, Marilyn Irvin Holt

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Charles Loring Brace, who began working among the poor as a city missionary and became the force behind the New York Children's Aid Society (CAS), is best remembered as the architect of the orphan trains, a placement program that sent thousands of orphaned, destitute, and abandoned children to new homes, including those in the Plains states. This biography of Brace places him within the context of his times and renders a more extensive view of the man and his beliefs than found in other publications. The volume offers insights into CAS programs for the poor in New York City and, …

A Longitudinal Approach To Great Plains Migration, John C. Hudson

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Students of population and regional studies are familiar with the demographic "accounting" equation,

Population _t+x = Population _t + Births _x

-Deaths _x + Immigration _x

- Emigration _x

In other words, the size of the population at time t + x is equal to the population at time t plus the births, minus the deaths, plus the immigrants, minus the emigrants, during the interval of time x. This simple formula can be used to derive a variety of rates and statistics describing population change. The equation's main application is to describe short-term change in a population in terms …

Review Of A Flowering Of Quilts Edited By Patricia Cox Crews, Joe Cunningham

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

A Flowering of Quilts comes to us from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s International Quilt Study Center, created by Robert and Ardis James, who donated their magnificent collection of quilts to the university. The book is the catalogue of a two-year exhibition at the Center called "Fanciful Flowers: Botany and the American Quilt" focusing on the connection between American women's love of floral designs in quilts and their affinity for botany in the nineteenth century.

The book itself is like a great walled garden of flowers. Before you can get to the gorgeous photographs of the fifty-three quilts, you must scale …

Review Of Voices Of A New Chicana/O History By Refugio Rochín And Dennis Valdes, James A. Garza

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The demographic changes affecting America's ethnic populations are a reminder that history is in constant flux. In particular, the Latina/o population is seeing its social and political influence grow, especially in the Midwest. How will mainstream America deal with this new reality? As politicians struggle over this issue, Chicana/o scholars are also finding that past definitions no longer fit today's academic environment. Voices of a New Chicanalo History, an informative and stimulating compilation of fourteen essays, represents this new historical debate. Edited by Refugio I. Rochfn and Dennis N. Valdes, the volume brings together a diverse group of Chicana/o …

Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Abundance And Distribution In The Great Plains Based On Historic And Contemporary Information, Craig Knowles, Jonathan Proctor, Steven Forest

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Recorded presettlement observations of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) are not adequate to fully determine their abundance and distribution. Early naturalists and explorers made only casual reports of prairie dogs on an opportunistic basis; their written records do not represent systematic surveys. Cumulative accounts of prairie dog control efforts, together with the known current prairie dog distribution in North Dakota and Montana, clearly show that most journalists failed to record prairie dog colonies. Also, they restricted their travels to a few common routes, and as a result only a very small and select portion of the landscape was …

Distribution And Abundance Of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs In The Great Plains: A Historical Perspective, Dallas Virchow, Scott E. Hygnstrom

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

It is a common belief that the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) was an extremely abundant species throughout the Great Plains prior to European settlement. We examined accounts from explorers, naturalists, and travelers in the Great Plains in the 19th and 20th centuries and found few that adequately document the relative abundance and distribution to support this view. Immense prairie dog colonies existed in the western Great Plains before Euro-American settlement, but it appears that the eastern Great Plains supported only localized populations. Historic accounts also indicate that the easternmost extent of the black-tailed prairie dog's range before …

Early Human-Bison Population Interdependence In The Plains Ecosystem, Henry Epp, Ian Dyck

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Human population size in the Great Plains ecosystem before European contact has been of longstanding interest to scholars. The same is true of bison numbers. Given the near total dependence on bison by nonagricultural precontact humans, integrating information on both human and bison numbers from that time is of further interest, providing the focus for this paper. Recent research on the behavioral ecology of bison and related ungulates has led to the identification of two distinct, although not mutually exclusive, populations: resident and migrant herds. Moreover, migrants tend to vastly outnumber residents, often by more than 4 to 1. The …

Flooding In Kansas Respondents’ Satisfaction With Emergency Response Measures And Disaster Aid, Bimal Kanti Paul

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Several counties of south-central and southeast Kansas experienced floods in the first week of November 1998. The communities of Arkansas City and Augusta were among those most severely affected by these floods. This study is based primarily on a mail questionnaire survey of residents of these two communities, and it examines respondents' satisfaction with four emergency response measures employed by local officials and emergency management agencies before and during the flood event. The extent of external support victims received and the level of their satisfaction with that support were also investigated. The analysis of the survey data shows that the …

Great Plains Research Volume 12, Number 2, Fall 2002 - News And Notes

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Contents:
Call for papers

Review Of The Cast Iron Forest: A Natural And Cultural History Of The North American Cross Timbers By Richard V. Francaviglia, Brock Brown

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Drawing on the term "cast iron forest" used by Washington Irving in the 1830s to describe a central Oklahoma component of the larger Cross Timbers region, Richard Francaviglia fashions a thoughtful, thorough, and updated account of this bio-region. Nurtured by American expansion westward, the Cross Timbers was a formidable barrier to transportation and of immediate interest to anyone traveling east-west through the region. From early Euro-American encounters to recent times many of the explorers, surveyors, adventurers, and scientists who encountered and observed the Cross Timbers recorded their experiences. Francaviglia does a superb job bundling the diverse types of accounts into …

Great Plains Research Volume 12, Number 2, Fall 2002 - Annual Index

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

annual index

Review Of Urban Indian Reserves: Forging New Relationships In Saskatchewan Edited By F. Laurie Barron And Joseph Garcea, J. R. Miller

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Although the four Saskatchewan urban reserves examined in this collection are not the only ones in Canada, or even in Saskatchewan for that matter, they are among the most interesting and instructive. Established between 1982 and 1996, the reserves in Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Fort Qu' Appelle, and Yorkton went through differing processes with strikingly similar results. Establishment of the Saskatoon and Yorkton reserves proceeded smoothly, but similar initiatives in Prince Albert and Fort Qu' Appelle had to overcome local opposition. Indeed, the Prince Albert urban reserve was established by the federal government over the municipality's objections. In spite of the …

Review Of Changing Prairie Landscapes Edited By Todd A. Radenbaugh And Patrick Douaud, Fred Samson

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

In the past decade there has been a slow but steady change in the field of prairie conservation. More and more research is investigating the role of natural ecological processes and factors leading to the declines in many native prairie species. Although this change should be seen as progress, achieving the needed balance between science and practical roots in conservation remains illusive.

Western Harvester Ants’ Foraging Success And Nest Densities In Relation To Grazing Intensity, Shaharra Usnick, Richard Hart

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Western harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis, are seed eaters that occur in short- and mid-grass prairies. Harvester ants are efficient seed predators but they may also be seed dispersers. We examined what ants collect to address that question. We also studied how different cattle grazing intensities affected harvester ant nest densities. Items collected by western harvester ant foragers returning to their nests were categorized as non-seeds, seeds, and nothing. Harvester ants collected large amounts of non-seeds (48%), followed by seeds (33%) and nothing (19%). Western harvester ants tolerate some environmental stress caused by grazing because nest densities were highest in …

Review Of Bounty And Benevolence: A History Of Saskatchewan Treaties By Arthur J. Ray, Jim Miller, And Frank Tough, Jennifer S. H. Brown

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This is a solid and useful contribution to the growing literature on the so-called "numbered treaties" with Native Peoples in the Canadian West. Its focus is on the five treaties negotiated with the First Nations whose homelands included parts of the present province of Saskatchewan: Treaties 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10, signed during the period from 1874 into the early twentieth century. Initially advertised with the subtitle A Documentary History of Saskatchewan Treaties, the volume indeed emphasizes evidence from and interpretations of written documents, some quoted at length. The authors note that the original intent was "to embody …

Review Of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side Of The All-American Meal By Eric Schlosser, Toby Ten Eyck

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

American fast food has come to symbolize runaway capitalism, pointless pop culture, and callous globalization. It is bad for the environment, bad for workers, and bad for consumers. This industry supports meatpacking firms-some of the largest are now located in the Great Plains-that are heavy polluters and rely on a labor force consisting largely of immigrant workers who receive few, if any, health or medical benefits, even though their work is some of the most dangerous in the US. Fast food restaurants are the signifiers of urban sprawl which threatens precious farm and ranch lands in the Great Plains and …

Review Of A Business History Of Alberta By Henry C. Klassen, Max Foran

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Given the dearth of business histories in Alberta, and in Western Canada for that matter, A Business History of Alberta is a welcome contribution to Canadian regional historiography. Henry Klassen's study, the result of many years of intensive research at a variety of levels, emerges as a well written account of the development of business in Alberta from the territorial period to the present day. Using specific examples, supported in many cases by personal interviews, Klassen has brought to life the histories of dozens of business enterprises in all parts of Alberta over a hundred year period. His reliance on …

Watering The Plains: Political Dynamics Of River Preservation In Canada And The United States, Joan M. Blauwkamp, Peter J. Longo

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

In this article we compare the Canadian Heritage Rivers System with the US Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and analyze case law in order to identify the best means of ensuring preservation of Great Plains rivers. We find that fear of federal dictates provides a powerful political weapon for opponents of river preservation policies. Therefore, we conclude that national officials should work with state, provincial, and local officials to develop cooperative plans that enable local residents to participate in river management decisions. Cooperative river management policies avoid the perception of federal government action as threatening to state sovereignty, thereby removing …

Was Old Jules Right?: Soil Stewardship On Leased Land, Bruce B. Johnson, John D. Cole

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

In a country where more than 40% of the agricultural land is farmed by tenant operators, the question of how that land base is farmed becomes paramount In this study we examined soil erosion levels in relation to land tenure and surveyed tenant farmer practices and attitudes in Nebraska and South Dakota, We found leased land was farmed and maintained by tenants in an environmentally sustainable manner, Furthermore, we found no evidence to suggest variation from this norm due to type of lease, size of farm, type of farm organization, or landowner classification, While educational level and years of experience …

Reasons For The Marginal Incorporation Of The Comanches By The Spanish, Martha Mccollough

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

When the Comanches, a Native American community originally from the Great Basin region, migrated to the Southern Plains in the early 1700s, they encountered Spanish colonies, missions, and military and administrative personnel as well as newly introduced trade items. Spain attempted to incorporate the Comanches into the region's emerging political economy through a variety of means including the use of treaties, coercive force, and economic inducements. Because of the Comanches' decentralized political organization, their conquest of the Apaches, and Spain's tenuous control over its northern frontier, the Comanches successfully retained control over their own articulation within the region's political economy. …

Review Of The Last Best West: Essays On The Historical Geography Of The Canadian Prairies By Yossi Katz And John C. Lehr, Carl J. Traci

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

John Lehr is well known for his longstanding interest in and intimate knowledge of Ukrainian and Mormon settlement in the Canadian West. More recently, he has teamed with Yossi Katz to examine Jewish settlement and to analyze the influence of institutional factors on settlement success. The purpose of this collection of previously-published papers is to contribute to a "full understanding" of frontier agricultural settlement through the use of a comparative approach that analyzes the role of culture and institutions (social, religious, and government) in the settlement experiences of several ethnic groups in western Canada. Chosen for detailed treatment are the …

Review Of Wildflowers Of Alberta: A Guide To Common Wildflowers And Other Herbaceous Plants By Kathleen Wilkinson, Melanie Elliot

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This field guide, in a size and format useful for educators, naturalists, and life-long learners, is illustrated with excellent photographs, some artistically back lit, and line drawings. Appendices offer keys to the major families, comparisons of new and old taxonomy, selected references, an alphabetized species index by flower color, and a species index. There is also a good glossary, which includes page references back to species and diagrams. Corners help maintain the guide's shape even when repeatedly pulled out of a pack in the field.

Review Of Ice Age Peoples Of North America: Environments, Origins, And Adaptations Of The First Americans Edited By Robson Bonnichsen And Karen L. Turnmire, Leland C. Bement

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This collection of nineteen articles presents up-to-date regional or topical syntheses of the best data relating to the last Ice Age inhabitants in Northeast Asia, Beringia, and North America. Many of the papers were given in 1989 at the First World Summit, sponsored by the Center for the Study of the First Americans at the University of Maine. Authors were given the opportunity to update their syntheses to include new finds in their regions during the decade between the Summit and the book's publication, though some contributors waived the opportunity.

Estimation Of Presettlement Populations Of The Black-Tailed Prairie Dog: A Reply, Dallas Virchow, Scott E. Hygnstrom

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Determination of the historical distribution and abundance of the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicanus) is important as a component of the science underlying decisions on the future management of this species. Clearly, we differ from Knowles and colleagues (2002) in our interpretation of those data (see below). In addition, Knowles et al. (2002) introduce other lines of evidence rather than focusing on the historical record as we did. The new lines of evidence they present include physical evidence, contemporary knowledge of prairie dog ecology, and distribution of the black-footed ferret, Mustela nigripes. Unfortunately, these new lines of …

The Effectiveness Of An Augmented Reality Learning Paradigm, Brian Valimont

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

For decades the learning and training community has searched for a means that will incorporate the ever-growing body of research into everyday practice. While simulation and virtual reality dominate the community, the lack of real world cues in some systems and expense of others has imposed many limitations on these methods. Augmented reality (AR) incorporates computer-generated images overlaid onto real world objects. Although this technology seems to present distinct advantages over present mediums, it has yet to be determined if AR is effective for intentions of knowledge acquisition. The purpose of this study is to determine if augmented reality is …