Geography Commons^™

Review Of Birds Of Southwestern Nebraska: An Annotated Check-List Of Species In The North And South Platte River Valleys And At Lake Mcconaughy. By Mary Bomberger Brown, Stephen J. Dinsmore, And Charles R. Brown., Wayne Mollhoff

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

Opening with a map of the region under study, Birds of Southwestern Nebraska proceeds, in its introduction, to a summary of the presettlement landscape and a description of the large-scale habitat changes occurring since then, along with avian responses to those changes. While crediting previous avian studies in southwestern Nebraska, often not readily available to the public, the authors note this area initially received little attention from ornithologists, who tended to focus on other biologically unique parts of the state, such as the Sandhills, forests, and Pine Ridge. The body of the book consists of a list of species reported …

Review Of The Midwestern Native Garden: Native Alternatives To Nonnative Flowers And Plants, An Illustrated Guide By Charlotte Adelman And Bernard L. Schwartz, Stephen L. Young

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

Native plants are important for maintaining biodiversity and supporting birds, mammals, and insects in a particular region. The interaction of plants with other organisms is what makes up food webs, and a shift in one will result in change in the other, change that is often detrimental to both. Invasive plant species, which include many nonnative types, can alter ecosystems with lasting effects on hydrology, nutrient cycling, and habitat. Similar to other regions, the Central Plains is increasingly threatened by the establishment of invasive plant species. The reintroduction of native plant species not only in large natural areas, but also …

Review Of White Man's Water: The Politics Of Sobriety In A Native American Community. By Erica Prussing, Paul Spicer

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

Epidemiological evidence consistently emphasizes the challenges American Indian tribes of the Great Plains confront through excess alcohol consumption. Until Erica Prussing's recent book, however, we have lacked a detailed analysis of the social and cultural context in which these challenges unfold. With a focus on women's experiences across two generations, White Man s Water provides us with a careful description of the social and cultural world of contemporary Northern Cheyennes, coupled with an understanding of how individual experiences within the milieu vary, especially as a function of history.

White Man's Water is a truly significant book: the first book-length ethnographic …

Review Of Keep True: A Life In Politics. By Howard Pawley. Foreword By Paul Moist, Kelly Saunders

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

Howard Pawley served as premier of Manitoba from 1981 to 1988, a period that stands to this day as one of the most controversial and turbulent in the province's modern history. Keep True: A Life in Politics traces Pawley's life and political career from his birth in Brampton, Ontario, to the defeat of his government in 1988 at the hands of one of his own caucus members. Educated as a teacher and lawyer, Pawley became active in the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (which later became the New Democratic Party) as a young man before turning his sights on a political career. …

Monitoring Standing Herbage Of The Sands And Choppy Sands Ecological Vegetation Types In The Nebraska Sandhills, Daniel W. Uresk

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

A modified Robel pole with white and gray alternating bands (2.54 cm) was used to measure vegetation on sands and choppy sands ecological types in the Sandhills of Nebraska. Objectives were to determine the relationship between visual obstruction readings (VOR) and clipped standing herbage, develop guidelines for monitoring standing herbage, and provide sample size estimates. Visual obstruction measurements of standing herbage were linear, and regression coefficients were significant (P< 0.001) for 125 transects (R² = 0.60, SE = 496 kg/ha). Clipped standing herbage ranged from 293 to 4389 kg/ha with a mean of 1,559 kg/ha. A minimum of four transects (20 stations/transect with four …

Review Of Every Twelve Seconds: Industrialized Slaughter And The Politics Of Sight. By Timothy Pachirat., Donald D. Stull

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

In June 2004, political scientist Timothy Pachirat went to work on the killfloor of an unnamed beef slaughterhouse in Omaha, Nebraska. He started out as a "liver hanger" in the cooler. There carcasses hang before being sent to the fabrication floor where "hundreds of handheld knives and saws reinvent chilled half-carcasses as steaks, rounds, and roasts that are then boxed and shipped to distributors and retailers around the world." For four days he worked in the chutes, driving cattle to the knocking box to be stunned, as required by the Humane Slaughter Act, before being turned into meat. Then for …

Review Of Conspecific Attraction And Area Sensitivity Of Grassland Birds, David R.W. Bruinsma, Nicola Koper

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

Many species of grassland birds are area sensitive, which may exacerbate the ecological effects of the extensive loss and fragmentation of grasslands that has taken place across the northern Great Plains. However, the reasons for this area sensitivity are unclear, as vegetation structure, matrix composition, and restriction of movements among patches do not seem to provide viable explanations for species native to grasslands. Con specific attraction, whereby species are behaviorally stimulated to select habitat or establish territories near individuals of the same species, may help explain this area sensitivity. We review and discuss theoretical and empirical research on avian conspecific …

Review Of Spanish Mustangs In The Great American West: Return Of The Horse. By John S. Hockensmith, Karen Dalke

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

A combination of myth and reality, the American West evokes images that feature the mustang as a central player. By using oral histories, books, and images, Hockensmith provides meaningful insight into how the mustang weaves together history and culture. He acknowledges his book is not a regurgitation of historical facts. Rather, it seeks to captures the essence of how one animal evokes cultural values over time.

Spanish Mustangs can also be read as a cautionary tale. Throughout, there is an implied superiority of the Spanish mustang in comparison to the Others. the disparate feral horses that currently roam the Great …

Review Of On The Edge Of Purgatory: An Archaeology Of Place In Hispanic Colorado. By Bonnie J. Clark, Jason M. Labelle

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

Bonnie Clark's book is a welcome addition to the small body of published literature regarding Great Plains historical archaeology. It concerns two habitation sites located on the Pinon Canyon Maneuver site, a modern military base in the canyon lands of the Purgatory River (which the Spanish named EI Rio de Las Animas Pedidas en Purgatorio) in southeastern Colorado. The river is the lifeblood of this region, with a deep record of occupation by both prehistoric and historic populations. Clark searches for Hispanic Colorado, which she identifies as both a people and a place. But unlike other historical archaeology studies, this …

Review Of State Of Change: Colorado Politics In The Twenty-First Century. Edited By Courtenay W. Daum, Robert 1. Duffy, And John A. Straayer., Robert R. Preuhs

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

This edited volume compiles an impressive set of contributions covering the complexity, causes, and implications of the transformation of Colorado politics and policy over the last few decades. Several chapters illustrate how demographics, institutions, and public policy altered the makeup of what was once considered a fairly solid red state into one with a more purple hue. Combined with chapters examining recent constraints on legislative authority and Colorado's fiscal policy, the volume represents an exceptional look into the changing nature of Colorado politics and serves as both a historical narrative and solid political analysis that should be compulsory reading for …

Review Of Land Of The Tejas: Native American Identity And Interaction In Texas, A.D. 1300 To 1700. By John Wesley Arnn Iii. Foreword By Tom D. Dillehay., Robert Cast

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

This tremendously enjoyable, thought-provoking book should be read by anyone interested in the history of the state of Texas, the archeology of the Plains, and the past social and cultural interactions among peoples living within this region during this time period. Arnn provides a concise framework for his theme in his introduction: "This book presents a model of late prehistoric and early historic Texas that was also extremely dynamic and diverse and suggests that as early as A.D. 1300 aboriginal peoples living in this region may have also recognized a broader sociocultural identity." ... Overall, Arnn does a fine job …

New Distributional Records Of Great Plains Pseudo Scorpions (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones), Paul O. Cooney, James A. Kalisch

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

Pseudoscorpions are tiny, oval, brown, flattened arachnids that possess large "pinchers" in front of the body for capturing smaller prey. They generally live in forested habitats in soil litter or beneath loose bark. It has been presumed that pseudoscorpions are scarce in the Great Plains, except for along rivers, due to harsh climatic conditions. However, new records of pseudo scorpions from the Great Plains were derived from identification of specimens obtained from university and college collections, and from specimens collected by the first author. Records provided new revelations about distributions of not only the more commonly known pseudoscorpion species but …

Review Essay: An Atlas To Be Read From Cover To Cover, Harm J. De Blij

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

Preparing for this review I began by scanning the volume and stopping to read several especially interesting maps, finding myself riveted and, it seemed, on a journey of discovery. It has often been said about books, but perhaps never about an atlas, "I could not put it down once I had opened it." Nor has any atlas ever enhanced my knowledge of any region as greatly as this one has. There can be no doubt about it: no region, certainly in North America and perhaps in the world, is as well served as is the Great Plains region by this …

Great Plains Research, Volume 22, Number 2, Fall 2012, Editorial Matter

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

Cover

Masthead

Table of contents

News and Notes

Annual Index

Instructions for Authors

Inside this issue

Initial Changes In Species Cover Following Savanna Restoration Treatments In Western Iowa, David A. Mckenzie, Thomas B. Bragg, David M. Sutherland

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

Study areas in the Iowa Loess Hills were used to evaluate short-term responses of understory species to three treatment methods designed to facilitate restoration of Quercus macrocarpa savanna. Treatments included burning alone, burning with thinning, and burning with clear-cutting. Plant abundance and diversity were compared before treatment and one year after treatment. Ninety-nine plant species were identified during the study, of which 40 were new following treatment, although most of these were forest associates. Increases in diversity of understory species were observed after treatment, particularly in plots with combined burning and thinning. The forb group was most consistent in response …

Review Of Unsettling The Settler Within: Indian Residential Schools, Truth Telling, And Reconciliation In Canada. By Paulette Regan., Robyn Green

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

The Canadian settler state has enacted egregious practices of assimilation, dispossession, and genocide against First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples throughout its history. Running contrary to these practices are the prevailing narratives found in Canadian historical texts and settler national myths. In Unsettling the Settler, Paulette Regan addresses this contradiction by analyzing the "peacemaker" myth, which she suggests is deployed by the state to construct a history of settler innocence. In light of this, any acknowledgment of historical injustices committed by Canada, such as Indian Residential School policies, is iteratively couched in the promise of reconciliation.

Seeking to navigate the …

Review Of Native Acts: Law, Recognition, And Cultural Authenticity. By Joanne Barker, Jo Carrillo

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

Native Acts is organized in three parts. In the first ("Recognition"), Barker (correctly) argues that the United States government exercised its plenary power to coerce Native peoples to recognize themselves as "Indian tribes." In part 2 ("Membership"), she discusses tribal membership policies as a legal frame through which Native peoples-now organized into semisovereign states called "tribes"-define themselves in relation to the U.S. government. In part 3 ("Tradition"), Barker examines how "tribal traditions" can turn on racist, sexist, and homophobic policies that themselves become cultural acts of identity formation. Federal Indian Law-the body of federal law that governs the relationship between …

Review Of Trailblazers: The Lives And Times Of Michael Ewanchuk And Muriel (Smith) Ewanchuk. By John Lehr And David Mcdowell., Denis Hlynka

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

Belonging to the genre of local history, Trailblazers explores the lives of two Canadians in the province of Manitoba spanning the 20th century. They were, as the introduction states, ordinary people, just like us. There is much here to interest the casual reader and the serious historian alike. Readers of Great Plains Research may need to be reminded that while the geographic designation "Great Plains" extends into the western Canadian provinces, the term is purely American. Canadians use the generic term "prairie." Michael Ewanchuk was a teacher, a principal, and finally a school inspector for 23 years; Muriel was a …

Great Plains Research, Volume 22, Number 2, Fall 2012 (Complete Issue)

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

Reconsidering National Park Interpretation of the Great Plains and TransMississippi West • Robert Pahre

Evaluating the Role of Latinidad and the Latino Threat in the State of Missouri • Joel Jennings and J.S. Onesimo Sandoval

The Right Call: Baseball Coaches' Attempts to Influence Umpires • Kevin Warneke and Dave Ogden

Documenting Change at Upper Hamburg Bend: Nebraska's First SideChannel Restoration • Brandon L. Eder and Gerald E. Mestl

Initial Changes in Species Cover Following Savanna Restoration Treatments in Western Iowa • David A. McKenzie, Thomas B. Bragg, and David M. Sutherland

Monitoring Standing Herbage of the Sands and Choppy Sands …

Review Of Turning Points: A Memoir. By George A. "Bud" Sinner And Bob Jansen. Foreword By Clay S. Jenkinson, Stephen W. King

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

Turning Points focuses on the political career of George Sinner from the 1960s to his two terms as a Democratic governor of North Dakota from 1984 to 1992. His legacy, however, is felt beyond North Dakota and was influential on the national scene as well. Many of the. governor's reflections on his early life provide insight into the seminal events that influenced him as an adult. Sinner's reflections on his experience after politics focus on his family and on what his life has taught him.

Review Of Clovis Lithic Technology: Investigation Of A Stratified Workshop At The Gault Site, Texas. By Michael R. Waters, Charlotte D. Pevny, David L. Carlson, Et Al. Foreword By Michael B. Collins., Heather M. Rockwell

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

This volume is a valuable contribution to the growing knowledge of Early Paleoindian behavior in the Southern Plains. It offers a thorough description of excavations and analyses conducted on collections from the Excavation Area 8 ofthe Gault Site in central Texas. The book is organized into ten chapters detailing the site setting, formation processes, Clovis tool manufacture patterns, microwear analyses, faunal analyses, and interpretations of the site's organization and purpose. ... Clovis Lithic Technology is a valuable contribution to researchers interested in the archaeology of the Great Plains, Paleoindian research, lithic analysis, and New World colonization research.

Evaluating Vegetation Response To Water Stress Using Close-Range And Satellite Remote Sensing, Sharmistha Swain

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Drought is a weather related natural disaster that occurs in virtually all climatic zones of the world. In the last century, almost all parts of the contiguous United States have experienced several prolonged drought events with considerable impacts on the agricultural economy and environment. With changing climates, the droughts are expected to be more severe, longer, and widespread in many parts of the world including sections of the United States. Understanding the response of vegetation to water stress using remote sensing technologies will enhance our ability to detect and monitor drought. This research evaluates the response of vegetation to drought-related …

Looking For A Diverse Teacher Force, Guy Trainin, William England, Britney Tonniges

Research and Evaluation in Education, Technology, Art, and Design

At some point over the next 10 to 12 years, the nation’s public school student body will have no one clear racial or ethnic majority. But the makeup of the nation’s teacher workforce is not keeping up with these changing demographics. At the national level, students of color make up more than 40 percent of the public school population. In contrast, teachers of color—teachers who are not non-Hispanic white—are only 17 percent of the teaching force. (Boser,2011- Teacher Diversity Matters) This infographic presentes a snapshot of the situation in Nebraska 2012.

Identity, Integration, And Assimilation Recorded In Manitoba's Polish And Ukrainian Cemeteries, Lukasz Albanski, John C. Lehr

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

Polish and Ukrainian rural cemeteries in southeastern Manitoba reflect the process of negotiating complex religious, geographic, and ethnic identities within Canadian society. Before 1914 the identities of Slavic immigrants from eastern Europe to western Canada were influenced more by religious affiliation than by geographic origins. This Slavic population, now assimilated into mainstream Anglophone society, retains elements of Polish and Ukrainian on grave markers as expressions of difference and acts of resistance against total homogeneity. In rural Manitoba grave markers record the process of exogamy and cultural blending, while cemetery landscapes replicate the social relationship between cultural groups from the same …

Great Plains Research, Volume 22, Number 1, Spring 2012 (Complete Issue)

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

Identity, Integration, and Assimilation Recorded in Manitoba's Polish and Ukrainian Cemeteries • Lukasz Albanski and John C. Lehr

Mapping Burned Areas in the Flint Hills of Kansas and Oklahoma, 2000-2010 • Rhett L. Mohler and Douglas G. Goodin

Parochlus kiefferi (Garrett, 1925) in Nebraska (Diptera: Chironomidae) • Barbara Hayford

Adaptation of Annual Forage Legumes in the Southern Great Plains • John A. Guretzky, Twain J. Butler, and Jim P. Muir

A Conceptual Model to Facilitate Amphibian Conservation in the Northern Great Plains • David M. Mushet, Ned H. Euliss, Jr., and Craig A. Stockwell

Channel Width and Least Tern and …

Reproduction And Population Characteristics Of White-Tailed Jackrabbits In South Dakota, Charles Dieter, Dustin Schaible

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

We evaluated the reproductive biology of314 white-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus townsendii) in 44 counties throughout South Dakota from June 2004 to September 2005. We classified jackrabbits as juveniles or adults based on the closure of the proximal epiphysis of the humerus using X-ray analysis. We determined annual reproductive activity through fluctuations in measured weights of reproductive organs for both sexes. The 2005 breeding season started in late February and proceeded until mid-July, approximately 142 days, allowing for females to potentially produce 3.3 litters. We found four distinct breeding periods by the overlap of estimated conception and parturition dates. Mean …

Review Of The Gospel Of Sustainability: Media, Market, And Lohas. By Monica M. Emerich, Toby A. Ten Eyck

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

It is no longer enough to grow your own food to be considered environmentally conscious. According to Emerich in The Gospel of Sustainability, being green means driving a hydrogen-powered car, patronizing businesses that sell free-trade coffee, and subscribing to the proper magazines. Emerich provides a backstage pass (as well as front-stage views in the form of quotes from conferences and media stories) where one can view how the conflicts around sustainability arose and are maintained as various actors try both to meld and tear apart capitalism and wanton consumerism, desiring to live lives that will translate into more resources for …

Review Of Winnipeg Beach: Leisure And Courtship In A Resort Town, 1900-1967. By Dale Barbour., Pauline Greenhill

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

Manitoba's answer to such waterside attractions as Coney Island and Blackpool, Winnipeg Beach saw tremendous social change over the nearly 70 years Dale Barbour explores. The dates correspond to "the lifespan of Winnipeg Beach as a tourist destination, from its creation by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1901 to the demolition of its dance hall, roller coaster, and boardwalk in 1967." Barbour traces the complexities of the town's development as a primarily heterosocial space for socializing and as a destination for families; its meaning as a paradoxical mixing of nature and culture; and its class and ethnic associations (in …

Review Of Alberta's Day Care Controversy: From 1908 To 2009-And Beyond. By Tom Langford., Gordon Cleveland

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

This is a carefully crafted, meticulously researched gem of a book exploring the history and intrigues of Alberta's controversies and struggles concerning child care, focused on the period since the 1960s. It is a work of historical sociology analyzing the interaction of social and political forces in Alberta clashing over the effects of child care in promoting changes in women's roles, over the negative effects of commercial child care on quality, and over the appropriate amount and type of support that governments vs. families should provide for child care. That description may make it sound too analytical and boring, but …

Review Of Two Toms: Lessons From A Shoshone Doctor. By Thomas H. Johnson And Helen S. Johnson., Christopher Loether

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

Thomas H. Johnson, one of the co-authors of Two Toms: Lessons from a Shoshone Doctor, was a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign when he first met Tom Wesaw in 1966 at a Sun Dance on the Wind River Reservation. Johnson returned to live with Wesaw during 1969-1970, in order to learn about Shoshone language and culture. Two Toms is based on his field notes from that stay. Tom Wesaw (1886-1973) was a traditional Shoshone doctor, Sun Dance leader, and member of the Native American (Peyote) Church. He had left Wind River Reservation when only fifteen …