International and Area Studies Commons^™

Native Land Acquisition In The Minnesota River Valley, Laura J. Smith

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

The economic issues that often arise from Native land acquisition and development can strain relationships between American Indian tribes and non-Indian local governments. As Indian tribes expand their landholdings, political and economic landscapes are transformed. This paper examines intergovernmental relationships and the characteristics and impacts of recent land acquisitions made by two Dakota Indian communities in the Minnesota River Valley of Minnesota. The Upper Sioux Community has enjoyed a level of cooperation from local communities in their rural land acquisitions, while the Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community has experienced vigorous opposition to their urban land acquisitions. Geographic situation may help to …

Grassland Birds In Restored Grassland Of The Rainwater Basin Region In Nebraska, Jill Sporrong Utrup, Craig A. Davis

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

Conservationists and managers mention grassland restorations as a conservation strategy to reverse the decline of grassland bird populations in the Great Plains. In the Rainwater Basin Region of southcentral Nebraska, state and federal resource agencies have used grassland restorations to protect wetlands from sedimentation and agrichemical runoff. These grassland restorations may also provide important habitat for breeding grassland birds. In this paper, we describe the abundance, composition, nesting success, and habitat requirements of breeding birds in grassland restorations in the Rainwater Basin Region. We observed 14 grassland bird species in 12 grassland restorations. The most abundant species were dickcissels ( …

Review Of Paleoamerican Origins: Beyond Clovis, Matthew G. Hill

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

Paleoamerican Origins is a compilation of23 papers, most of them expanded versions of presentations or posters given at "Clovis and Beyond" in Santa Fe in late October of 1999, "the greatest Ice Age American conference of the twentieth century" according to Kenneth Tankersley in his 2002 In Search of Ice Age Americans. It follows up New Perspectives on the First Americans (Lepper and Bonnichsen, 2004), a slim volume comprised of30 short, preliminary papers; eight contributors to Paleoamerican Origins also have papers in New Perspectives. Thus, these two volumes contain the published versions of about half of the …

Understanding Sacred Lands, Roxanne T. Ornelas

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

Recognition of the human right for indigenous peoples to freely express their spiritual beliefs is essential to expanding tolerance for the earth-based spirituality of many indigenous peoples. Awareness of such beliefs must be extended to support the spiritual significance of what indigenous peoples believe are their sacred lands. Physical landmarks such as mountains or rivers hold essential spiritual meaning for many tribes. Linkages to indigenous peoples' knowledge systems can yield a greater understanding of their social values and cultural differences in public debates over human rights and their struggles to protect their sacred lands. This paper reviews the impact of …

Foreword For Vol. 17 No.2, James W. Merchant, Rex Honey

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

Geographers have contributed much to the rich literature that defines the natural and human dimensions ofthe Great Plains. The emphasis that geographers place upon illuminating the spatial components of environmental, societal, economic, and cultural issues has often afforded them a unique perspective on important questions confronting the region. Moreover, geographers have sought to improve our understanding of the complex interrelationships between Great Plains landscapes and their human occupants. These foci of geography have, in recent years, given rise to research on topics such as the drivers and effects of land use and land cover change, rural depopulation and evolving settlement …

Review Of Buffalo Nation: American Indian Efforts To Restore The Bison., James H. Shaw

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

Ken Zontek presents a thoroughly researched and generally well-written account of the underappreciated role played by American Indians in the conservation and restoration of American bison. He notes that of the five foundation herds that in the. 1870s became the principal gene pool for today's Plains bison, three of them were established by people of American Indian descent.

Review Of Hidden Victims: The Effects Of The Death Penalty On Families Of The Accused, Mark Costanzo

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

The debate over capital punishment is driven by data and stories. Social scientists have amassed and analyzed mountains of data on issues like deterrence, public opinion, racial bias, and financial cost, data that have convinced most social scientists and much of the general public that the death penalty ought to be abandoned. But support for or opposition to capital punishment is not guided by a dispassionate analysis of data alone. It is also fueled by stories. There are the stories of the murderers and their horrible crimes. There are the stories of the victims whose lives were tragically cut short, …

Review Of Like A Loaded Weapon: The Rehnquist Court, Indian Rights, And The Legal History Of Racism In America, Alexandra Page

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

In Like a Loaded Weapon, Robert A. Williams Jr. argues that reliance by the courts on racist precedents from the nineteenth century perpetuates racism against American Indians and prevents Native tribes and nations from vindicating their human rights, both under the law and in society more broadly. Taking his title from a dissenting opinion in the infamous 1944 Korematsu decision of the Supreme Court, which upheld the forced relocation and internment of thousands of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II, Williams cogently demonstrates how racially biased patterns of Janguage and belief incorporated into legal opinions pose a …

Review Of Deep Alberta: Fossil Facts And Dinosaur Digs, University Of Alberta

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

We tend to rate smarter animals, like crows and naturalists, by their degree of behavioral versatility. If polymathic interest correlates with intellect, John Acorn is a very bright naturalist indeed. He has written field guides to insects and birds of Alberta's prairies, mountains, and badlands. His versatility emerges through media popularization of these topics, in series like The Nature Nut and more recently Deep Alberta, a set of radio vignettes about Alberta's fossilized past. But does Acorn's range skim the surface like a light breeze, or does his insight scour deep to Cretaceous bedrock? Judging by Acorn's Deep Alberta: …

Review Of Texas Quails: Ecology And Management, Paul A. Johnsgard

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

Texan quail enthusiasts can count themselves lucky, since Texas is one of only two states (New Mexico is the other) supporting native populations of four species of American quails. These include the nearly ubiquitous northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), the scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) of the desert grasslands, the Gambel's quail (Callipepla gambelii) of the upper Rio Grande Valley, and the rare and beautiful Montezuma quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae) of the Trans-Pecos and Edwards Plateau's pine-oak woodlands.

Review Of Treaty Promises, Indian Reality: Life On A Reserve, Robert Alexander Innes

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

Harold LeRat's book provides details of the history of the early years of the Cowessess First Nation. LeRat, an Elder from the Cowessess Reserve in Sakatchewan, is a farmer/rancher by trade, not a trained historian. Yet he, along with Linda Ungar, has pieced together a narrative based on oral stories, personal reflections, and an impressive collection of archival documents.

Review Of Developing And Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract., Fabian D. Menalled

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

In the last two decades, sustainable agriculture has grown from a purely academic curiosity into a widely accepted approach to producing food, fiber, and energy. Since its creation in 1988, the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) has been instrumental in the process of bringing sustainable agriculture forward by helping professional agriculturists across the United States advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound, and good to communities. Almost 20 years later, Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract provides a timely review of the many contributions of the SARE program, land grant universities, and the nonprofit …

Review Of Queer Youth In The Province Of The "Severely Normal.", Doreen Fumia

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

Gloria Filax poses an important question that has a specific context for the conservatism found in the Canadian prairies, yet is more generally applicable to modern western societies: Can queer youth, who struggle to define themselves as "normal," negotiate a place of social belonging where heterosexual norms still dominate? She problematizes this question through a complicated mixture of ethnography, discourse analysis, history, and theory. Queer Youth in the Province of the "Severely Normal" tells a story about how queer youth in Alberta in the 1990s, unlike their heterosexual counterparts, have been actively excluded from social supports and public education that …

Notes And News For Vol.17 No.2

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

No abstract provided.

Review Of The National Grasslands: A Guide To America's Undiscovered Treasures., Mary Ann Vinton

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

The aptly named "guide to America's undiscovered treasures" is an informative and user-friendly summary of the areas that comprise the 4 million-acre national grassland system. The terrain, plants, wildlife, public facilities, and unique features of each of the 20 grasslands ranging from western Oregon to eastern North Dakota are described, with detailed maps and 10utras's evocative photography interspersed throughout. Most areas (17 of 20) are located in the Great Plains. The aim of the book is ambitious: Moul attempts to place the national grasslands in context, with a look at the history of the grassland system as well as an …

Regional Dynamics Of Grassland Change In The Western Great Plains, Mark A. Drummond

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

This paper examines the contemporary land-cover changes in two western Great Plains ecoregions between 1973 and 2000. Agriculture and other land uses can have a substantial effect on grassland cover that varies regionally depending on the primary driving forces of change. In order to better understand change, the rates, types, and causes of land conversion were examined for 1973, 1980, 1986, 1992, and 2000 using Landsat satellite data and a statistical sampling strategy. The overall estimated rate of land-cover change between 1973 and 2000 was 7.4% in the Northwestern Great Plains and 11.5% in the Western High Plains. Trends in …

Review Of Wild Orchids Ofthe Prairies And Great Plains Region Of North America., Doris Ames

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

There are orchidophiles who think big, and the prolific author of this book, which covers a vast geographical area and includes 73 species and varieties of wild orchids, is surely one of them.

Annual Index For Vol.17 (2007)

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

5 pages

Acorn, John. Deep Alberta: Fossil Facts and Dinosaur Digs, reviewed, 17:232
through
Zontek, Ken. Buffalo Nation: American Indian Efforts to Restore the Bison, reviewed, 17:225

Potential Aboriginal-Occupation-Induced Dune Activity, Elbow Sand Hills, Northern Great Plains, Canada, Stephen A. Wolfe, Chris H. Hugenholtz, Christopher P. Evans, D. J. Huntley, Jeff Ollerhead

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

Geomorphological and archeological evidence indicates potential linkages between Plains aboriginal occupation and dune activity in the Elbow Sand Hills of southern Saskatchewan, Canada. Vegetation encroachment has rapidly outpaced migration of an active dune complex over the last 65 years. Optical ages of stabilized dune remnants indicate that dune activity predates Euro-Canadian settlement (ca. AD 1900). Early Euro-Canadian explorers observed local occupation and exploitation of the sand hills by aboriginal groups for herding and impounding bison. Mapping of archeological sites in relation to physiography reveals that sand dunes, in close proximity to permanent water resources, were preferred areas of occupation. Collectively, …

Cod Fish, Walrus, And Chieftains: Economic Intensification In The Norse North Atlantic, Sophia Perdikaris, Thomas H. Mcgovern

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

Introduction

Just over a thousand years ago, Scandinavian voyagers crossed the grey waters of the North Atlantic to briefly explore the coast of North America. These now well publicized transatlantic trips were part of larger economic, environmental, and social developments of the Viking Age, and were the product of an Iron Age chiefly society with a complex economy incorporating both classic “prestige goods” and “staple goods” components. The Viking Age expansion was the result of linked factors of economic intensification, military and technological advances, climate change, and intense com-petition among chiefly elites and between elites and commoners. The period saw …

Sandhill Crane Abundance And Nesting Ecology At Grays Lake, Idaho, Jane Austin, Adonia Henry, I. Joseph Hall

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

We examined population size and factors influencing nest survival of greater sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) at Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Idaho, USA, during 1997–2000. Average local population of cranes from late April to early May, 1998–2000, was 735 cranes, 34% higher than that reported for May 1970–1971. We estimated 228 (SE = 30) nests in the basin core (excluding renests), 14% higher than a 1971 estimate. Apparent nest success in our study (x = 60%, n = 519 nests) was lower than reported for Grays Lake 30–50 years earlier. Daily survival rates (DSRs) of all nests …

Estimating Water Storage Capacity Of Existing And Potentially Restorable Wetland Depressions In A Subbasin Of The Red River Of The North, Robert A. Gleason, Brian A. Tangen, Murray K. Laubhan, Kevin E. Kermes, Ned H. Euliss Jr.

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Concern over flooding along rivers in the Prairie Pothole Region has stimulated interest in developing spatially distributed hydrologic models to simulate the effects of wet¬land water storage on peak river flows. Such models require spatial data on the storage volume and interception area of existing and restorable wetlands in the watershed of interest. In most cases, information on these model inputs is lacking because resolution of existing topographic maps is inadequate to estimate volume and areas of existing and restorable wetlands. Consequently, most studies have relied on wetland area to volume or interception area relationships to estimate wetland basin storage …

Femur-Marrow Fat Of White-Tailed Deer Fawns Killed By Wolves, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

I present marrow fat (MF) data from a large sample of white-tailed deer fawns killed by wolves and a sample of fawns that died by accident in a single area, and I use these data to explore the extent that poor nutritional condition may have predisposed fawns to wolf predation. Percent MF of 110 5–10-month-old white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawns killed by wolves (Canis lupus) from November through April 1984–2002 in northeastern Minnesota, USA, was lower than MF for 23 fawns killed by accidents in the same area and period. The MF of both male and …

A Proposed Ethogram Of Large-Carnivore Predatory Behavior, Exemplified By The Wolf, Daniel Macnulty, L. David Mech, Douglas Smith

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Although predatory behavior is traditionally described by a basic ethogram composed of 3 phases (search, pursue, and capture), behavioral studies of large terrestrial carnivores generally use the concept of a ‘‘hunt’’ to classify and measure foraging. This approach is problematic because there is no consensus on what behaviors constitute a hunt. We therefore examined how the basic ethogram could be used as a common framework for classifying large carnivore behavior. We used >2,150 h of observed wolf (Canis lupus) behavior in Yellowstone National Park, including 517 and 134 encounters with elk (Cervus elaphus) and American bison …

Interleukin-6 And Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Values In Elk Neonates, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer, Craig R. Johnson, Michael P. Murtaugh, L. David Mech, P. J. White

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Serological indicators of general condition would be helpful for monitoring or assessing ungulate wildlife. Toward that end, we report the 1st reference values for 2 cytokines, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), in neonatal elk (Cervus elaphus). We obtained blood samples from 140 calves ≤ 6 days old in Yellowstone National Park during summer 2003–2005. IL-6 values ranged from 0 to 1.21 pg/ml with a median of 0.03 pg/ml. TNF-α values ranged from 0 to 225.43 pg/ml with a median of 1.85 pg/ml. IL-6 and TNF-α concentrations were not significant predictors of elk calf survival through 21 …

Grassland Establishment For Wildlife Conservation, D. Todd Jones-Farrand, Loren W. Burger Jr., Douglas H. Johnson, Mark R. Ryan

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Establishing grasslands has important implications for wildlife, especially in areas historically rich in grasslands that have since been converted to row crop agriculture. Most grasslands established under farm conservation programs have replaced annual crops with perennial cover that provides year-round resources for wildlife. This change in land use has had a huge influence on grassland bird populations; little is known about its impacts on other terrestrial wildlife species. Wildlife response to grassland establishment is a multi-scale phenomenon dependent upon vegetation structure and composition within the planting, practice-level factors such as size and shape of the field, and its landscape context, …

Review Of Waterfowl Ecology And Management By Guy A. Baldassarre And Eric G. Bolen, Gary Krapu

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Waterfowl are among the most studied groups of birds, in part because many species are widely hunted. In recent decades, waterfowl researchers have provided a wealth of new findings related to population ecology and management. Baldassarre and Bolen, recognizing the rapid growth of valuable new information since their book was first published in 1994 and the emergence of numerous new issues confronting waterfowl conservation, have prepared a new edition of their book.
The 2006 edition of Waterfowl Ecology and Management represents a major revision of the authors’ original work. The handsome new front cover contains an inset of a Mallard …

Survey Of Selected Pathogens And Blood Parameters Of Northern Yellowstone Elk: Wolf Sanitation Effect Implications, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer, P. J. White, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

The restoration or conservation of predators could reduce seroprevalences of certain diseases in prey if predation selectively removes animals exhibiting clinical signs. We assessed disease seroprevalences and blood parameters of 115 adult female elk (Cervus elaphus) wintering on the northern range of Yellowstone National Park [YNP] during 2000– 2005 and compared them to data collected prior to wolf (Canis lupus) restoration (WR) in 1995 and to two other herds in Montana to assess this prediction. Blood parameters were generally within two standard deviations of the means observed in other Montana herds (Gravelly-Snowcrest [GS] and Garnet Mountain …

Influence Of Wind Generators On Grassland-Breeding Birds, Douglas H. Johnson, Jill A. Shaffer

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

As the Nation strives for energy independence, interest in renewable energy sources intensifies. Wind energy is one such source, and North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana are ranked among the top five states for wind potential by the Department of Energy. The Missouri Coteau is especially rich in wind energy potential. With its hilly topography and rocky soils, the Coteau also contains large tracts of unplowed grasslands and undrained wetlands. Accordingly, the Coteau is a prime area for nesting waterfowl and other grassland birds, many of which have suffered marked population declines in recent decades. To help maintain breeding populations …

Testing Global Positioning System Telemetry To Study Wolf Predation On Deer Fawns, Dominic Demma, Shannon Barber-Meyer, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

We conducted a pilot study to test the usefulness of Global Positioning System (GPS) collars for investigating wolf (Canis lupus) predation on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawns. Using GPS collars with short location-attempt intervals on 5 wolves and 5 deer during summers 2002–2004 in northeastern Minnesota, USA, demonstrated how this approach could provide new insights into wolf hunting behavior of fawns. For example, a wolf traveled ≥1.5–3.0 km and spent 20–22 hours in the immediate vicinity of known fawn kill sites and ≥0.7 km and 8.3 hours at scavenging sites. Wolf travel paths indicated that wolves …