Explore a collection of Native biographies on the topic of sustainability.
August 18, 2014

MADISON, WI- Relive the toils and triumphs of caring for the earth from Wisconsin's Native American communities - and the Ojibwe philosophy that drives them - in a new Wisconsin Historical Society Press book, "Seventh Generation Earth Ethics: Native Voices of Wisconsin". Author Dr. Patty Loew profiles a dozen influential members from Wisconsin's Indian Nations each of whom employ the Ojibwe "Seventh Generation Philosophy" to make environmental decisions based upon how those decisions will impact the land for seven generations to come, some 240 years into the future.

Loew, who adds a personal anecdote in each chapter describing her relationship with the subject, is donating all royalties from this book to the Wisconsin Indian Education Association (WIEA).

Also the author of the Society Press' best-selling Indian Nations of Wisconsin, Loew says her new book is the "result of thirty years of working as a journalist and historian in Wisconsin's Native American communities." Leaders featured include tribal genealogists, land stewards, preservers of language and culture, treaty rights advocates like James Chlender (Lac Courte Oreille Ojibwe), artists like Truman Loew (Ho-Chunk), educators like Dorothy "Dot" Davids (Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians), anti-mining advocates like Walt Bresette (Red Cliff Ojibwe) and Hillary Waukau (Menominee).

Winona LaDuke, an established activist in American Indian and environmental communities, and member of the Ojibwe, Mississippi Band Anishinaabeg, introduces the work in a poignant foreword, in which she writes in part: "We live because our ancient beings, the gete Anishinaabeg our ancestral beings, shine in lights in the forest or torches on the lake. This is the place of Anishinaabeg, and we are those who are indigenous in the present. This is the plane of the stories of heroic beings in this book, stories well-told."

About the Editor

Patty Loew, Ph.D., is an enrolled member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe and a recipient of the Outstanding Service Award of the Great Lakes Intertribal Council. She is a professor in the department of life sciences communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and affiliated faculty with the American Indian studies program. She has written dozens of scholarly and general-interest articles on Native topics and produced several award-winning documentaries that have appeared on commercial and public television stations throughout the country. For 20 years she hosted statewide news and public affairs programs for Wisconsin Public Television. Dr. Loew donates 100% of the royalties she would otherwise receive as author of Indian Nations of Wisconsin to the Wisconsin Indian Education Association for scholarships.

Media Contact and Resources

For a review copy of "Seventh Generation Earth Ethics," to interview the editor, or for more information, please contact Kristin Gilpatrick, Marketing Manager at 608-264-6465 or by email at kristin.gilpatrick@wisconsinhistory.org.

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About the Wisconsin Historical Society Press

The Wisconsin Historical Society Press is the state’s oldest publisher. With our first book, published in 1855, we established a commitment to collecting, preserving and sharing our stories and helping people connect to the past. Today we create publications of enduring value that appeal to a broad audience, including lively narratives about interesting people, events, and places; publications for young readers and educators that bring history to life for a new generation; and Our quarterly Wisconsin Magazine of History.

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