Minnesota Books

Research report writer Kathy Davis Graves contributed to the creation of an up-to-date fifth edition of Elizabeth Ebott's solid reference, Indians in Minnesota, a fact-filled reference guide for researchers and professionals of all walks who need to twenty-first century demographics concerning Minnesota's Native American population of more than fifty-four thousand. Indians in Minnesota draws from hundreds of interviews from tribal members, data from the 2000 Minnesota Census, federal and state reports, and more. Covering both historical and contemporary understand of Minnesota's Native Americans, living on and off reservations, and addressing the significant changes and challenges of the twenty-first century, Indians of Minnesota is a highly accessible, informative, and insightful compendium. "With tribes rapidly increasing their powers and abilities to control their own environments, it is important that non-Indians understand and accept differing views of how to deal with natural resources. As one Indian leader said, 'We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we rent it from our children.'"

I taught this book in a senior seminar (4th-yr undergraduate) Environmental Anthropology course in 2003-04. I was a little worried about assigning it b/c the theory can be very dense, but it turned out to be one of the more popular books in the course, full of ideas that students kept referring back to and using in their term papers. Because each of the chapters looks at the idea of the "forest" (and the processes through which it has been produced) from a range of perspectives, it's a fun book to teach in a seminar setting -- it can be approached from a lot of different angles, and is almost inherently provocative of debate. And it has great illustrations -- all of my students were "fooled" by the pseudo-satellite photos that Braun presents and goes on to deconstruct brilliantly.

This book does a wonderful job of illustrating the Minnesota iron mining scene of 1910 or so. It focuses primarily on the mines of the Mesabi Range, but also touches on the Vermilion and Cuyuna. I have found it an invaluable resource in getting a better idea of old mining practices. One word of caution: this book is devoted entirely to the technical engineering aspects, and has nothing to offer as far as the social aspect of the mines. But if you are researching this rich period of Minnesota's mining history, or have more than a slight interest in it, I would highly recommend this book. The price tends to be a little high, but in my opinion it's well worth it.

The Laurentian divide is Northern Minnesota's invisible hill - a long hump of land that stretches a hundred miles through the Northeastern corner of the state. On the eastern slope is a large uplift. The Ojibwe Indians called it Mesabi, meaning sleeping Giant. The discovery in the 1890's of mammoth deposits of iron ore in the Mesabi range brought untold numbers of immigrants seeking the "red gold": Croatians, Serbians, Slovenians, Italians, Scandinavians, and Finns. "Da Range" was born. Fueled by cheap labor and an abundance of iron ore, towns sprang up like beads on a string: Coleraine, Nashwauk, Chisholm, Mountain Iron, Eveleth, Virginia, Biwabik, and Hibbing. The ore for the iron that built the nation during the first part of the century came from the sweat of the free-spirited Minnesota prospectors. A proud, hard-working bunch, none worked harder than Anton Debevec, a laborer who immigrated from Slovenia in 1903 with his wife Agnes to work in the mines and raise a family. The Iron Ore Minor's Son is the memior of Joseph J. DeBevec, one of seven lanky Debevec kids who grew up in the shadow of the Mesabi. Energetic and enterprising, Joe worked his way to the top of his form in the retail business managing stores for the J. C. Penney Company in rural Midwest towns, his success driven by the idea that: "there must be a better way!" He married into the Macks of Virginia, Minnesota and later the Gills of Toronto, Canada. He is father to two families, and has gained enough blessings in life to be a great grandfather. --- from book's dustjacket

At the close of active life (well, near the close - Arne will turn 90 in Jan.2002!) Norwegian eco-political philosopher Arne Naess is interviewed by spry young American academic David Rothenberg.

Subjects span Arne's entire life consciousness. In easy-to-read, question-and-answer format, this slim volume tells the lay reader many fascinating personal details. Rothenberg & Naess discuss -- inter alia -- Arne's rejection of his mother, childhood obsession with tiny things, the financial help from his older wealthy businessman brothers that freed Arne to live a charmed "thinking" life, and Arne's subversive leadership in the WWII Norwegian Resistance.

Why are this old Norwegian man's memories so important? Although many in the USA do not yet know him, Arne Naess is considered the father of "Deep Ecology" - a philosophy of articulate ecological beliefs, which works to shape ecological dialog with non-ecological forces.

Today's ecological thinkers will find these interviews highly educational. It is intriguing to see how the 20th century movement called Deep Ecology was shaped not only by Naess' work in ethics and communication theory, but also by his spiritual communion with non-human intelligence, and his "Panzercharakter" defensive shell.

These personal interviews reveal that the spiritually transcendent militancy of Gandhi's "satyagraha" - which Naess has made so key to modern ecological activism - appealed to him emotionally as well as philosophically. Most importantly they confirm that the emotional life of the leading ecological philosopher of the 20th century, has been equally as influential as his intellectual power.

this is the best book of life i mean this is a lot better than mas oyama way of life and it teaches good manners!!!

Barbara Milkovich's It's Gone; Did You Notice?: A History Of The Mesabi Range Village Of Franklin, Minnesota 1892-1994 is the historical accurate and vividly presented account of founding, growth, and transformation of a Mesabi mining village where 211,000,000 tons of iron ore were mined to fuel a nation's burgeoning industry. Milkovich blends oral history with documentary evidence to definitively present Franklin and the small communities that it once included. Here is a truly American story of people, places, and events impacted by a large extractive industry. Enhanced with 37 vintage photographs and maps, extensive footnotes, bibliography, appendices, and an index, It's Gone; Did You Notice? is a superbly presented biography of a community, and would well serve as a template for presenting the histories of other singular and unique communities around the country. Highly recommended for students of Minnesota history.

Great book---Great exhibi

The book is quotes from local people telling about their experiences & lives in Minnesota. It is well written, but tells it as it is. Service from Amazon was excellent, as always. jfsquillace

James Carey currently teaches at Columbia University as a CBS Professor of International Journalism. In this collection of essays, the theme of communication and democracy is explored from a number of perspectives. The topics include technology and democratic change, the role of communication in the American community, the challenges facing academia, and communications and economics.

The book is divided into five general sections, and each section has an introduction to Carey's ideas written by various contributors. While the introductory chapters were all well-written, the essay by John Pauly introducing the section on Media Scholarship was particularly noteworthy. About Carey, Pauly says:

"He has never been the theorist others want him to be. He is too working-class in his upbringing to join in the choruses of praise for American capitalism; too personally cautious and gradualist to be mistaken for a radical; too American in his intellectual references and too unassuming in his style to be worshipped as a prominent cultural theorist."

That is probably as good a way as any to describe the ideas here to someone not familiar with Carey's work.

I read the book with a great deal of enjoyment. I took copious notes, and found that I added a huge number of cited books to my already long to-read list. I did my graduate work in Media, so it may be more accessible to me for that reason. That said, I would not hesitate to recommend it to the general reader. Although the ideas are dense and occasionally demanding, Carey is a remarkably straightforward and readable writer. It should appeal to anyone concerned with any of the general themes, or with an interest in media history.