"Nelson spent a year among the Koyukon people of western Alaska, studying

their intimate relationship with animals and the land. His chronicle of

that visit represents a thorough and elegant account of the mystical

connection between Native Americans and the natural world."--"Outside"

"This admirable reflection on the natural history of the Koyukon River

drainage in Alaska is founded on knowledge the author gained as a student

of the Koyukon culture, indigenous to that region. He presents these

Athapascan views of the land--principally of its animals and Koyukon

relationships with those creatures--together with a measured account of his

own experiences and doubts. . . . For someone in search of a native

American expression of 'ecology' and natural history, I can think of no

better place to begin than with this work."--Barry Lopez, "Orion Nature "

"Quarterly"

"Far from being a romantic attempt to pass on the spiritual lore of Native

Americans for a quick fix by others, this is a very serious ethnographic

study of some Alaskan Indians in the Northern Forest area. . . . He has

painstakingly regarded their views of earth, sky, water, mammals and every

creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. He does admire their love of

nature and spirit. Those who see the world through his eyes using their

eyes will likely come away with new respect for the boreal forest and those

who live with it and in it, not against it."--"The Christian Century"

"In "Make Prayers to the Raven" Nelson reveals to us the Koyukon

beliefs and attitudes toward the fauna that surround them in their forested

habitat close to the lower Yukon. . . . Nelson's presentation also gives

rich insights into the Koyukon subsistence cycle through the year and into

the hardships of life in this northern region. The book is written with

both brain and heart. . . . This book represents a landmark: never before

has the integration of American Indians with their environment been so well

spelled out."--Ake Hultkrantz, "Journal of Forest History"