The Natural History Book Group was founded on the recognition that Indigenous peoples have maintained a deep and reciprocal relationship with the land now known as Lake Oswego for millennia, the group acknowledges this history as an essential grounding for its work. Through participant-selected readings that focus on Traditional Ecological Knowledge, members explore how literature and nonfiction can deepen our understanding of the watershed and its indigenous history, while inspiring practical steps toward a more just relationship with both the land we call home and its original caretakers.
Led by the Lake Oswego Watershed Council, this group meets bi-monthly usually on the second Tuesday of every other month (January, March, May, July, September, and November) at 5:00pm. We meet at the Lake Oswego Public Library in the second-floor conference room. New members are welcome.
Our July Book
The trees are speaking : dispatches from the salmon forests, edited by by Lynda Mapes
Tuesday, July 14th | 5:00 – 6:30 P.M.
Lake Oswego Public Library 706 4th St, Lake Oswego
Ancient and carbon-rich, old-growth forests play an irreplaceable role in the environment. Their complex ecosystems clean the air, purify the water, cool the planet, and teem with life. In a time of climate catastrophe, old-growth and other natural forests face existential threats caused by humans–and their survival is crucial to ours. In a bicoastal journey, environmental journalist Lynda V. Mapes connects the present and future of Pacific Northwest forests to the hard-logged legacy forests of the northeastern United States.
Beginning in Oregon and Washington, where old growth supports, and is supported by, the region’s salmon, we meet Jerry Franklin, who led scientists in recognizing and studying the distinctiveness of these majestic spaces. From there, we journey to Vancouver Island, where Indigenous activists and scientists strive to preserve the health of Nuu-chah-nulth traditional homelands amid continued clearcutting. On the East Coast, we see the corduroy patterns of lands that have been logged for generations, leaving industrial carnage along formerly life-filled waterways.
With vibrant storytelling supported by science and traditional ecological knowledge, Mapes invites readers to understand the world where trees are kin, not commodities. The Trees Are Speaking is essential reading for those with a deep interest in environmental stewardship, Indigenous land rights, and the urgent challenges posed by climate change
Our September Book
Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Learning from Indigenous Practices for Environmental Sustainability, edited by Melissa K. Nelson and Dan Shilling
Tuesday, September 8th | 5:00 – 6:30 P.M.
Lake Oswego Public Library 706 4th St, Lake Oswego
This month, the Oswego Lake Watershed Council Natural History Book Club will explore how Indigenous knowledge systems deepen our understanding of sustainability, stewardship, and our relationship with the natural world through Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Learning from Indigenous Practices for Environmental Sustainability. Edited by Melissa K. Nelson and Daniel Shilling, this collection brings together Indigenous scholars, scientists, and practitioners to examine how Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) informs environmental stewardship, land management, and long-term ecological resilience. The book also explores the intersections between Indigenous ways of knowing and Western science.
Through case studies and essays from diverse perspectives, readers are invited to consider sustainability not only as a technical challenge, but also as a cultural, ethical, and relational one. Themes of reciprocity, biodiversity, stewardship, and community responsibility offer valuable insights for anyone interested in watershed health, restoration, climate resilience, or environmental justice.
Whether you are interested in ecology, restoration, Indigenous knowledge systems, or community stewardship, we invite you to join the conversation.
