The historic relationship of native peoples to the environment is a complex and controversial subject. An unsympathetic view is Shepard Krech’s The Ecological Indian. In contrast see Winona LaDuke’s All My Relations.

For reviews and analysis of these two books see: Mindy Pennybacker, “The First Environmentalists” in The Nation, Vine Deloria's reaction, and in an interview with MariJo Moore, “Vine Deloria, Jr.’s Reaction to Shepard Krech's Book The Ecological Indian”

For an early overview of American Indian environmental beliefs and practices see J. Donald Hughes, American Indian Ecology (1983), Texas Western Press.