My Head for a Tree: The Extraordinary Story of the Bishnoi, Guardians of Nature

“For a Bishnoi, caring for the natural world is a completely natural way of living. It is unimaginable not to do so,” explains science writer Goodman (On Bended Knees) in this immersive portrait of the remote Hindu sect. Found in the deserts of northern India, the Bishnoi adhere to 29 tenets given to them by their founding guru, Jambhoji, in the 16th century. The most important of these, “Be kind to all living beings,” demands that adherents never cut down any living trees. As such, many Bishnoi became “environmental warriors” long before the 20th century, among them 363 Bishnoi villagers massacred in 1730 while attempting to stop the Maharajah from harvesting their village’s trees. Today, Goodman writes, many Bishnoi have become lawyers, utilizing the legal system to fight for environmental justice, while others are more militant, like the Tiger Force, a vigilante group that battles poachers. Goodman profiles his subjects and relates his historical anecdotes with the verve and amiability of a travel writer, though at times his rosy, admiring view treads too lightly over thorny issues of nationalism (for instance, he recounts, without comment on the larger political dynamics possibly at play, a 2023 episode in which a Bishnoi gangster publicly threatened to send assassins after a Muslim Indian actor accused of poaching). Still, it’s an infectiously buoyant and upbeat account of committed environmental activism. (Apr.)