The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin 4 stars

[Sue]

This book is set on another planet - New Tahiti - at some point hundreds of years in the future. New Tahiti is a forested paradise, populated by small, green-furred people. The live in harmony with the forests and, as the title suggests, they see the forest as synonymous with their entire world.

The Terrans who've come aren't really there to colonize. They are there to harvest all the trees to send lumber back to Earth. Because Earth's environment has been destroyed, there are no forests left, and so the New Tahiti trees are worth their weight in gold.

The native inhabitants have been turned into slaves and forced to participate in the destruction of their own world. Right up until they decide to fight back.

It's not hard to see this is an allegory for how Western people used and exploited native lands and people they "discovered".

[NancyJ]

Thanks for the reminder about this book. It sounds great. I meant to put it on my Subdue list last time, I'll put it on my next one.