Native American Books

This book tells the story of my family and other native peoples whose identities were essentially taken from them by Alabama politicians who over several decades mischaracterized them as "Cajans." My great grandfather (Seaborn Reid) and his extended family were living in post-Civil War Washington and Mobile Counties in southeast Alabama where, as free mixed Indian people, his ancestors had made their homes for many years, before the state began to deny their Indian heritage. Eventually, Seaborn would bring his whole family to Mississippi to escape the arbitrary and discriminatory treatment they experienced under Alabama's laws and practices respecting his people. Once in Mississippi, he and his clan were treated as white citizens, and his progeny slowly loss their awareness of their heritage as years went by. Until I read "They Say the Wind is Red," little of this history was known by anybody in the family.

So, whether your interest lies in the genealogy of Washington and Mobile County persons, or in the history of that region, or in what is a great telling of how native peoples' identity was taken from them and how they are now seeking to reclaim their rights as members of a tribal community, this is a must-read book.

All I can say is this book helps you understand the difficult, yet enduring tribe of Choctaw that live with honor--- in a harsh country they once owned. This book makes you think and feel for a people who were treated unfairly by their country and their government. This pearl of literature might have been lost in the biased written history books of America if J.A.Matte would have accepted anything less than the truth. Born in a time when women were struggling to be regconized & heard...J.A.Matte became an educator as well as a champion for American history...recorded correctly. This book really touched me & my family. Read it & know the truth.

Now in a newly revised edition which include a resource guide for Southeastern Indian genealogy, They Say The Wind Red: The Alabama Choctaw Lost In Their Own Land, by Jacqueline Anderson Matte (who testified as an expert witness before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Hearings for federal recognition of the Alabama Choctaw) is a compelling and accurate history of those Choctaw Indians who successfully remained in Alabama, when other southeastern Indian tribes were compelled to relocate to the American West during the 1830s. The Alabama Choctaw were a small band of Native Americans who were often mistaken as being either blacks or cajun, and who stayed in the swamps and pine woods of Mobile and Washington counties in spite of federal government's efforts to remove them. An invaluable addition to the growing library of Native American Studies, They Say The Wind Is Red is very highly recommended history of pride, love of land, danger, and a people's determination to endure and preserve their way of life in spite of severe and enduring hardships.

What a pleasure to write a review of Joyce Hifler's ... Think On These Things. I first read the first edition book in the 1960's.
I found the book on a book shelf. It has been left there by my step brother ... a most beautiful young man .. who died at the age of 17 in a car accident in the 1960's.

I don't know why the book was there. I don't know what he had seen in it or why he had it ... I just know that several years after he died I had suffered a most discouraging divorce, had discovered "positive thinking" and it's impact on my own life .. had "back slip" into a most severed "depression" .. and in recovering found that reading this book over and over and over again automatically helped me get into a positive space from which to act.

Whenever I got negative or had something I needed to do positively .. I would read this book until my positive attitude returned ... then act.

I have remembered all these years this little books description of the difference between our "positive self" and our "negative self" and which one is "really us." Picture yourself with a cloud passing overhead and blocking the light ... and then in the bright sunlight. The real you is the one without the cloud.

I have remembered this description, used it many times, have shared it with many, many others .. and now I happily recommend this fantastic little book to EVERYONE !!!

Bob Kennedy
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WHEN I OPENNED THIS WONDERFUL BOOK, THE FIRST PAGE I READ WAS SO PERFECT! MY FRIEND AND I HAD JUST FINISHED DECORATING HER FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE SINCE HER DIVORCE. NEEDLESS TO SAY, THIS HAD BEEN A VERY EMOTIONAL TIME FOR HER. THE PAGE I TURNED TO SPOKE OF GOOD FRIENDS, TALKING, AND LISTENING. WHAT A WONDERFUL SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE IT WAS TO SHARE THE POSITIVE MESSAGE WRITTEN ON THOSE PAGES. IT MADE THE REST OF THE EVENING VERY JOYOUS AND LOVING. I HAVE READ AND GLANCED THROUGH MANY BOOKS OF THIS GENRE, BUT THESE WORDS ARE TRULY INSPIRED FROM THE SOUL. I HIGHLY RECOMEND THIS BOOK FOR ALL PEOPLE, YOUNG AND OLD, BIG AND SMALL. MAY ALL WHO SEE THIS REVIEW TAKE THE TIME TO CHECK IT OUT. IT CAN ONLY DO THE WORLD A FAVOR FOR ALL WHO NEED SOME INSPIRATION AND SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE FOR PEACE ON EARTH! LOVE TO ALL! KAREN

I have read this book numerous times. If I were given only one choice of a book to read (outside of the Bible) this book would be it. If more people would read and absorb the lessons in this book, we would have a wonderful world to live in.

I would like to meet Joyce Sequichie Hefler (the author), if she is still alive. She must be a remarkable human being.

A friend gave me her first hard back edition, with her signiture written on it, many years ago. I take this book to bed with me every night and always feel so relaxed with any page I open the book to. This is the best gift you can give to yourself or anyone else, man or women, boy or girl. Order this book and take time to read and absorb the remarkable lessons. You would be glad you did, I am.

Beautiful illustrations and simple prose make this a quietly poetic and aesthetically pleasing selection to read to kids three years old and up. A great introduction to the Native American concept of the seasons of the year and the close and personal relationship with all of Nature.

I was fortunate to hear the author speak in the early 90s in my hometown of Syracuse, NY. He is an engaging storyteller. It was then that I discovered his book. The artwork in this edition is rich and appealing. The vignettes of each moon, combined with the illustrations, make an appealing canvas for young and/or exploring minds.

This book is an excellent work of Native American children's literature. Joseph Bruchac is a well-known Abenaki story-teller who profiles in this book the thirteen moons of the year, and profiles for each moon what is important about that season to different Native Nations. The artwork is a beautiful compliment to the story. If you are looking for a solid and sensitive look at inter-tribal stories for children, this is a great place to start!

With this book ,Mary Thunder reawakens the heart. Her life is a model of endurance and faith ,in addition,her training as a Lakota warrior is the kee that opens the doors of awareness.

What I like the most about this book is that Mary Thunder tells us all about her mistakes that she made walking this path. It is a very honnest book and the writer shows us what it means to be a Human Being.Even when we are a Spiritual Person, she shows us we are not perfect. A very personal book, I could not stop reading so I finished it at once. There is a lot of funny stories in there.

It is highly uncommon to find an humble visionary, but that is exactly what you will find in this book, coupled with a witty and sharp perspective that strikes home to us all. A real Native American Medicine Woman's life adventure, coupled with a good dash of her own teaching for those of you who are wanting to learn. A New-Age must for all who are seeking a way to reach beyond what you can see, into what you know is really there!!!

Paul Gobel books are favorites of mine. The Grandchildren ask for them to be read every visit. When I purchased a tipi we were inspired by Mr Gobel's excellent books to create a traditional design with personal meaning.
This book arrived in time for our initial use of the tipi and brought greater meaning to the experience of putting up the tipi and living in it for a week of Camp Grandma. We are looking forward to "furnishing" the tipi next summer.

Filled with insights and great respect for this horse culture. I passed a copy on to a friend of Mongolian descent who took it to Mongolia where it was received with great interest and reverence. The artwork and symbolism should be tremendously helpful to future generations of young tribal members and descendants as the memories fade ever further.

Paul Goble's TIPI: HOME OF THE NOMADIC BUFFALO HUNTERS blends traditional insights into tipi construction and development with a retelling of old-timers stories and a blending in of art to make for a fine survey of construction techniques, decorations, cultural meaning, and more. TIPI includes over a hundred color illustrations and drawings and makes for a vivid, outstanding survey of the spiritual and culture meaning of the Native American structure.

This book is a MUST read for everybody. It was very well written by Steve Wall, a retired National Geography editor who spent many years with Leon Shenandoah, Chief Tadodaho of Iroquois Nation. Leon Shenandoah, Chief Tadodaho is from Onondaga Tribe, which is known as the central firekeeper of Six Nation, that of Iroquois Confederacy. The book does not only shed some lights into Iroquois and Native America culture but more importantly it shed so much insight into life and what it means to be the ultimate human being that we all are. In 2006 I had a vision while I was asleep when a Native American gentleman appeared in front of me, saying nothing but appeared to know who I was. I did not know who he was or what he was trying to tell me until approximately one year later when I ran into this book, by mere accident. When I saw a picture of him in the book I broke down and felt the presence of a powerful spirit, realizing that it was the very same man that came to me in my vision. Since then I've become a Tadodaho Messenger, in which I've purchased numerous copies of the book and distributed them to seekers that I run paths with. The book contains powerful message and hope for all human beings. Chief Tadodaho teaches us to be the firekeepers that we all are so that we're able to instill small fires in each human beings and give them hope so that they'll begin to do good for other human beings. Thus, it created the birth of Firekeepers Association, also known as www.firekeepers.com. Read this book and you'll begin to understand many great things about life. You'll also learn about your own center and why it's important to build yourself and grow from the center.

Leon Tadodaho, Chief Tadodaho passed away some time in the 1990's and was largely unheard outside of Iroquois Nation. That's because he did not bother to gain celebrity status under the spot lights. Instead he spent all of his time working with his people and helping them. Make a trip to Iroquois Nations and ask anybody there about him and you will find them weeping in great pain because they all miss him miserably. Fortunately for us, Leon Shenandoah, Chief Tadodaho did not forget us. He spent many years preparing Steve Wall with important messages with hope to have a book published so that it'll benefit everybody when and if they're willing to take a brief pause in life long enough to read his important messages. The book was published after he died but yet his spirit continue to travel as he continue to work on things that are important to the Creator. Look no further than introduction "foreword page" and you will read "When I go, I'll not be wanting to leave. So I'll have some visiting to do. Look out! I may come to see you. You know what I told you, 'Pay attention. And listen. There really is no death'."

This book needs to be required reading for every human being on this earth. Powerful. Profound. Deeply spiritual and life changing. What an amazing man. It's too bad our current political leaders are so arrogant, selfish and stubborn. They could learn a few lessons about true, honest, unselfish, genuine leadership from this man, his life and his lessons. There truly is strength in gentleness.

This is a wonderful message from the spiritual leader of the Iroquois people, recently deceased. A gentle man, whose simple words ring with power. Leon's message is that kindness is strength. Steve Wall's interviews with Chief Shenandoah are a treasure, gifted to a world sorely in need of his gentle humor, great wisdom, and humility.

If you are new to the writings of Victor Sanchez, then this is an ideal place to start.

Although the second book by Victor, following on from The Teachings of Don Carlos, it gives background and spirit to where Victor experienced and learned what he teaches, and therefore this provides an ideal starting place where you can get a sense of the mood and ethos behind the techniques and tools of the first book.

While the largest portion of the book is Victor's personal story of journeying to Humun' Kulluaby and the ascent of and ritual on La' Unarre, there are many insights and a couple of related conversations and stories regarding various things including the views of the Wirrarika on missionaries who have tried to "convert" and "save" them, through to some views "anti-anthropology" and explanations of what indigenous cultures, such as the Wirrarika, actually believe regarding multiple Gods and the Great Spirit.

The comments Victor makes about Western culture "putting ourselves at the center of everything" and viewing the "worship of nature" as primitive are I feel important concepts to reflect on (for those of us with a Western heritage) as it is indeed arrogance of this kind which I believe is a limiting factor for us in our own personal evolution.

A fragment of a conversation between Victor and a Wirrarika marakame relating a conversation he had with a pastor who insisted that the tales of Christ and the bible 'made sense' compared with the very organic beliefs of the Indians, to me sums up their wisdom. "But nobody tells me about Tatei Urianaka (the Earth), I see her every day! And every day I receive her fruits, corn, water, and beans. I can touch, walk, and live on her! And Tau (the Sun). Daily I receive his heat and his nierika (light, knowledge, vision, teaching). I don't have to do anything but look up and there he is." This, to me, is the beauty of a system which embraces the natural world (rather than 'separating' it). Learning is direct and experiential, through observation and interaction.

Overall this is a powerful and moving tale of a magical journey. Reading of Victor Sanchez's experiences provides inspiration for anyone who truly wants to discover and follow their own magical path.

Pre-Colombian with an o not u

For many of us looking for answers that doctrined religions cannot quite give us, Victor Sanchez has exposed a world where faith meets reality. Through his own research and paticipation, Sanchez experiences a spiritual domain that continues to exist admist the colonization and materialism now precedent around the world. Not restricted to boundaries of religion, Sanchez takes the reader through first hand understanding of what is possible when your allow and train your mind to believe in "separate realities." In a Carlos Casteneda like approach, Sanchez writes of his experiences with a group of Native Americans in rural Mexico, who have sustained their belief system and way of life before and after Spanish colonzation. Sanchez spent 15 years with these people and is sharing the world that these people "see." Those who have been exposed to Castaneda's work would find equal enjoyment with this book and have another supporting perspective of human capabilities with spirit and energy. Sanchez provides an answer to what is real to our eyes, may be only what we've been told and trained them to see. How easy is it to believe something you can't see, and if you do, should it be excused as hallucination or paganism. To the growing number of people not completely happy with formal religion, here is a glimsp of ancient wisdom that offers a possibility of human existence on a separate reality, one that is real.

A great gift for Tony Hillerman fans. Gives rereading the older books a new meaning.

This book gives a wonderful, alive, feeling about the Hillerman stories. It puts the reader inside the scenes , and makes one understand the characters even better. It also makes you long to be there and visit those special places, and preserve them for all future readers.

I bet that 99 p.c. of Hillerman readers do not know the Four Corners region, the Navajo, Hopi and Zuni reservations to an extend that they can exactly imagine what Joe is looking at when he describes where he is presently driving or standing. Here is where this book comes in. It gives a load of details about small communities, certain mountains or washes or canyons or what have you. b/w photos... well, better than nothing. Besides, the book offers some extra goodies like the Dinee names of places and how to pronounce them. I keep this book on the table whenever I read a Hillerman book.

I immensely enjoyed taking this journey with Chris Kraus' heroine Sylvie, savoring every description and nugget of pathos. I began to feel a deep affection for her as the story unfolded. This work has broad appeal given the author's own background; a fascinating mélange centered around art, philosophy and the past. This background has provided the author with ingredients for a truly engaging and spectacular point of view about the time, places and subjects on which she bases her story. The writing has the flavor of a deeply satisfying stew, cooked to perfection. I was moved by Sylvie's appreciation of the beauty of the ordinary as she confronted the painful experiences in her life, described as only Chris Kraus can do.

"torpor" is a beautifully written novel by a brilliant author with a fresh and authentic voice. Both Kraus' style and subject matter will appeal to a wide audience. Not enough women are familiar with Chris Kraus' writing - hopefully "torpor" will change that. However, Kraus is not specifically a women's writer: the male audience will be just as spellbound. We are very fortunate for her gifts, and for "torpor".

An American girl meets and marries a French boy who's carrying around an enormous number of paralyzing memories of the Holocaust, and she decides to adopt a baby from a Third World country.

If only I could ask Chris Kraus my 20 questions! Among them would be, How would you describe the form you work in? It's very distinctive, very Chris Kraus, but what is it? I've heard people refer to your books as "comic" books, not like Nancy and Sluggo but something more like a Jane Austen sense of social comedy.

Torpor conveys like very few novels the misery of a long term relationship. You compare them to "hypothermia, giving yourself up in free and loose embtace into a dream state that turns out to be inertia." Do all relationships disintegrate into clownishness? You cite the comic French pairs, Mercier and Camier, Bouvard and Pechuchet, as models for your nagging lovers.

What's also so striking about your book is that you're not afraid to make a dog one of your main characters. I don't think any reader will forget the heroic dachshund Lily who gets carted around Europe in a sort of hideaway sack, nor that it's Lily's suffering that Sylvie and Jerome overlook in their picaresque adventure.

Sylvie is afraid that no one will ever take her seriously because she is untrained and has no MFA. And Jerome, who is a full professor at an Ivy League university, is always taunting her about this. Ms. Kraus, I read your book of essays, VIDEO GREEN, and the title essay is pretty much about the same thing, only translated to the art world. Galleries are everything, and there is no entry into getting a gallery unless you have an MFA from a select school. The whole system seems hopeless.

Back to Torpor, we of the New Narrative movement want to claim you as one of our own for your amazing vulnerability and the frankness with which you paint Sylvie as basically a sort of loser doomed to fail at anything she takes up.

And the gossip level is fairly astounding. We feel like we're backstage with Nan Goldin, Felix Guattari, Kathy Acker, so many more from the worlds of high art, French theory, transgressive literature. Of course, Ms. Kraus, everyone wants to know the identity of the few you have concealed in pseudonyms, especially "the writers Kenneth Broomfield and June Goodman."

Sylvie can't even look at Kenneth Broomfield or even think about him without one unfortunate comment, which he may or may not have made, ringing in her head. We've all been there, haven't we.

If you were here, I would ask you, do you write for a "particularly cultured audience?" And you would probably say something like, no, I write for a curious one, I want my books to be read by a girl just starting community college,

The problem with Europe, and Jerome by extension, is that people can't separate the present from the past of fifty years ago, or a thousand years ago. As Jerome is haunted and motivated by the events of his childhood, the Romanians seem to be trapped in a nightmare medievalism. In one city Jerome and Sylvie try to stay at, Brigitte Bardot appears to applaud the citizens who have let 300,000 wild dogs run feral in the streets. Meanwhile, in LA, there's no past and there's no imperfection and everything is beautiful.

Kraus writes beautifully about sex, and there's a strong passage where Sylvie is transported back to earlier ages when she's experiencing orgasm, back to 17, 14, once to age 5. It's very moving.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to ask these questions of the writer, but I can recommend TORPOR to anyone interested in either happiness or despair, America or Europe, the new or the old.

There are some books that can't easily be talked about in company because to share an enthusiasm for the work is to confess one's... well, either sins or transgressions, or what.... There are some writers, and Chris Kraus is one of them, who can't be easily taught because you can't discuss her without talking honestly about yourself. Anyone can be clever about, oh... you know... the writers who are easy to talk about.

THIS IS A GREAT BOOK. The last page is devastating but you need to read the whole thing ahead of it.
Read her other books, too.
She'll probably not get the attention she deserves, because the critics will find ways to keep her local and small.
But you won't, will you?

This little book (only 126 pages) does many different things, all very well, and most better than books many times its size. Hedren has chosen 54 specific historical sites relating to the Great Sioux War and arranged them chronologically, with site 1 being the Grattan Battlefield in Wyoming (commemorating an 1854 incident which helped set the stage for later events) and site 54 being Sitting Bull's grave in South Dakota (he died in 1890). In addition to these 54 "official" sites, Hedren identifies and directs readers to many other related locations nearby.

Each site gets a number (which is also pin-pointed on a map), a brief description of the its significance, and directions to it (also whether it's on private property or not); then follows a longer historical account of the site's role in the War and a number of photographs indicating what a visitor to the site would see. It's a magnificent tool for anyone touring the area (most sites are in Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska), but it's just as valuable (and exciting) for anyone interested in the Sioux War who can't leave his livingroom. A great book. Highly recommended.

This book is fabulous in that in that it not only charts the tour sites of the Great Sioux was with excellent maps, directions and fantastic pictures but also provides excellent mini-histories on what occurred at each site including bios on the main participants. Just reading this book gives you a good historical perspective for the great plains war with chapters that categorize the historical sites by period starting with the Gratten marker in Wyoming. The Gratten monument was for a Lt. and his company that threatened Conquering Bear's village over the alleged theft of a cow resulting in his death and his companies (1856). This book proceeds with sites and histories flowing the Red Cloud War of 1866, through the Little Bighorn Campaign period and aftermath, the summer and winter campaigns. Also includes historical sites after 1877 such as sitting Bull's Canadian sites with descriptions of the sites and pictures. Hedren covers every major historical site from old forts, some of which have been reconstructed and some have actual structures that he describes and has pictures of. You can virtually follow the expeditions of the army or find exact locations of significant village sites. This book adds an extra dimension to any trip as Hedren shows you additional sites, some obscure, right next door to the more publicized sites. A great example is Little Bighorn, just 30 miles away is the pristine Rosebud Battlefield site where Crook encountered the Sioux and Cheyenne in a desperate and critical battle a week before Custer. In addition, the Powder River Battlefield where Crook's forces struck first but lost the initiative in March is just further west of the Rosebud Battlefield. This book provides so much information and easy directions including those that are on private property (includes caution to seek permission) that an adventurous traveler can seemingly so it all in a long week but perhaps two. The book's pictures are better than many books that are dedicated to a specific battle. The pictures of the massive Bear Butte Mountain are incredible as its mass is seen along a flat plain. The also book includes pictures of the main participants and their places of rest. A book that Walter Camp would be proud of as he documented many of these sites almost 100 years ago before they were lost to obscurity. I wish I had this book when I visited the Little Bighorn two years ago; however, there is so much great information I would have had to stay west another week.

Superb volume; spent happy hours reading about places we've been lucky enough to visit and reviewing ones still to come if we can ever cross the Atlantic again. Amazon is a fantastic storehouse for books on our favourite subjects.This one is a must as an aide memoire and a forward planner.