Native American Books

The book begins with a rich descriptions of the various settings in which the stories of the Choctaw people continue to be told. Mould provides vivid accounts of a range of storytelling sessions and clearly shows that it isn't accurate to view this tradition as a lost art. He then provides a useful description of salient aspects of Choctaw history and culture to contextualize the stories. His discussions of the various narrative genres and the various spiritual and supernatural beings are especially intriguing. The book then consists of a well-organized and highly readable presentation of fascinating stories. Some of them were compiled from previous collections while others are stories that he collected with the assistance of people within the Choctaw community. The stories are interesting reading and provide an important documentation of a vibrant storytelling tradition. It is especially interesting to read these stories while thinking about the continuity of contemporary tales with the older stories of the past.

Choctaw Tales by Tom Mould, Phillip (University Press of Mississippi) Including stories from the 1700s to today, Choctaw Tales showcases the myths, legends, supernatural tales, prophecies, histories, animal tales and jokes that make up the rich and lively Choctaw storytelling tradition. The stories display intelligence, artistry, and creativity as the Choctaw narrators, past and present, express and struggle with beliefs, values, humor, and life experiences. Photographs of the storytellers complement the text. For sixteen tales, the Choctaw-language version appears in addition to the English translation.
Many of these stories, passed down through generations, address the Choctaw sense of isolation and tension as storytellers confront eternal, historical, and personal questions about the world and its inhabitants. Choctaw Tales, the first book to collect these stories, creates a comprehensive gathering of oral traditions from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
"Choctaw Tales is an admirable piece of work, in its care, its sense of responsibility, and its value to a larger community. Mould's account of his relations with the Choctaw people is impressive and his book can stand as a model of how to pre-sent traditional Native American narratives. Clearly the book will be of great value to Choctaw people and of equal value as an example to Native American people elsewhere?' -DELL H Y M E S, author of "In Vain I Tried to Tell You": Essays in Native American Ethnopoetics and Now I Know Only So Far: Essays in Ethnopoetics

TOM MOULD is a professor of folklore at Elon University and is the author of Choctaw Prophecy: A Legacy of the Future.

"A superlative work...focusing on shifts in the political, economic, and cultural lives of the Choctaw, the author demonstrates the degeneration of the group's political status from nation to tribe to ethnic enclave, as well as its economic marginalization through forced entry into the world capitalist system....Faiman-Silva eschews a simplistic model of victimization without denying the glaring inqualities and injustices of past andn present interactions with the surrounding world. She presents vividly the internal heterogeneity of Choctaw solution seeking."

Editorial Review:

Named a C. Wright Mills Award Finalist by the Society for the Study of Social Problems (1998), this text draws on micro- and macro-analytical frameworks to critically examine the political economy of the Choctaws from their early life in Mississippi to the late twentieth century. Forcibly relocated in the early 19th Century from the lower Mississippi River Valley to Indian Territory (now Southeast Oklahoma, the Choctaws are today a dynamic and complex rural ethnic community in Oklahoma. This text models the tribe's social change from indigenous nation, to tribe, to ethnic minority community status. Many Choctaws are today employed as nonunionized laborers for large corporations, including Weyerhaeuser Timber Company and Tyson Foods, yet they still seek to retain some aspects of their traditional culture, through particpation in local church-based communities, regional tribal centers, and through tribal activities headquartered at Durant, Ok. Combining participant observation anthropological fieldwork and archival research, the author uncovers the processes by which the local economic and social practices of the Chocatws have become intertwined with, and, in some respects, dependent on corporate, extra-local, and global economic forces. The pathos of the tribe's struggle in the twentieth century is documented first-hand, while at the same time generalizeable conclusions are modelled through charts and maps. A thorough and passionate exploration.

As a window into the life of a Native American tribe that has lived on Cape Cod since long before the Mayflower landed in Plymouth, this book stretches well beyond the Clambake. Beautifully told and photographed, it is the story of how Steven, a Wampanoag Indian boy, is instructed in the tradition of clambaking from his grandfather, Russell Peters. In the process, he learns a great deal about his people, as does the reader.

Wampanoag Indians are the original tribe that met the pilgrims and white settlers and it is about time that someone stepped up to the plate and told the truth. A fantastic book about the true Native Americans that are alive and strong today that white america will never embrace and accept the fact that they are beautiful people with a rich culture and heritage

Here is the last part of Aztecs' History in CHIMALPAHIN's compiling. It's followed by a precious kind of calendar by CHIMALPAHIN himself. A prime material to understand Aztecs' meaning of life. I'm waiting for the 4 other books of this exceptional collection of indigenous testimonies (Please excuse my bad English: I'm an usual French writer)

There are many "Codices" about MesoAmerica. This one is presented as a translate of primitive nahuatl compiling of Aztecs' History. An important contribution to Mexican History. The total collection counts 6 books; two are now available.

These gentle, generous-spirited writers have contributed a great deal to the field. Their book is full of stories, true tales of work in classrooms. Each leads you further into the depths of insight needed to be of use as an educator of Native American students.

Possibly the most useful book available for anyone working in or considering working in elementary and secondary American Indian education. As a tribal school employee, I felt the authors may have used our school as a case study! Thought provoking and inspirational - highly recommended.

COLONIAL ROSARY: THE SPANISH AND INDIAN MISSIONS OF CALIFORNIA examines not just the history of mission construction, but the accompanying social impact of missionary control of California's Indian peoples. It considers controversies and debates in the role and establishment of Franciscan missions in the state's settlement, surveys the architecture of the missions, the role of women in early mission development, and mission trades and practices. Essential for any comprehensive California collection!

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

A friend recommended this book to me, as I have not read one like it before. I could not put it down. I felt like I could see the Missions of California, it was written so vividly.

I highly recommend this book.

i love the poetry Letter Of Love.
As i understand the author is a poetry winner.
for her passion for writing.
so new york times.
here is a great girl.

so much love and so much passion i want this to be a best seller.thius author is great.

Great book! I enjoyed this very much. There are are couple of these stories I don't live to far from. I just may have to go and try my luck.

COLORADO TREASURE TALES by W.C. JAMESON is a superb and very enlightening read! I HIGHLY recommend this book!!!


The author has the areas divided up into 4 different sections:

* The Western Slope
* The Northern Rockies
* The Southern Rockies
* The Eastern Plains
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1) ***THE WESTERN SLOPE***

The Three Skeletons Mine
Clem Tucker's Sheep Mountain Gold
Buried Shirley Gamg Holdup Loot
Animas River Valley Gold
Chimney Rock Gold
The Curse of Slate Mountain
The Golden Jesus
Lost Hansen Mine in Moffat County
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

2) ***THE NORTHERN ROCKIES***

Lost Reynold's Gang Gold
Lost Army Payroll Cache
Multi-Million Dollar Cherry Creek Treasure
A Fortune in Silver
Black Mountain Gold
Dutch Oven Gold Dust Cache at Grand Lake
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3) ***THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES***

Lost Army Payroll in Trinchera Creek
The Lost Gold of Silver Mountain
The Lost Gold of Remy Ledoux
Spanish Gold in the San Juan Mountains
The Mysterious Treasure of Deadman Cave
Lost Conejos Creek Stagecoach Gold
The Treasure of La Muneca
Lost Confederate Coins Worth $$
Lost Lake of Gold
Roadside Gold Mine
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4) ***THE EASTERN PLAINS***

Bandit Loot Buried at Big Sandy Creek
Hijacked 49er Gold Buried on Colorado Plains
Mystery Gold of Bent County

Gerald Betty's work "Before the Reservation," is a testament to his skills as a comanche warrior, even today. Although he rides a Land Rover instead of a Palomino, I'm sure he could still survive on the open range. I laughed, I cried. Betty is a genius.

A highly recommended contribution to Native American Studies, Comanche Society: Before the Reservation by Gerald Betty (History Department, Texas A&M, Corpus Christi) is a meticulous and scholarly study of Comanche society from the beginning of New World Colonization by European powers through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Focusing especially on how the bonds of kinship affected the interplay within Comanche clans, and how the Comanches came to adopt horses, pastoralism, and other Iberian traits into their own culture, Comanche Society is a fascinating and analytical history of the evolution of this Native American nation.

In his Common & Contested Ground Ted Binnema fully describes the ecological reservoir that sustained the northern buffalo and was the focus of tribal subsistance. Here is a history of a neglected region that grows from the grassroots and hoof prints, set on a solid foundation and perceptively described. Breaking away from the river bound data of fur trade journalists, Binnema sets the record of the bands and traders properly ahorse and free to range the great adventures of the buffalo world.

As a scholar and researcher of the Northern Plains I can say without hesitation this is one of the best books to come out in years. Binnema has brought some fresh viewpoints to the complexity of northern plains history. It's refreshing to see new, good, work at a time when most authors are restating ideas that have been published to death.