Native American Books

A Danish Photographer Of Idaho Indians is a treasury of photographs rescued from history. The pictures taken by Benedicte Wrensted, a Danish immigrant, came from the photography studio that she opened and worked in from 1895 to 1912. Both white and Native American residents of the area came to her, especially members of the Northern Shoshone, Lemhi, and Bannock ("Sho-Ban") tribes; some Native clients chose to wear traditional Native clothing while others preferred Western-style suits or dresses, yet Wrensted always let the choice to be theirs. Many of the Native photographs were later appropriated by books which stripped the names of the subjects. A Danish Photographer Of Idaho Indians restores names to the photographs, and features an extensive discussion of who the photographer and the subjects were, as well as varying Native attitudes toward being photographed. The wealth of quality black-and-white images as well as the thoughtful and objective analysis make A Danish Photographer Of Idaho Indians a "must" for Native American Studies shelves.

This quality book will be a delight for a wide variety of purchasers, whether their interests lie in biography, history, photography, or Idaho Indians. It will serve as a sourcebook for scholarly research because of its very complete set of endnotes, bibliography, and index. Finally, the careful printing on glossy paper of its many high-resolution photographs makes it an art book of the first order. UPDATE: The book has been designated Idaho Book of the Year 2006 by the Idaho Library Association.

"Destruction Bay" by Lisa D. Chavez is a collection of poetry that will touch every emotion within you. From the wistful reminiscence of "Wild Horses" and the sensitive fragility of "Wanting You", to the deep-rooted anger of "Buried Things" and "The Drivers", Lisa D. Chavez reveals her sense of culture, the struggle of existence, and a survivor's honesty to her audience. While reading through this collection of poems, I could feel the experiences of life, and the emotional scar tissue that the journey through it leaves upon all of us. As I read these poems to my daughter each night, we saw the parallels between the lives of the characters in Lisa D. Chavez's poems, and our own. I have never been as moved by any collection of poetry as I was by "Destruction Bay."

I search for poetry that is grounded in the real world, the world where little girls grow up into strong women whose tough exteriors belie souls that long for love and respect. Lisa Chavez's poems are this and more. I read one every night before I go to sleep, and she takes me out of the comfort of my bed into a world where women are beaten, where men lose themselves in violence and drink - but where redemption is always a possibility, waiting just around the corner.

The sentence "I told you so!" is deeply satisfying. Granted, the satisfaction you feel when you say it only lasts a minute or two, but for a little while, as you do your "I told you so" dance, you get to feel that thrill of vindication sweeping through your veins. I often feel this way when an author or illustrator I've liked over the years starts garnering a little more notice. Admittedly Helen Frost is maybe not the best example I could call up. After all, she won a Printz Honor a couple years back for her book Keesha's House and her recent picture book Monarch and Milkweed has been getting nothing but sweet sweet loving from professional reviewers. All that aside, I've never felt that anyone has ever given Ms. Frost enough attention for her cleverness. When The Braid was published several years ago it was so smart, so sharp, and so interesting that it took everything I had not to bop people over the head with it at dinner parties. "BOP! Read this!" "BOP! Read this!" No such bopping will be necessary with her newest novel, though. "Diamond Willow" aims younger than Frost's usual teenaged fare. Examining the relationship between a girl and her sled dog, Frost combines her standard intelligent wordplay with a story that will catch in the throats of dog lovers and people lovers alike.

Take the branch of a willow tree, carve it down, get to the center, polish it, and there where the scar of a living branch remains you will find the shape of a diamond. A diamond willow branch is pretty special but middle schooler Diamond Willow, named after the natural wonder, doesn't feel very special at all. She has a hard time making friends at school and sometimes it seems like her dad loves his sled dogs more than her. Not that Willow doesn't love the dogs too, particularly Roxy, the smart and clever lead dog who always knows the way. Willow's getting older and one day she convinces her parents to let her take the dogs to her grandparents' house. When tragedy strikes and Roxy's eyes are harmed along the way, Willow does whatever she can to protect her furred friend from her parents' flawed intentions. As she does so, secrets long since buried begin to come to light and Willow gets a better idea of who she is and what Roxy really means to her. Every page containing Willow's thoughts appears in the shape of a diamond, a buried message found at the heart of each of these free verse poems.

Maybe the reason Frost's The Braid never got the attention it deserved was that it was too clever for its own good. As I recall, Frost braided her poems over and under themselves, weaving sentences and even details like her characters ages into the mix. Or maybe the reason was simpler than that. Maybe people just don't appreciate it when a poem is smarter than they are. None of this is to say that Frost hasn't been doing some pretty fancy footwork with this book too.

The fact that a shrub willow's diamond pattern forms when a piece of it has been roughly hewn away in some matter is more than a little significant to this tale. As with a real diamond willow, the center of each diamond poem contains a dark spot at the center. Often Frost will place certain letters in bold at strategic moments. If the reader chooses to read these dark words on their own, they'll encounter thoughts and feelings hidden within Willow. Many of these feel as if they are her innermost feelings. The kind of gut reaction or subconscious understanding that she may not even be aware that she feels. On page six, for example, Willow describes her state in life. "In the middle of my family in the middle of a middle-size town in the middle of Alaska, you will find middle-size, middle-kid, me." It doesn't look like much when I pull the sentence apart and place it on a page like this, but the message of "find me" is clear as crystal. This is someone who wants to be found, even if she can't express it directly. Authors always try to find new and interesting ways to have their characters say what they think, and at the same time express what they mean. Frost's technique is perfect for child readers and may cause them to concentrate a little more as they read each section.

Willow is part Athabascan, a fact that is important to the story. As she continues along her way her narrative, which began entirely with her diamond-shaped thoughts, is broken up by the voices of animals. And a few of these animals appear to be related to her. The first time you see one of these sections, usually written in a straightforward prose-style, it is introduced with, "John, Willow's great-great-grandfather (Red Fox)". And sure as shooting, we're hearing the impressions of a fox who just so happen to have also have been related to Willow in a past life. It's tricky territory taking any particular ethnicity and assigning a spirituality to it that may or may not belong to the author herself. I'm not saying I was offended, but it's a difficult path to walk and I don't know that Frost need have gone that route. Due to the fact that Roxy's speech near the end wraps up a lot of loose ends, I understand the desire to make someone else talk beforehand, but it's still sketchy territory. At least Ms. Frost handles it tastefully in any case.

Far more kid-friendly than her previous books, Helen Frost has a knack for writing free-verse novels that never feel like someone took a page of prose and broke it up arbitrarily. Every sentence, word, and syllable in this book is crafted and honed. If a diamond willow branch needs to be polished to look and feel right then I think it's safe to say that just as much polish must go into Ms. Frost's four-sided works of art. A dog story sure, but one that definitely (forgive me) separates itself from the pack. Animal poetry done right.

"I saw so many things I barely recognized
I thought that I was lost but then I saw you.
I could be wrong, but I swear
That I knew you in another life.
And I could be dreaming, but I swear
That I knew you in another life." -- Todd Rundgren

"...I pack snow into the dog pot. DAD gets a good fire going
in the oil-drum stove. He LOVES THESE DOGS like I do. We're
both out here on weekends, AS MUCH AS we can be, and every
day before and after school. HE LOVES Roxy most. Willow, go
get the pliers, he say, showing ME a quill in Roxy's foot..."

Willow, the young protagonist of DIAMOND WILLOW, takes delight in and is truly at one with her family's dogs. I never seem to lose pleasure in reading great girl-and-her-dog coming of age stories, and DIAMOND WILLOW certainly is that. As twelve year-old Willow embarks upon her first solo dogsled journey -- a visit to her wonderful and understanding grandparents -- she and her dogs are being lovingly watched over by the animals of the interior Alaska woodlands. Many of those animals are inhabited by spirits of Willow's Athapascan ancestors. But, as Willow is returning home, tragedy strikes:

Jean, Willow's great-great-great grandmother (Spruce Hen)

"...At the bottom of this hill, just around the curve, a dead tree fell across the trail, not too long after Willow's father went past this morning. Broken limbs are sticking out all over it.
"If she were coming from the other direction, she'd see it in time to stop. But from this direction, at the speed she's going, Willow won't have time to stop her dogs."

The effects of the accident, and her belief that her parents are preparing to make a terrible mistake, will cause Willow to subsequently decide that she must take a second, even more perilous dogsled journey, this time into a dangerous snow storm.

Helen Frost, who wrote the pieces of her Printz Honor Book KEESHA'S HOUSE in the form of sestinas and sonnets, utilizes a unique poetry form for DIAMOND WILLOW. The vast majority of the book is made up of the diamond-shaped poems which are from Willow's point of view. Augmenting the poems are occasional one- or two-page prose pieces featuring the voices of Willow's ancestors in animal form.

As Frost explains in her author's note:

"Most of the story is told in diamond-shaped poems, with a hidden message printed in darker ink at the center of each one. I got this idea from a lamp and a walking stick, both made with diamond willow...Some people think that diamond willow is a specific type of willow, like weeping willow or pussy willow, but it is not. The diamonds form on several different kinds of shrub willows when a branch is injured and falls away. The dark center of each diamond is the scar of the missing branch. The scars, and the diamonds that form around them, give diamond willow its beauty, and gave me the idea for my story."

As it takes us gliding along on a dogsled with Willow into the depths of the snowy Alaskan interior, DIAMOND WILLOW illustrates oneness, forgiveness, joyfulness, and how a child can sometimes teach her parents well.

My friend owns this book. It was given to her by her grandfather who is a coushatta. She is learning the language and is teaching it to me because I am interested in her culture. Many times she has let me borrow the book. The book is very helpful because it has guides to help you pronounce the words.

This dictionary is crucial chronicle of the Alabama language. It took the author Sylestine, almost fifty years to complete (Actually completed after her death). The Alabama language is a part of the Muskogeon band of languages that include: Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, Coushatta, and other tribes of the southeast. It is an essential part of my tribe's survival to preserve our culture, and our language is a crucial part in accomplishing this. The dictionary offers translations from Alabama to English( in the first half of the book) and English to Alabama ( in the second half). I recommend this book to all interested in Native languages, and those interested in the Muskogeon languages (for they are not in written form until recently). My recommendation comes from knowing Cora Sylestine (the author) for years, and also my grandmother is one of the contributing speakers credited in the book.

This carefully researched and well written book will be appreciated by anyone with an interest in the history of the American west, the desert Southwest, the old emigrant trails, or historic Route 66. Beale's Wagon Road, which followed the route that was later to become the famous Route 66 across the Southwest (generally followed now by Interstate 40), was actually a faster and safer route to California than the much more popular Gila Trail to the south through Apache territory --- but it was avoided by most emigrant parties after news spread of the tragedy that befell the first party that attempted to follow it. Although almost forgotten now, the disaster was so notorious at the time that it wasn't until the opening of a railroad along the route, followed by the development of the automobile, that this historic road became widely used.

That ill-fated journey by the Rose-Baley wagon party is the subject of this book, along with useful background information on the Hualapai and Mojave Indians, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Sitgreaves, Whipple, Aubry, and Beale surveying expeditions across northern Arizona in the 1850s. This is a pioneering work on an important but largely forgotten event in the history of the westward migration in the 19th century, and it is surely the definitive work on the subject to this point.

This book is beginning to attract quite a bit of attention from historians, history buffs, and general readers alike. While there are a multitude of books recounting the history of the California, Santa Fe, Mormon and other historic trails, surprisingly little has been done on a little known Trail that originated in Ft. Smith, Ark., traversed southern Oklahoma, crossed the northern tip of Texas into New Mexico and Arizona and ended at the Colorado River crossing on the California-Arizona border. I predict it is the first of a flurry of studies looking at an amazing story this is largely untold.
In 1857 the War Department, eager to find an alternative route to the main California Trail that was considered risky given the mounting pressure to subdue Mormons in Utah, and the lengthy Southern Route that ran through Apache territory, commissioned a survey that resulted in the Beale Wagon Road. It was to be the first federally funded interstate road to traverse the rugged southwest desert, canyons, and rocky terrain obtained from Mexico at the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848. Edward Fitzgerald Beale, a retired Navy Lieutenant, was chosed to survey and construct a road that was to attract emigrant wagon trains and save an estimated 200 miles and thirteen days of travel. Not only was the mission unique but also his crew of 50 men traveled with a most unusual contingent of pack animals: 22 camels from the Middle East were used to carry the supplies and equipment for the expedition.
The book traces the history of the Beale Road in general terms and specifically recounts the experiences of the first emigrant wagon train to attempt the crossing in 1858. The story of what came to be known as the Rose-Baley wagon train, comprised of a group of Missouri and Iowa emigrants that met in Albuquerque, is an exciting and tragic account of an effort to arrive in California and the "land of plenty." To say the attempt was a disaster is perhaps charitable. The road was not as passable as the civic leaders in Albuquerque stated; water was much more scarce as originally thought; the so-called experienced guide was lacking in knowledge and directional aptitude; the peaceful Hualapais Indians were more hostile than advertised; and the reception encountered at the Colorado River crossing, instigated by the Mojave Indians, was deadly.
In a highly readable, narrative style Baley recounts the story and reviews its aftermath and legacy not only for the Rose-Baley emigrant party but also for the Mojave's and Beale's Wagon Road. There is an index, bibliography, appendix, extensive endnotes, and helpful maps and photos. This is a major contribution about the first emigrants attempt to traverse what was then known as the 35th paralled. Most now know it as old Route 66 and I-40. Highly recommended.

Collaboratively compiled and edited by Lawrence L. Loendorf, Christopher Chippindale, and David S. Whitley, Discovering North American Rock Art explores the history of rock art on a continental scale, from the plains of Canada to caves in the southeastern United States. A wide variety of essays by learned authors discuss the significance of rock art from varying locales, critical reviews of rock art from fertility shrines to sacred landscapes, discussions of what rock art reveals of North American prehistory, and much more. A scholarly compilation, sparsely illustrated with black-and-white maps, photographs, and representations of sample rock art, Discovering North American Rock Art is a superb scrutiny especially recommended for students and art historians interested in North American Archaeology and Native American Studies, as well as this ancient and enduring form of artistic human expression.

Rock paintings and carvings are found across North America from the south to Canada, and have led to many studies and regional distinctions. Finally here's a title to pull it all together: a scholarly college-level discussion of the extent of North American rock art research which examines sites from the different regions and draws together different approaches to rock art studies. Even more important, DISCOVERING NORTH AMERICAN ROCK ART contrasts changing perceptions on rock art styles and history and will reach both students of archaeology, Native American studies and primitive art history with its newfound insights.

This book is a very tenderly written creation story that inspires kids to use their imagination on a grand scale. The awe the reader feels at seeing this creation unfold is not at all solemn; there is a sense of dynamism and joy on each page. This book helps kids to appreciate other culture's oral traditions as well as the natural beauty of our world.

This retelling of a Kato Indian legend is beautifully written, and its illustrations are both apt and marvelous. A wonderful creation story. It is a book I'd have loved as a child, and will love on into the rest of my old age.

It's one thing to read about Congressional legislation designed to right the wrongs of the past. It's quite another to see it illuminated in the living, breathing culture of those who are impacted most. Dr. Tweedie's approach superbly contextualizes the intricacies of evaluating NAGPRA's successes and limitations by using insights into the Makah's past to inform their current, complex realities. Her field research provides readers with unique access to a culture seeking to understand itself and the role its most sacred artifacts play in its identity.

Dr. Tweedie crafts an excellent study of how NAGPRA is affecting one tribe and it's attempts to bring its objects of cultural patrimony back to their lands. However, she details more than the physical reclaiming of objects - this book really gives an insight into the deeper meaning of repatriation for the Makah.
It is obvious that Dr. Tweedie's time in Neah Bay researching this book has brought her a unique understanding of the topic and the foreword by Janine Bowchamp of the Makah Cultural Research Center emphasizes the importance of this work to the tribe.

This is one fascinating book. Every now and again I run across a book that takes me off in a direction I had not even suspected would be worth examining. Heck, this is a book I could not have even imagined. It is such a treat to be surprised and delighted.

In "Dream Catchers", Philip Jenkins guides us through the story of how the Native American (Indian?) culture has been variously (mis)interpreted, (mis)used, and (mis)adapted over the centuries. It is essential to remember that this is NOT a book about the religion or spiritual beliefs of Native Americans.

In some ways this seems strange because as I read it I had to keep reorienting myself to this fact. As I read about how White Culture found new ways to use Native American symbols as a label for issues in its own culture, I wanted to learn more about what the actual beliefs of the various North American Native cultures were. This is a topic for study in many other books (it would require a whole library of books and a lifetime of study to really grasp them in a meaningful way, I suppose).

Mr. Jenkins takes us on a lively tour through time and through changing culture and purpose. While I cannot do an adequate job of summarizing the book here, and I really want you to enjoy the surprising ride on your own, I can say that there really are three broad periods: 1) Rejection: The Indian as pagan, lost, benighted and in great need of Christianization, 2) Tolerance and Transition: the Period after the Indian Wars and particularly after WWI when Christianity and Western Culture had a great crisis of meaning. There was a huge turning to Indian culture as if it were a monolithic thing. White writers wrote supposed guides to this Spiritual "system" and ended up writing about their own beliefs as much as any insights they had to Native American spiritual systems, and 3) Acceptance: the Sixties and New Age creation of all kinds of spiritual paths that used (and almost always misused) native totems, symbols, and words and incorporated White Culture concerns with matters such as the Environment and Feminism, all the way through to UFOs and Magick (sic).

This really is a most interesting book. I was exposed to so much I did not know that I honestly did not suspect that reading this book would be such a satisfying and enlightening experience. I urge you to take the time to read this book. You will learn more about American Culture as it exists today from this one book than from a whole shelf full of less competent books.

Highly recommended.

Jenkins book is a journalistic-style account of the history of a particular type of cultural appropriation: the importation of American Indian spirituality, either in large chunks or tiny fragments, into mainstream white spiritual practices. The first part of the book is devoted to the background history of Euro-American attitudes toward Native spirituality, from the 16th through the 20th centuries. There are many "aha!" moments here, as Jenkins skillfully connects the many fascinating facts and stories from these centuries into a remarkably coherent narrative. The latter part of the book explores late-20th/early 21st century white beliefs and practices that incorporate Native symbols and ideas. It also details the industry that has grown up to feed the hunger for "authentic" spiritual products and experiences with a Native inflection.

Jenkins is clear that his book is about the images of Native Americans and their religions as imagined by the white mainstream. You will find very few Indian voices in this account and even fewer references to actual religious beliefs and practices of Indian people. There are good books by anthropologists and others that fill that niche. What Jenkins provides is something rather new -- a history and analysis of a colonial and post-colonial cultural appropriation that seems actually to be sincerely meaningful to the appropriators. Jenkins doesn't hide his discomfort with these uses and misuses of "stolen" spirituality, and he debunks a few cherished new-age myths along the way, but he ultimately presents a balanced and subtle account of a complex phenomenon.

Superbly illustrated by Irving Toddy, Dzani Yazhi Naazbaa': Little Woman Warrior Who Came Home is a bilingual picturebook written in both Navajo and English by Northern Arizona University professor Evangeline Parsons Yazzie. The story follows a young Navajo girl who was forced upon the Long Walk that attempted to resettle the Navajos in a barren land. Illness, famine, and earth that cannot yield healthy crops causes much suffering and death among the people. Yet amid the hardship, the young girl learns the steadfast significance of the clan system, the prayers and songs of her brethren, and the importance of coming together in dark times to help one another. Though many individuals would be lost and mourned, she and her people would survive the ordeal, and through her courage she would earn the name the Little Woman Warrior Who Came Home. The realistic color illustrations make the story come alive, and the text is sufficiently involved to make Dzani Yazhi Naazbaa' ideal for young readers who are just about ready to make the transition from picturebooks to chapter books.

Superbly illustrated by Irving Toddy, Dzani Yazhi Naazbaa': Little Woman Warrior Who Came Home is a bilingual picturebook written in both Navajo and English by Northern Arizona University professor Evangeline Parsons Yazzie. The story follows a young Navajo girl who was forced upon the Long Walk that attempted to resettle the Navajos in a barren land. Illness, famine, and earth that cannot yield healthy crops causes much suffering and death among the people. Yet amid the hardship, the young girl learns the steadfast significance of the clan system, the prayers and songs of her brethren, and the importance of coming together in dark times to help one another. Though many individuals would be lost and mourned, she and her people would survive the ordeal, and through her courage she would earn the name the Little Woman Warrior Who Came Home. The realistic color illustrations make the story come alive, and the text is sufficiently involved to make Dzani Yazhi Naazbaa' ideal for young readers who are just about ready to make the transition from picturebooks to chapter books.