Native American Books

Five stars and a standing ovation to Kiva Publishing for bringing back a classic. Perhaps the current publisher, Stephen W. Hill, said it best: "With this publication, we hope to introduce the ceremonial cycle of the kachinas to a broader public, with the hope that greater understanding and appreciation of these rituals will contribute to the preservation of the culture that produced them." This revival of the original (1938) and reprint (1971) has been historically and beautifully reprinted in 2002. Dr Kennard shares personal observations from his time on the Hopi mesas. His writing style is a breath of fresh air from the (early) days of "scholarly reviews". Kennard captures and holds the reader. This is the only book that records the TRUE meaning of kachina ceremonies and dances. There is no other text like it in print. The kachina's critical role in Hopi life, the materials used in various kachinas' wardrobes and a review of the annual dance cycle are included. The 28 full color / full page illustrations by Edwin Earle are absolutely beautiful. The book is not large ... only 39 pages of text, but it is one which I would HIGHLY recommend to any student of the Hopi and to all collectors of Hopi katsinam (kachina dolls). Add this one to your library!

Originally published in 1938, Hopi Kachinas is a classic reference illustrated in full color by Edwin Earle and written by Dr. Edward Kennard. Dr. Kennard lived on the Hopi Mesas for a full year a witnessed the cycle of their kachina dances and selected the carefully painted, superbly presented illustrations of the Native American ceremonies. Dr. Kennard's informative text explains the role of kachinas in Hopi life, the nature of the dance, and more. A superb look into a unique portion of Native American culture and one that has rightfully survived the test of time, Hopi Kachinas is a core addition to Native American Studies reference collections.

Gayle Pemberton is, simply, BRILLIANT. This collection of essays from an important intellectual spoke to the core of my triumphant being. I love the angst and the jubilation that peppered her road to self-actualization; I love the matter-of-fact way in which she deals with everyday racism and ignorance; her essay on "triple consciousness" is breathtaking. It is a must read; more than that: it is a must read again, and again, and AGAIN AND AGAIN. . .

This book is terrific! A moving, funny, insightful, challenging memoir of growing up black, female,and brainy in the 50's, 60's, 70's and beyond. The title essay, in which Pemberton's father integrates a fleabag hotel, is unforgettable. I also loved "Antidisestablishmentarianism," about watching the Mousketeers on TV as a young girl, under the eye of a truly amazing grandmother. Pemberton was included in Philip Lopate's anthology, "The Art of the Personal Essay"-- with good reason. She's outstanding.

It is so often sadly the case when so many die at the same time, the impact of each individual death becomes less and less, until it becomes nothing more than padding for statistics, completely stripped of it's human element. "House of Mourning: A Biocultural History of the Mountain Meadows Massacre" seeks to remedy this horrifying effect by turning a more personal look at the victims of the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre, where 120 men, women, and children were senselessly executed by Mormon militiamen. Going over each individual, and using whatever evidence she could, author and professor of Anthropology Shannon Novak does her best to give each of the hundred twenty unfortunate souls justice to not just be lost in the sands of time as simply a one of a number. "House of Mourning: A Biocultural History of the Mountain Meadows Massacre" is a highly recommended addition to academic and community library Anthropology, American History, and Utah History reference shelves and supplemental reading lists.

"House of Mourning", stands alone among all other literature previously published about the tragedy of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Shannon A. Novak, an anthropologist with impeccable credentials, allows the bones of the Arkansas victims to speak for themselves. This book makes no attempt to assign blame or identify motive for the murders but brings together information from oral interviews, primary record sources and other works on the MMM with the analysis of victims' skeletal remains. Novak's work gives a clearer picture of the victims and their lifestyle in the Arkansas Ozarks. The reader meets the interconnected families through Federal Census reports and family records and hears the victims' voices through the medium of scientific data. One can almost see their faces as they set forth for a new life in California, only to meet a horrible death in a formerly peaceful meadow in Southern Utah.

After studying this event for more than twenty-five years, it is exciting to find a work that focuses on the victims and exactly who they were.

Anyone who cares about our Earth will love this book. The pictures of Cherokee medicine plants at the end of the book are beautiful. This story helps us remember the delicate balance that exists on this planet between the plants, the animals and us.

Wow! The Cherokees had some great ideas about the origins of diseases and medicine! Because the human beings treated the animals so badly, the animals fought back by making the humans sick. I especially like the scary drawing of the copperheads weaving above the heads of the sleeping people. According to the story, this is why we have frightening dreams about snakes to this day. The animals make so many illnesses that the people are struck down. But all is not lost. The plants come to our rescue and create medicines to treat all the sicknesses made by the animals. When the story ends, the reader finds a bonus on the last four pages - beautiful drawings of medicinal plants, complete with their Cherokee and Latin pronunciations and a list of their uses in natural medicine. The illustrations in this book are superb. My personal favorite is a double-page spread of a young man in a canoe. Murv Jacob did his homework. Not only the animals, but every plant in the book is readily recognizable. This is a great read and a great visual experience for kids and adults alike.

This is one of the few books I've found that really explores the issues of sovereignty and native women together. Maracle really explains the connection between women's integrity and wholeness and tribal self-determination. She also looks at issues of domestic violence, rape, and sexual assault from a uniquely native perspective. I would recommend this book to all women of native descent.

I read and re-read this book while in university studying native cultures throughtout Canada. I can honestly say, as a native male, that this is one of the most powerful books that I have ever read. Lee Maracle's story portrays that which everyone should know about - the struggles that native people, especially native women, have endured over the past centuries.

If I had only read one book while in university, it would have been this one.

This book is very informative and I really enjoyed reading the detailed descriptions of what the ledger drawings are believed to illustrate. There was one error (a typo?) regarding the year that Agent Charles Warner lost his position as agent (page 3 states 1881 and page 4 states 1882). Overall, this book gave me an appreciation for the perceptive eye that the Native chroniclers possessed. In a way, it helps give credence to their oral history.
Highly recommended.

For anyone who likes the history of Native American Culture or military history, this book is an interesting find. The pictures found in the "cash book" by Mr. Thompson in 1990 illustrate a hidden viewpoint of the Nez Perce War. An unknown Indian warrior who traveled with the Nez Perce during their flight from the U.S. Army recorded some brilliant pictures in full color. These pictures, preserved by Indian Agent Charles Warner, are first shown to the public in this book. The pictures are not only full of cultural symbolism, but also portray historical figures. If you have interest in what happened in America's wars with the Indians, Chief Joseph, or the Pacific Northwest this book is worth looking into. I think that it is interesting just to see the pictures. Although the book is an academic publication with footnotes and all, it is well written and reads easily.

This book is written in a way that presents understandable language to the avocational archaeologist, or man on the street. An in depth look at the ages of north american artifacts, and thus man's presence on the landmass. Also covers the evolution of mammals in NA, the effects of the glacial ice retreat, what the land was like in post glacial north america. From Clovis, Folsom, Cody, Goshen, Plainview, Agate Basin, Hell Gap...to the chip artifacts from sites such as the Burham site, Meadowcroft Rockshelter, Dent site, etc. The dates for human occupation seem to be pushing further back. This book will reawaken the curiosity and interest of the reader, that it is a wonderful time to be alive and pondering these new finds and their implications! I thank the many authors who contributed their writing into this workhorse of a book.

This book is an absolute must read for scientists and laymen interested in the peopling of North America. It contains up-to-date articles by the world's experts in ice age archeology and the complex conditions that lead to the early population of the Americas. The book is well illustrated and summarizes much of the most recent data available on this subject. The articles have been written clearly and concisely. If you are curious about the Paleo-Indians who first settled the Americas, how they got here, and why they came, then you must read this book. As a researcher interested in this subject, I find this book indispensible.

In this misadventure Iktomi the trickster of Plains Indian folklore is luring innocent ducks off the pond with this tricks in anticipation of a fine meal of roast duck. But if there is anything that the readers of Paul Goble's tales of Iktomi know by now, it is that things never go the way he plans. In previous tales Iktomi has been bested by a boulder and berries, and the pattern continues in "Iktomi and the Ducks: A Plains Indian Story." In his forward to the book Goble explains how these stories about the trickster are examples of what the Lakota called "ohunkaka," which are amusing stories that are not meant to be believed and which have moral lessons for those who hear them being told.

Iktomi is walking along one day trying to find his horse so he can ride it in a parade, but then he notices some ducks enjoying themselves on a pond. Iktomi comes up with a strange way of catching some ducks for his dinner, and the really surprising thing is that his track actually works! But then Iktomi is distracted by two trees scraping up against each other and things are back to normal, which menas Iktomi's plans go wrong once again, especially once a Coyote also decides that roasted duck would taste pretty good. As always, Goble's colorful artwork captures both the essence of the tale and the tradition of art by the Plains Indians.

This tale was originally told to Goble by Edgar Red Cloud, the great-grandson of the famous Chief Red Cloud who won the Powder River War of 1866-68, who first introduced the young artist to the tales of Iktomi. What makes "Iktomi and the Ducks" particularly interesting to Goble is that while this story is told in many tales of Native American people from across the continent, there are two seemingly unrelated elements that almost always appear: the killing the ducks while they dance with their eyes closed and the trees rubbing together. Goble can only speculate as to why these ancient elements have survived in all the retellings of this tell across the centuries. Young readers will no doubt take this bit of information as a minor speed bump in enjoying the story today, but it is interesting to think about what significance they might have had for the ancient peoples of this land.

... and sorrows, too, as your child gets too 'mature' to sit on your lap and let you read the Iktomi stories to him or her. My son and I have just been sorting through his childhood books (he's a junior in high school), planning to give most of them away. When we came to the dozen or so Paul Goble books, particularly the Iktomi stories, we both exclaimed that "No! these couldn't go to Goodwill." For one thing, they are all beautifully produced - durable, well-printed, etc. - good enough to save for another generation. But mainly the memories we share of laughing at the folly of the boastful trickster Iktomi are too precious to let go.
Goble's many books for children retell legends and histories of the Native Americans of the Great Plains with wry wit and respect, and without a trace of ethnographic condescension. His art as a story-teller, however, is secondary to his art as an illustrator. There is a subtle quality of "Indian design" to his pictorial style, but he surpasses any other children's book illustrator I've ever seen in craftsmanship. Every page would catch your eye even on the museum wall next to the most acclaimed modern artists. I mean it! Paul Goble is a thrilling painter! A picture is worth a thousand words? Perhaps, but a thousand words aren't always worth a picture, so you'll have to see for yourselves. Even if you don't have a child yet or any more, treat yourself to an Iktomi book and read it to your cat or your begonia. You'll be enthralled.

Every spring in the late 1700's canoes would leave from Quebec and head for upper Lake Superior. At the same time trappers from deep in the central and Rocky Mountain regions of Canada would head for the same location with the fruits of their trapping labors over the winter. They would meet for a couple of weeks of trading and partying. Then they would laboriously paddle back to where they had come from.

Howard Silvertson captures this time with short clear descriptions and beautiful watercolors that really make the history come alive. It is a part of history that is often forgotten. It's fascinating to imagine what it was like to live in those times. This book captures the feeling. This book should be in every school library.

This book should be in all school libraries. The excellent illustrations bring the accurate text to life in a compelling way. I give 2-3 hr presentations in French or English as a voyageur. This book certainly covers more than I can in such a way. I would recommend it whole-heartedly as background for anyone interested in the period and the characters.

The poems in this volume are a delight for all ages. Grizzly to Teddy, to poems "bearing" the soul- this book journeys through a rich landscape of language. In Case of Bears is a treasure!

Replete with vivid landscapes, teeming with wildlife, charged with emotional power, IN CASE OF BEARS is the first collection by Peggy C. Hall, who transforms her transcontinental travels, roadside revelations, and encounters with wild animals (and wilder folks) into poetry. Her cross-country trek blazes a trail through Rockies, Bitterroots, Badlands, and Black Hills, to her summer home on Big Cedar Road - her own private Idaho - with its attendant dangers and delights. Hall faces the bears of her psyche, explores the philosophical dilemmas of the American West, and heralds the return of hero Gus Greenbear to the written page with all-new adventures! She cordially invites you to join her poetic wagon-train West!