Native American Books

If you are a serious collector of Hopi katsinam (kachina dolls) or are seeking accurate illustrations of the nearly 400 katsinam, I would highly recommend this outstanding book as a companion to Barton Wright's foundational work (Kachinas: A Hopi Artist's Documentary). Neil David has been called the "Norman Rockwell of Native America" and rightfully so. His illustrations are some of the best and showing both front and back views of each katsina is much appreciated. Most of the 79 katsinam contained in this book are not in Wright's book and several are extremely rare and seldom, if ever, seen or carved. Start with Wright's book and then add this one. You can't go wrong with either!

This is the most comprehensive book on the Kachina to date. This book is the only one where the illustrator has depicted not only the front of the figure, but also the back and this makes this book a must to own for anyone who studies the Kachina or who is an artist and wants to be completely accurate in the depiction of the figure. The figures are historically and spiritually exact and are certainly meant as a tribute to the figure as a revered being.Truly a fine publication and well worth the cost.

This is really a beautiful book. The pictures and descriptions are lovely and very authentic. I fell in love with so many kachinas in this book and wish I could collect more! I bought this when I knew only a little about kachinas and I learned a great deal about each character and along the way gained a real reverence for the Hopi's spirituality.

An essential for kachina collectors. Author Barton Wright is known as the authority on Hopi kachinas and this book (his major work) shows why. It contains descriptions of 255 kachinas, from the most "popular" to many lesser known and seldom carved dolls. The sketches by Cliff Bahnimptewa are very detailed ... some of the best in print. This book is certainly a "keeper" if you are a collector of this outstanding art of the Hopi. One to add to your library!

It'd be hard for me to overstate how much my daughter (seven) and I have enjoyed reading these six books. We just finished, and we're going to re-read them. My six year year old son, who initially was not interested, became an avid fan through the course of listening to Kaya develop and mature. I think the highest praise I could offer is that the kids would want to go upstairs to read books with out the usual resistance so they could get in more reading time.

This book is interesting reading. It was a gift for our granddaughter who just received Kaya. The American Girl stories are a great way for young girls to learn history! To combine the interest in reading with learning is a good combination.

The book came as listed and when it was supposed to be here. Thanks!

...It is meant to accompany the book "Keepers of Life: Discovering Plants Through Native American Stories and Earth Activities for Children" The teachers guide is good, but it is not simply a teachers edition of the other book. It doesn't just have a bunch of answers (there are no tests or quizes in the first book anyway). It has suggestions and activities to add to the experience of the the first book, but it isn't necissary for you to have this book to get good use out of the main book, which is written to be used by a teacher anyway, not individual students.

We use this book as a homeschool social studies/ecology resource. Each section begins with a Native American story related to the topic of the chapter, then moves on to a discussion of the subject matter. Each section also has activities/experiments, questions for review and discussion, and recommendations for materials for further study. My kids really look forward to each lesson in this book, because the information is presented in a fun manner, and the activities are appropriate for a wide-range of ages!

The entire series is excellent!!! I have all four and I highly reccomend them. They teach science, literature, native american culture, and give children a respect for the natural world at the same time. (there is even the occasional bit of math thrown in). My son loves doing the activities with me! Excellent for unit studies!

From Samiin Scandanavia to Native peoples of Montana and the Amazonian rain forests, the health of indigenous peoples is being compromised in the name of economic development. This book is a series of interviews, case studies, and stories told by indigenous peoples themselves and offers solutions to the problems of environmental degradation facing all of us. With a Forward written by Dr. Eberahrd Wenzil, Deputy Director of the School of Public Health, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, and a Preface by Hopi educator, Dr. Gregory Cajete, this readable yet academic work provides a forum for indigenous peoples to speak out and adds an exciting dimension to any environmental health curriculum.

This is another book by an amazing woman: she covers "both sides" and she does it well. This is a book with frightening news, and the unfortunate thing is, the news won't get any better unless we, i.e. White Man, learn to change the way we do business in each and every domain. Looks like Colomeda wants to tell us to change. Looks like we will have substantial difficulties to follow her advice. But it's just that difference which makes the book a valuable read ... get it now.

While all of the "Keepers" books are excellent in their presentation of Native American stories and activities to enhance learning about the natural world, this one is my hands-down favorite. There is something magical about the night, and we have strayed so far from that magic in our incandescent world. The stories and activities in this book will allow you to try and recapture some of the enchantment of the nocturnal world for your kids and maybe even for yourself.

The stories themselves are very tellable. I have had sixth graders learn and tell these tales. The activities are broken into categories, such as the night sky or nocturnal animals. This is an excellent resource for anyone working with groups such as Scouts or nature centers, wishing to incorporate enjoyable activities and stories into their night-time programming.

As humans have done for eons before us, take this guidebook with you to your next campfire, and share the magic of stories spun by fireside.

The entire series is excellent!!! I have all four and I highly reccomend them. They teach science, literature, native american culture, and give children a respect for the natural world at the same time. (there is even the occasional bit of math thrown in). My son loves doing the activities with me! Excellent for unit studies!

Keewaydinoquay, the Anishinaabeg medicine woman and ethnobotanist who recently died was a great inspiration to herbalists, Native and non-native alike. I had the good fortune to attend a workshop with her before she died and her stories have become an important part of my repertoire. This book, partially written by her and partially reconstructed from notes and recordings compiled by her apprentices is a lyrical tale of growing up between worlds. When the great depression hit her family lost money and was forced back to the woods, but for her it was a paradise with wild otters and wild places where she could find specimens to sell to the University for extra money. She tells of her apprenticeship to the venerable medicine woman Nodjimahkwe and the teachings that meant so much to her. I highly recommend it.

So much of what is published about living "native" in the 20th century focuses on events West of the Mississippi. This collection of Michigan stories explains the relationship of people to the natural environment from the point of view of a girl who was raised in a traditional way, to know balance and living the good life.

Wonderful blending of events, healing and what has become to be called supernatural.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The Kickapoos did not go silently into the night. Rather, they shot their way onto the pages of history, and Gibson does a good job telling their story. I did not detect any bias on the part of the author, though one must keep in mind that this book was published more than thirty years ago.

If you wish to read a book about a single Indian tribe, the Kickapoos have a history as varied and interesting as any. They first came into contact with the French in Wisconsin in the 17th century; in the 18th century they lived primarily in Illinois and Indiana; and in the 19th they separated into groups that took up residence in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and even Mexico. To this day, some remain in Mexico although most eventually -- and against their will -- were settled onto a reservation in Oklahoma.

The Kickapoos survived much better than most Indian tribes. Perhaps that is attributable to their social conservatism, warlike character, and contrary nature. They do not seem to have exerted themselves at fostering positive interpersonal relationships and endearing themselves to other tribes or Whites. A Texan, comparing them to the ferocious Comanches and Apaches, said the Kickapoos were "the worst of the lot" and the most vicious, calculating, and enterprising of Indians. The Mexican Kickapoos were described as the "meanest, least civilized, and most worthless" of all the Indians. Coming from Whites, those are impressive endorsements. The prickly Kickapoos didn't get pushed around much by anyone.

Macho Indians with guns and feathers are more interesting than downtrodden, doormat Indians and the Kickapoos fill the role perfectly. The author probably overestimates their historical prominence compared to other tribes such as the Shawnee, but he's compiled a fascinating history that brings the history of the tribe up to about 1910. This is an old book and readers may find it a bit politically incorrect. It's well worth a read, however, especially for the odd tale of how forest dwelling Indians from the north woods of Wisconsin came to live in the deserts of northern Mexico.

Smallchief

Carranco and Beard's "Genocide and Vendetta" is the pioneer work in this field. However thorough and meticulous their research, G. & V. suffered greatly from a lack of analysis of the data, and was further handicapped by a turgid writing style that bounced erratically through the years. Much of it is puzzling to anyone not familiar with Mendocino County, California.
"Killing for Land" corrects these flaws with a much superior writing style and better organization of the materials. There is also a moral stance in the writing that was smothered in G. & V. Finally, there is a lot of inquiring thought given to the underlying meaning of the circumstances of the genocide of California's native Americans.
I'd recommend "Genocide and Vendetta" for a broader geographical coverage and for the sheer massiveness of the research that went into it. However, if you aren't a specialist in history, Baumgardner supplies a much superior reading experience. I would think 95% of interested readers would be better served by Baumgardner.
Disclaimer notes: This reviewer is a former resident of Round Valley. He is presently engaged in writing a nonfiction book on the history of homicide in "Murderous Mendocino".

Killing for Land in Early California is a fascinating documentary account of a particular period of California history as it played out in Round Valley in Mendocino County in the years between 1856 and 1863 and should be of interest to Californians and non-Californians alike. The author introduces the book as "neither a definitive military history nor, strictly speaking, regional history" but as a "generally accurate summary of what happened and how and why a deadly conflict raged that lasted over five years and was so very deadly to one side." He particularizes the broad sweep of California history by focusing on events that took place during a few years in one location and, in so doing, proves the old adage that the devil is in the details. While basing his historical account on the documentary record, the author emphasizes that this record is incomplete and essentially flawed, since whatever Native American depositions existed at one time were either lost or destroyed. So, in a very concrete sense, the other side of the story must be read between the lines of the documentary record that does exist. Although before reading this book, I understood that the indigenous peoples of California died in large numbers due to the appropriation of their land by first the Spaniards and then, in the mid-nineteenth century, the Americans, I had not fully realized how suddenly and thoroughly this conquest came about. Killing for Land in Early California clearly documents how this "land grab" transpired in Round Valley. One variable that makes this local history perhaps more broadly significant then some others is that Round Valley is a location that had been designated as the ideal place for a large reservation for up to 25,000 Northern Californian Native Americans. However, contradictory goals of extermination or at least isolation of the Indians and the appropriation of their ancestral lands, on the one hand, versus official demands that the Indians be protected, provided for, and "taught" to be peaceful, obedient farmers, on the other, insured that whatever the ultimate configuration of land ownership in the Valley, the consequences for its original inhabitants would be dire. Killing for Land in Early California tells the story of this "frontier war in the late 1850s that gave rise to a stable and permanent ranch economy for the Euro-Americans and a reservation system for the few surviving Native Americans." Baumgardner concludes that "What remained of peace following this ugly race war, both for Native Americans and Euro-American settlers alike, were strong antipathies, memories of terrible events of shootings and killings, and a cold almost complete lack of mutual understanding."