North America Books

As a distant relative of Oliver, I was surprised that I had never heard his story. What amazes me more is the fact that countless people like Ras never recieved recognition. All in all, however, the story is one of the best I've ever read in my life.

When I was a little boy, I grew up hearing about my Uncle Oliver's story and some of the wondrous adventures he had and shared with us. Finally I am able to read a accurate accounting and in-depth look at my family's history and its impact on my life.

When Oz's brother, Danwood, (my father), died, Oz became my father and mentor. Over the years, I would talk to him and feel his story come alive.

Before I took my turn as a warrior protecting my people, as a young Marine, I went to see Oz in California to talk about my turn in combat. His words to me gave me strength during my time in hell. Bakite ishin, "hit me if you dare," was his gift to me that protected me along with my heritage and my father's spirit.

Oz's spirit live on within these pages. His gift of life for his children, wife, and his relatives is one of struggle, within his own roots, happiness, and glory. To many in the Native American community, his life is one of the Ogitchidaa, (warrior): one who defends, protects, serves his family, community and their way of life. Now in this time of mourning over the World Trade Center disaster, his story can provide a special insight into a way of strength and overcoming the hardships of life.

My uncle's gift to me lies within those simple words,Bakite Ishin. They continue to give me the strength and insight to survive in today's world. I sit here now putting a Native American publishing house together with my wife. We suffer and endure for the people of our lives and heritage. Our first book, "Freddie Came Home & Other Coyote Tales," reflects the courage of my uncle's spirit and life. Our struggle with life, whether it be in business, traditions, family or community is supported by my Uncle Oliver's legacy. He truly gives hope to the world and to the people.

Bakite Ishin. Hit me if you dare. Words of the old ones in our proud heritage. Words for people to stand up to, to be proud of, and to stay strong. Che-Miigwech, Uncle, Che-Miigwech

This is a gripping tale of a real American hero surviving behind enemy lines in WWII. It is a definite must-read. Kudos to the author for bringing this story to print!

I met Oliver Rasmussen in the 1950s when I was a U.S. Navy apprentice and he was a chief. He was short, dark, rugged, didn't talk much and there was a kind of legend about him. He had walked down out of the Japanese hills at the end of the war and had quite a story to tell. But he didn't.

He also did strange things-going without food, making marathon runs (long before they became popular), and peeling paper matches to get two lights out of one. He didn't waste words or anything else.

Rasmussen had given a press conference after his ordeal in 1945. The media kissed it off as a joke with headlines like, "Aviator Wandered Around Japan." So he stopped talking.

I left the Navy in 1955 after a four-year hitch but I never forgot the mystery of Rasmussen's sojourn in Japan. In 1997 I was retired and decided to find him and ask him about it. I found his widow, Esther, living in California. She told me that in the late 1960s a friend asked her husband if she could tape his story. He agreed with the idea that she would write a book so he could "leave something for his children." But the book never materialized. Chief Rasmussen died in 1980 and his friend died not long after, without starting the project. The tapes were delivered to Esther Rasmussen who kept them in her garage for seventeen years, but didn't listen to them. Esther loaned me the tapes. The book they produced makes an exciting read, with plenty of tips on how to survive in the wild.

As Chuck Yeager put it: Rasmussen went down in Japan and I went down in Nazi-occupied France-a couple of bad places for Americans to visit during World War II. But both of us knew how to trap and hunt and live off Mother Nature. That helped. We were country boys-combat fliers, but still country boys. When our planes went down and we found ourselves in the wild, we knew what to do.

This book is about my uncle Oliver (Oz). I wish some reader has an "in" with Steven Spielberg. My uncle survived in Japan for 60+ days, undetected. His skills, stamina and heroism deserve legendary status. In our family he has that and more. I hope others find this book of interest. Heroes come few and far between, this book is a real heroic tale.

Very good analysis on how/why American Confronts the M.E issues of the last 5 Presidents, give you a whole pictures of how they are related and dragged on to present time...

thoughtfull marvelously readable and timely written withut the angst and i saw it all tone of most of the current crop of personal reflections that masquarade as learned analyses provides important backgroumd context and history that helps to make some sense of the current state of affairs recommended to anyone who really wants to learn more

This book is a history of how the U.S. formulated and executed Middle Eastern Policy over a thirty year period from the Presidency of Jimmy Carter (1978-1982) through that of George W Bush (2000-2008). It also provides a useful, but concise summary of U.S - Middle East relations from the end of WWII to 1978. Essentially it provides an analysis not only of each presidential administration's Middle East Policy, but provides a description of how the policy formation process of each administration actually worked. Not surprisingly it was different for each president.

As the book makes clear, the U.S. has held two remarkably consistent strategic goals for this entire period: the security of the State of Israel; and the security of Middle Eastern oil production. Yet in a volatile region like the Middle East events well beyond U.S. control often erupt to disrupt the most carefully planned policy implementations. Freedman recounts for example how President Carter's tenure was defined by the Iranian Revolution and its subsequent hostage crises, even though Carter really wanted to be remembered for establishing peaceful and enduring relationship between the Israelis and Palestinians. Often the success or failure of U.S. policy in the region was a function of being able to cope with unexpected events or unintended consequences that suddenly threatened one or both of the strategic goals. Reading this book one is struck by how dicey even the best formulated policies are for this region.

Of course Freedman devotes a good deal of attention to the current administration and its involvement in Afghanistan (and Pakistan) and Iraq/Iran. He attempts to trace the thought processes that gradually coalesced into what was known as Operation Iraqi Freedom and its aftermath. In doing so he identifies the emergence of the doctrine of preventive war and concept of a Global War on Terror. He then tries to provide a balanced summary of U.S. operations in Iraq up to the current partially successful surge that has brought a measure of stability to that unhappy country.

In the end he suggests that the U.S. might be well advised to adopt a Middle East Policy similar to that suggested by Ken Pollock in his latest book, "A Path Out of the Desert", which the book reviewer of the UK Magazine, "The Economist" suggested should be read together with the Freedman book. Both by most standards are pretty good books.

Here is the Economist's Review of A Choice of Enemies. Although it spends more space on Kenneth Pollack's A Path Out of the Desert, it also does treat Freedman's book.


The Economist
Books and Arts
America and the Middle East
How they got in, how to get out
Jul 24th 2008
From The Economist print edition

Foresight and hindsight in the world's bad places
A Path Out of the Desert: A Grand Strategy for America in the Middle East
By Kenneth M. Pollack
Random House; 539 pages; $30

A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East
By Lawrence Freedman
PublicAffairs; 624 pages; $29.95. Weidenfeld & Nicolson; £20

HOW did America get into its current mess in the Middle East? And how can it get out again? Kenneth Pollack's book is all about the second question but he starts by making a confession relevant to the first. He was a champion of the invasion of Iraq. In 2002, in an influential book entitled "The Threatening Storm", he argued the strategic and moral case for removing Saddam Hussein. Mr Pollack admits now that the intervention a year later was a fiasco, and that after such a disaster the inclination of most Americans is to turn away from the region completely and focus on problems at home. But that is not his view. His latest book is a powerful argument for continued, and perhaps even greater, American involvement in the Middle East.

As befits a former CIA analyst and member of the National Security Council, Mr Pollack builds his case on a hard-headed examination of America's interests in the region. Of these, the most important is oil. If a big percentage of it were suddenly to be removed from the market, the shock of higher prices could on some estimates spark a global recession akin to the Great Depression. American policy, he concludes, should therefore be designed principally to prevent "catastrophic oil disruptions". This means guarding against possibilities such as a revolution in Saudi Arabia or a massive terrorist attack on the oil-supply network.

You might expect a book that starts this way to dwell mainly on how America can maintain military forces in the region. Mr Pollack, however, wants nothing less than "an integrated grand strategy" to secure American interests for the long run. Such a strategy, he admits, may take "many decades", just as it took nearly half a century for America to help Europe and East Asia repair themselves after the second world war. For this grand strategy to work, he says, America will first have to harmonise its separate policies towards Iraq, Iran and Israel. It must also transform the region's politics and economics. That is to say--let no one accuse the chastened Mr Pollack of imperial hubris--America must help along the efforts of the locals, since outsiders "cannot possibly know how to change the society of another people".

But do the people of the Middle East want what America wants for them? Given the growth of political Islam, and the fact that Mr Pollack deems many Arab countries to be on the point of revolution, perhaps not. Nonetheless, a policy of continuing to prop up repressive regimes is like "playing Russian roulette" with foreign policy, as America discovered when the shah's fall turned Iran from staunch friend to implacable foe. Far better, he says, to encourage the region's governments to address popular grievances by embracing political freedom and social equality.

This will not be easy, not least because of the hated Bush administration's insincere or at least incompetent pursuit of this very policy. But Arabs tell pollsters that they want both democracy and Islam, and Mr Pollack reckons these two are compatible. Quoting an Egyptian activist who says that what her countrymen need is a job and a voice, he thinks America must find its path out of the desert by helping all Arabs get both.

A simple summary of Mr Pollack's main ideas does scant justice to this thoughtful and informative book. None of its prescriptions is especially novel. The patient promotion of reform, careful containment of the spillover from Iraq, a policy of carrots and sticks (but no military pre-emption) for Iran, building the sinews of a Palestinian state: to all except isolationists and the few surviving neocons, this has become a fairly conventional prospectus for America's post-Iraq policy in the Middle East. But Mr Pollack binds the strands together deftly and imparts a good deal of learning and wisdom along the way.

Sir Lawrence Freedman is less interested in how America should proceed after Iraq and more in working out how it tied itself in such knots in the first place. As an historian, he is more tolerant than Mr Pollack of George Bush, noting that after September 11th this president faced a challenge more complex in some ways than the one Franklin Roosevelt had to deal with after Pearl Harbour in 1941. Whereas Roosevelt knew who the enemy was and what America would have to do, Mr Bush had to choose and name an enemy in a new sort of war without obvious rules, aims or front-lines. He did so, moreover, in a region where no power had exercised a consistently sure touch, and where America had long been torn between an underlying dissatisfaction with the state of affairs and the traditional instinct of a great power to protect the status quo from aggressive states or radical movements.

It is instructive to read these books together. Sir Lawrence's aim is not to lay out a policy. He has no grand unifying theory of the Middle East. His aim is only to render the "most credible" account possible of momentous events such as the fall of the shah, the three wars in the Persian Gulf, invasion and jihad in Afghanistan, Jimmy Carter's half-success at peacemaking at Camp David in 1978 and Bill Clinton's failure there two decades later. All these and more formed the treacherous backdrop of American interests and alliances against which Mr Bush had to formulate his response to the attacks on the twin towers. Sir Lawrence's subtle narrative is a marvel of concision, even over more than 500 pages. By the end it cannot but make the reader wonder how realistic it is to advocate, as Mr Pollack does, an "integrated grand strategy" capable of being sustained for decades in such a violent and unpredictable part of the world.

To that Mr Pollack has a simple answer, in the form of a question. What is the alternative? Thanks to its energy needs, America is locked into the region for the foreseeable future, even though the future is so hard to foresee in the unhappy Middle East. Since there are no quick fixes, it had better reconcile itself to the long slog. And although unexpected events will continue to knock it off course, it is more likely to succeed if it can cling to at least some general sense of where it is trying to go.

The black and white battle between good and evil is a common element of fantasy. But that's all it is - fantasy. "A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East" is an examination of America's involvement in the growing conflicts with the middle east, conflicts which are almost as far from black and white as something can possibly be. Many of America's alleged 'enemies' are not in fact working together, and are just as antagonistic towards each other as they are America. An intriguing look at America, its enemies, and their countless interrelations with one another, "A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East" is a top pick for community library current events collections.

I read many of the stories in this book for a college course and I found them to be rather interesting and thoughtful. Many of the tales are difficult to understand at times, but that usually comes with the oral stories provided by Native Americans. I would definitely recommend this collection of stories to anyone who is particularly curious in Native American legend.

Not much need to be said, simply the best collection of indian oral literature I found, and I looked anywhere and everywhere!

"Coming to Light: Contemporary Translations of the Native Literatures of North America," edited by Brian Swann, is an amazing volume. Approximately 800 pages long, this anthology brings together materials from all over the continent. Cultures included range from the Yupik of Alaska to the Zuni of New Mexico to the Iroquois of southern Ontario--more than 30 different peoples in all.

Each selection is preceded by its own separate introduction which discusses such topics as the culture and language of the people who produced the text, the specific storytellers, and translation issues.

The material in the anthology includes creation myths, animal tales, trickster stories, songs, and stories of birth, death, and transformation. Some of the most remarkable selections include the Wolverine tales of the Innu, which are masterpieces of bawdy humor, and the Yupik tale of "The Boy Who Went to Live with the Seals," a magical story of human/animal relations. I highly recommend "Coming to Light."

I really found this book to be an endless source of delight, because it not only features the incredibly diverse multitudes of narratives from individual Native American nations, but it because as a whole it really challenges the assumptions that have been handed down to us by imperialists. This is a truly amazing collection by what must be a brilliant scholar.

Readers interested in the traditional stories, myths, folktales, and other cultural expressions of American Indians would be hard pressed to find a better anthology than this excellent book. Swann edited together stories from a wide range of regions within North America. He included terrific introductions by excellent researchers and authors. These introductions present sufficient background information to learn about the storytelling traditions, and the commentary helps readers understand and appreciate the texts. There is also an extensive bibliography that includes hundreds of additional sources for learning more about the stories, storytellers, authors, and societies that are represented in the book. The stories, themselves, are magnificent. Some are fairly accessible to readers with little knowledge of American Indian history and culture. Other narratives are more esoteric, and they must be read and reread with great patience. As readers develop ways to read these stories, the wonder of the tradition lights up ways to think about the verbal artistry of America's first peoples.

I used this guide for a recent visit to Santa Fe, the most interesting and artsy/craftsy city of 60,000 people in the U.S. The photography and the maps in the guide are outstanding. Hotels and restaurants are described in helpful and interesting detail. The guide covers not only Santa Fe but also a good sized chunk of surrounding territory, including Taos, smaller and even more literary and artistic than Santa Fe; the atomic city of Los Alamos; scenic, old Hispanic mountain towns; and even Chaco Canyon, the prehistoric ruin hidden in the desert now inhabited by the Navajo.

Nearby Albuquerque, however, is not covered in the book -- an omission that probably should be remedied as Albuquerque has attractions of its own -- excellent museums and a walk through the bosques of the Rio Grande, for example. Nor did I find directions to the grave of author D.H. Lawrence near Taos so I made my way there unguided. Another criticism is that the author's brief essays about Chaco Canyon and Taos' most famous resident, Kit Carson, were eccentric and perhaps not to the point.

The Indian/Hispanic/Anglo culture of New Mexico is probably the most unique and colorful regional culture of the United States and is celebrated in enough art galleries and literature to last a lifetime. My favorite places to visit: a tie between the Bradbury Museum of Science in Los Alamos, which has a mock-up of the first atomic bomb, and remote Chaco Canyon. All in all, this is an attractive and reliable guide to the attractions of Santa Fe and its region.

Smallchief

I am going to visit Santa Fe for a few days and to do a job interview there. I wanted a book that would give me all the information I needed about Santa Fe and the surroundings so that I could come up with a list of places I wanted to visit, restaurants I wanted to eat at, and so on. I definitely recommend this book for those who want to be able to have a clear picture of where they want to go once they reach Santa Fe!

I love Santa Fe and have been there numerous times. I'm always looking for new aspects of the city to see. I like this guide book because it is not mearly a list of places to stay and eat. I agree with the places recommended as some of the highlights of the city. I look forward to my next trip to enjoy some of the new things I've read to do in Santa Fe and the surrounding areas.

We just got back from Santa Fe. This book was wonderful! It has history, what to see (museums, ruins, architecture), where to eat (an interesting list -- we didn't particularly use it because we had personal referrals). It had great tips -- like buy the 5-museum pass for slightly more than a one-museum, one-day pass. I was very pleased I'd read it BEFORE I went and it was very useful while we were there.

We found this book to be very, very informative on where to go in Santa Fe as well as fun side trips complete with a "how to find the onion lady" on the road from Taos. Fabulous photography. Great historical and cultural detail as well. Highly recommend the Compass American Guides.

A very enjoyable, sincere and warm read. Henninger takes you from the challenge of first deciding to climb Mount Rainier to the training, and then up the mountain itself. You experience the process as though you were there; the weather, the illumination of self awareness, the fatigue, triumphs and reflections. It's a fine read and had me anxiously turning the pages with no small amount of anticipatory excitement. And it's fun. Henninger is a human being; not a professional guide, not a Sherpa, but someone you can like and certainly admire for both his efforts and the accounting of the time he had on Mt Ranier. Read it. You'll like it.

First of all, I'm not a mountain climber, nor do I want to be. I want
to state this up front lest anyone think that I gave this book my
review based upon a love of mountain climbing. While the author does
recount his two attempts at summitting Mt. Rainier, he goes beyond
the technical aspects of mountaineering and offers much, much more.
The book is more an introspective look at why a middle-aged regular
guy would even attempt such a feat. He chronicles his lifelong
fascination with mountains that ultimately brings him face to face
with the reality of looking at planet Earth from above the clouds. I
read the book in "real time", by that I mean I read up to the end of
his first day, put the book down and picked it up the next day when
he was also beginning his next day on the mountain. This added to my
enjoyment as I felt I was sharing the author's experience as it
unfolded. Truthfully,the book can easily be read in one or two
readings. The best part of this book is the spirituality the author
gets in touch with in his time on the mountain. It really comes
across in
his reflective final chapter where he ponders what made him begin his
trek and where does he go from here. I gave the book to my wife to
read and she enjoyed it also. As I stated in the title of my
review it's "A Good Read For Everyone".

A very enjoyable and easy read. Henninger takes you from the exhilaration of first deciding to climb Mount Rainier to the training, and then up the mountain itself. You experience the process as though you were there; the biting cold, the ceaseless wind, the few moments of rest-- the disappointments and the triumphs.
You'll find yourself continuously turning pages as you accompany the author on his quest of personal discovery and physical challenge.

In Compass Points, Mr. Henninger takes us along on his quest to climb Mt. Rainier and understand the deeper spiritual power that the mountain holds for him. In telling his story, he invites each of us to locate our own polestar and to summon the courage to live a fully engaged life. Compass Points lifted my spirits and reminded me why I seek wild places.

First of all, I'm not a mountain climber, nor do I want to be. I want to state this up front lest anyone think that I gave this book my review based upon a love of mountain climbing. While the author does recount his two attempts at summitting Mt. Ranier, he goes beyond the technical aspects of mountaineering and offers much, much more. The book is more an introspective look at why a middle-aged regular guy would even attempt such a feat. He chronicles his lifelong fascination with mountains that ultimately brings him face to face with the reality of looking at planet Earth from above the clouds.
I read the book in "real time", by that I mean I read up to the end of his first day, put the book down and picked it up the next day when he was also beginning his next day on the mountain. This added to my enjoyment as I felt I was sharing the author's experience as it unfolded. Truthfully,the book can easily be read in one or two readings.
The best part of this book is the spirituality the author gets in touch with in his time on the mountain. It really comes across in his reflective final chapter where he ponders what made him begin his trek and where does he go from here.
I gave the book to my wife to read and she is enjoying it also. As I stated in the title of my review it's "A Good Read For Everyone".

Great book if this is the first book of this author that you read. However, it is an extraordinary book if read after reading Coyote Medicine. As a follow-up read, the reader has a greater understand of the "whys". If you are a Native American or have worked in the field of mental health/ psychiatry -- or better yet both, you find yourself going, "Yes, you are so right!" often times as you read. Such a moving book. It touched not only my mind, but also my heart and soul. I could not put it down until I finished it.

Lewis Mehl-Madrona reveals insights into traditional and non-traditional medicine. He is an interesting multi-faceted medical practioner. It is impossible to sum up his contributions in a sentence or two. He breaks the bonds of traditional medicine by incorporating ancient medical practices into his healing work.

Lewis Mehl-Madrona, M.D. has written one of the best books on healing ever to be published. This book should be required reading for all cancer patients and survivors, for anyone suffering from chronic physical or emotional disease, and for therapists in all disciplines. Dr. Madrona's stories are poignant and will linger with you long after you've finished the last page. This book offers hope. It teaches that health truly is a mind-body-spirit phenomenon.

Dr. Mehl-Madrona's magnificent first book, COYOTE MEDICINE, was seen through wide-eyes: a young doctor discovering his own roots and shedding illusions about the omnipotence of science. By contrast, COYOTE HEALING reveals a sure sense of purpose and conviction in his approach.

One senses a mission- that this book is more than an account, but an active attempt to spread the word. No longer exploring, Dr. Mehl-Madrona has become the guru; here he is at the height of his powers and conviction and acts as advocate.

Operating from the perspective of a shaman, Dr. Mehl-Madrona respects the patient's ability to cure himself, but also "straddle(s) cultures," drawing on his varied expertise. As he explains, "Activating the inner healer is the most important aspect of what I do... I use herbs, diet, vitamins, exercise, drugs and a myriad of other techniques, but I recognize that the inner healer makes all these approaches work."

Because of the success of his first book, many people seek him out, and we hear their stories. They have usually been told their cases were beyond hope. Working with the author, some patients do recover, others sadly, do not. But Dr. Mehl-Madrona refuses to speak of "failures," nor does he use cases to argue for or against shamanic or complementary approaches. Rather, he sees the healing process itself as the miracle. As he says:

I build hope. I don't help everyone [in terms of cures]...I help them to show their true humanity, their true spirit, despite adversity...Each of my patients told me what a difference I had made in their lives. All I did was to recognize their true selves and coax those to the surface, despite everything else that was happening... Hope- not despair, not denial, not giving up, not demanding success...It comes from knowing that the Universe cares about us, even when our desires are not possible... The peacefulness of integrating these apparent contradictions is truly a miracle.

Much of his work involves Native American storytelling, using characters in stories to shed light on the patients' struggles. So, a woman who helps many people but is now undergoing chemotherapy is told a story of the "Gatherer," a Native American woman who collected healing plants, and was kidnapped and tortured, but made it through. Another woman who has been ill for decades is told a story about a young woman who was kidnapped, who had to throw away some prized items in order to escape. Here the doctor was showing his patient how to discard illness as an identity.

Some major themes emerge. A loss of community is said to cause disease, and one violently schizophrenic man finds his way back to sanity by being made an "honorary Indian" on a reservation. Another theme is illness as sublimated negativity in one's life.

But the doctor does not "blame the victim." Instead, he defines "disease" as literally that, dis-ease. In the eyes of a shaman, cause of illness is everywhere, and awareness of imbalance will lead us to finding "ease." In the author's words, "I can no longer imagine a physical problem that is not simultaneously psychological, spiritual and social..."

But we are not being punished by our illness, only being told that something is wrong. Gary Null echoes this when he talks about the fires burning in our (physiological) houses, and how often we ignore these fires, whether stress, abuse, self-hatred, etc.

Whether you believe in complimentary healing approaches or not, COYOTE HEALING helps define what it means to fight for wellness with dignity and peace. Having met Dr. Mehl-Madrona at his healing circle, I know his real voice: soft, thoughtful, nonjudgemental, and mischievous. In these pages this voice comes through, and brings comfort. Thank you again, Doctor.

COYOTE HEALING is an interesting book which describes an approach to healing which is based on the experiences of the author who is a practicing physician and a graduate of Stanford University School of Medicine. The main thrust of the book is to reveal the characteristics of exceptional patients who beat the odds against killer diseases such as cancer. Many inspirational stories are included.

The healing strategies used throughout reflect Dr. Mehl-Madrona's own childhood exposure to a mixture of Christianity and Cherokee spirituality. A strong emphasis is placed on the need for the patient to think positively. Any feelings of personal blame for having the illness are eliminated and replaced with a sense of hope. This step leads to peacefulness which in turn sets the stage for a potential miracle. The patient next tries to locate the inner healer before starting on a healing journey. The latter emphasizes a radical transformation of oneself and one's relationships. The journey itself ultimately becomes more important than the destination.

I have published an award-winning law review article on Federal Indian Law, worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (until I couldn't hold my nose any longer), and had the great good luck to learn Indian Law from Prof. Raymond Cross at The University of Montana School of Law. But Paul VanDevelder taught me new things about all three.

Mr. VanDevelder deftly explains some of the more arcane aspects of Federal Indian Law in a way that, at least for me, filled in more of the puzzle pieces - but while also making it easily accessible to even the non-professional. Mr. VanDevelder taught me that the Corps of Engineers can be even more insidious and arrogant than even I had suspected. And, given the good professor's reluctance to blow his own horn, Mr. VanDevelder taught me that merely having known Raymond Cross was far more an honor than I could have ever guessed.

If you have any curiosity about Indian legal rights, or seek understanding about the grave damage government administrators can do when they embody the worst kinds of ignorance, arrogance, and egomania, or merely hope to be inspired by a ripping good yarn about the undeniable perseverance of the human spirit, Coyote Warrior is your book.

At first glance this book would appear to be a rather standard documentary of the struggles faced by a particular Indian nation. That is true to a certain extent, as the book covers the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara), who until the 1950s were the most successful and self-sufficient Indians in the country, then saw their productive lands disappear under a Missouri River reservoir. After forced relocation and disenfranchisement, and political bullying from government agencies pushing through water reclamation projects that were probably a giant boondoggle, the tribes went instantly from success to destitution and dependence on the government. VanDevelder illustrates their long-term suffering through the decades-long travails and heartbreaks of the Cross family, whose father Martin led a valiant but hopeless struggle to save the tribes' livelihood and culture. The story continues through their traumatic uprooting and torn connections to their community, up to the current successes of son Raymond who has become one of the leading Indian attorneys in the nation.

VanDevelder's extensive coverage of the careers of Martin and Raymond Cross is what makes this book unique, and much more than your typical respectful but depressing expose on current Indian affairs. VanDevelder unveils the extremely complicated nature of Indian law in general, with issues of sovereignty and broken treaties from centuries ago still mucking up court cases to this day. He also gives in-depth (though occasionally over-detailed) coverage of the particular legal maneuvers and challenges faced by the Three Affiliated Tribes and the Cross family, which thanks to the legal brilliance of Raymond and some powerful allies, finally resulted in partial justice after several decades of suffering and cultural ruination at the hands of the U.S. Government. VanDevelder writes of legal maneuvering and governmental shenanigans with a surprising amount of suspense, and somehow even makes a Supreme Court exploratory hearing seem dramatic. A bonus is VanDevelder's unique descriptions of legal precedents going back to medieval Europe in the thirteenth century, and the far-reaching historical development of Indian law in America to the present day. [~doomsdayer520~]

Considering that very few people will witness Raymond Cross's dynamism in person or read his eloquent legal briefs and law review articles, Paul VanDevelder's "Coyote Warrior" provides a persuasive account of another Native community's fight for justice in America. The legal struggles of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara peoples for their land and sovereignty, as seen from their standpoint, provides valuable insights into the institutionalized bad faith of federal Indian policy. The author achieved his goal of making the compelling story of three tribe's contentious political relationship with the United States accessible to a wider audience.

This book is an eminently readable account of the disasters which befell the Arikara,Hidatsa and Mandan tribes when they were displaced by the damning of the Missouri.
It is also a disturbing revelation of the shenanigans of government, producing a sense of shame in those of us who look for"justice for all" from our representatives in DC.
It falls to bold Coyote Warriors,Martin Cross and later his brilliant son Raymond to combat in court,the injustices perpetrated on Native peoples.
As a piece of reporting VanDevelder's work is carefully phrased,occasionally lyrical, avoiding heavily loaded language.
It is also supplemented with an exhaustive bibliography(of which the author says there is more),one bound to satisfy demanding researchers.

An extraordinary look at the forces that disenfrnchised an Indian Nation from its heritage and its land. An insightful look into the destructive forces that rend family and community ties when frderal policies that de-humanize Native people are allowed to be implemented behind one man's ego, and a government's indifference. It is an all too familiar story -- well told -- of disenfranchisement of Indian people and governments. And finally, a story of the courage and incredible intellect of one families battle against irresistible forces.

Dr. Geary has created yet another winner! Regardless of your skill level, you'll find multiple projects within your reach. Each project is skill-level rated, but the directions are so clear that really persistence and patience are the only things separating the beginning projects from the advanced ones.

Dr. Geary gives a wonderful background on the cultural significance of each of the projects--if it has one. That's one of the really great things I love about this book. If the project is one directed primarily towards the tourist trade, she says so! There's not a thing wrong with making what sells and one should not feel the need to apologize for it. Handicrafts are one of the skills people the world over use to bring in extra income, so why should Native Americans be any different?

This is a very practical as well as enjoyable book. Little tricks to make the projects easier are generously scattered throughout the book. This book is a definite keeper and will remain as one of my favorite references. My only regret is that it sat on my "wish list" for so long before I finally purchased it!

I have both of Theresa's books and I have to say that they have to be the best books I've ever read; my daughter and I are constantly swapping these books back and forth. They are beautifully written, have wonderful illustrations and are very easy to follow. I love the history she inputs into every chapter and I have learned so much from these books. Please Theresa, write another one!

I own many beading books, but this one is a favorite I go back to over and over for the beauty and originality of the designs, as well as for the clear instructions. Projects are suitable for beginners who want to build their skills, as well as for the more advanced. The designs are Native American in theme, yet with just enough of a modern twist to be unique and a great jumping off place for one's own designs. I highly recommend it!

"Beadwork has an amazing history through the millennia. Even with so many brilliant examples of beadwork found on all continents except Antarctica, the Native American style of beading remains extremely popular worldwide. It is characterized by bright colors, bold designs, and extravagant beauty with natural themes. Embedded in the designs are symbols of spiritual significance to the native cultures originating them."

"People who do beadwork readily acknowledge that their beads 'speak' to them. Beads are like letters that are merely abstract symbols for composing words of human expression. They form a universal language that appears to cross all cultures."

from Native American Beadwork, Theresa Flores Geary

Theresa Flores Geary weaves tales and plant lore with drawings and patterns, as well as practical advice like how to finish your knots, in two lavishly illustrated books on Native American beading techniques and projects. She also nourishes a creative space with plenty of opportunity for improvisation and design on the part of the beader.

Much of a beader's time is spent looking closely at beads. Full-color photographs throughout the books breathe detail into the process of creating about three dozen beaded projects for beginners to advanced beadworkers. The photographs include finished beadwork pieces by many artists, as well as close-up shots of the bead projects at various stages of completion and diagrams which are easy to understand.

Of Tewa and Aztec ancestry, Geary started doing beadwork at 14, taught by her mother, Anna Flores, and later received advanced instruction from elders of the San Carlos Apache tribe while working as a clinical psychologist. For the past ten years she has devoted herself to full-time beadwork, writing books and teaching.

About a project with a traditional Thunderbird pattern, Geary writes: "A famous Kiowa poet, N. Scott Momaday, describes a different beast that roams the sky during a thunderstorm... Momaday's beast has a horse's head and a fish's tail. From its mouth lightning flashes, and its tail embodies the hot wind of a tornado. During a particularly violent monsoon-like season in southern Arizona, his description comes to life."

Geary's descriptions bring to life many projects, including a round peyote-stitched hatband for advanced beaders, Apache weave (or brick stitch) earrings, loom designs, Huichol lace, miniature ears of corn using a corn stitch, and eyeglass and badge holders. The range of designs makes the book useful to experienced beaders and to those just starting out. Lists of materials and instructions are clear, and most show ways that the patterns can be adapted to other projects.

Some of the stories Geary spins are old and pass on culture, and some are new, told in a clear and personal voice. The whole is a delightful how-to on beading techniques for any level of experience in a rich cultural context.

I have a Master's Degree in Museum Studies, and have devoted much of that study to the care and well-being of beadwork from all over the planet. I also interned at the Bead Museum in Glendale, AZ during the summer of 2000, where I learned much of this knowledge, but also I have worked for the Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center in Omaha, Nebraska, where I learned preventive conservation techniques. I, myself, am an accomplished beadworker, and have found this book to be filled with many great designs and techniques; ranging from very simple, to difficult. The average beader will find this work to be most rewarding, while beginners and advanced beaders alike will definately learn something new. It is one of the best technical books out there, with lots of helpful, clear photographs.

I am familiar with many of the projects in the book, however, I immediately sat down and began working on the Blue Violet Flower pattern and fell in love with the outcome! Many of the projects are pieces you will find for sale on some reservations today, as I also worked for the White Mountain Apache Tribal Museum and Cultural Center -- and have seen them there first hand. The purchaser of this book is getting the authentic thing, and that is rewarding in a time when beadwork is moving further and further away from its Native roots.

Good Work Theresa!

David Bingell

This wonderful book's authorized publisher in the US is only Charles Scribner's Sons--not Peter Smith. What's the story with this?

"I live in a rain forest in western Oregon, on the banks of a mountain river in relatively undisturbed country, surrounded by 150-foot-tall Douglas firs, delicate deer-head orchids, and clearings where wild berries grow" (p. 148), Barry Lopez writes in this collection of his 1978 to 1986 essays. Lopez allows each essay to tell a story leaving its reader with "an inexplicable renewal of enthusiasm." "It does not matter greatly what the subject is," he writes about storytelling, "as long as the context is intimate and the story is told for its own sake" (p. 63). Subjects of these essays include a stone horse intaglio, white geese at Tule Lake, boating the Colorado River with jazz musician, Paul Winter, bull riders, beached whales, searching for Anasazi remains, and "the passing wisdom of birds."

Readers will cross open ground in these essays and enter the natural world, becoming immersed in its much larger meanings. "Wildlands preserve complex biological relationships that we are only dimly, or sometimes not at all, aware of" (p. 80). These essays are rich in wilderness wisdom, enough wisdom to please any fan of Ed Abbey or Wendell Berry. "We grasp what is beautiful in a flight of snow geese rising against an overcast sky as easily as we grasp the beauty of a cello suite," Lopez writes; "and intuit, I believe, that if we allow these things to be destroyed or degraded for economic reasons we will become deeply and strangely impoverished" (p. 38). He quietly observes, "wilderness can revitalize someone who has spent too long in the highly manipulative, perversely efficient atmosphere of modern life" (p. 82).

Whether I'm reading his stories or essays, Barry Lopez is among my favorite writers. He will bring you to the edge of your senses: "Everything found at the edge of one's senses--the high note of the winter wren, the thick perfume of propolis that drifts downwind from spring willows, the brightness of woodchips scattered by beaver . . .all this fits together" (pp. 149-50).

G. Merritt

Lopez is concerned with our collective understanding of nature. From studying a 3000-year-old horse intaglio to looking for Anasazi granaries he seeks our ancestral relationships. The essays work best when he mixes his reflection with keen observations. Where the essays have a heavier philosophical hand they aren't as effective. As he says "The door that leads to the cathedral is marked by a hesitancy to speak at all, rather to encourage by example, a sharpness of the senses". Lopez 's narratives sharpen many senses from the sudden assault of the sound of snow geese to "two snails small as pinheads chewing a leaf".

There are reflections on the role of biologists, from communicating between scientists and shipmates in the arctic to their role in a whale stranding. Perhaps he thinks biologists have greater insight, but he also understands the need for mystery and direct experience.

For Paul Winter fans there is a description of the raft down the Grand Canyon that produced the album "Canyon". As a current update, the snow geese written about in one essay are continuing to boom and damage their arctic breeding grounds.

This collection of essays is glorious and sad. The writing lets the reader see what Barry Lopez is seeing with so few precise words. The gifts of wilderness are felt while reading sentences like, "You could feel the creek vibrating in the silt and sand.". The saddness comes from knowing these essays were written in the 1980's and so much more has been destroyed since then.

Due to when this book was written, there are a couple of references to former President Reagan's "environmental record" written in real time.

There were so many essays that I loved, including the one speaking of traveling the river with Paul Winter. I am going to quote a passage from "Children in the Woods".

"The quickest door to open in the woods for a child is the one that leads to the smallest room, by knowing the name each thing is called. The door that leads to the cathedral is marked by a hesitancy to speak at all, rather to encourage by example a sharpness of the senses. If one speaks it should only be to say, as well as one can, how wonderfully all this fits together, to indicate what a long, fierce peace can derive from this knowledge."

Excellent reading for those connected with the Earth. Food for the soul. One of the best gifts I have ever recieved.

I am a sixth grade student and I read The Crying Rocks by Janet Taylor Lisle, its about a girl named Joelle, who was adopted when she was five years old by her adopted parents who she called Aunt Mary Louise and Vernon. In this book she looses a loved one though. She also makes friends with a boy named Carlos, who is in her Spanish class. They both spend most of their time together learning about these Indains who lived years before and where killed by a surprise attack by the English. Her and Carlos go into the woods to see an old Indian council place where she sees visions of what happened to the Indians in the land, and what they did for a living. She finds a painting in the library that she sees two girls on a hill watching the other Indians like they were out cast of the tribe but Joelle rembers them as if they meet before. When she goes to the Crying Rocks with Carlos she learns something about him that he hides from her even though see doesn't mind but she also finds something in the swamp that scares them and then to make things worse they hear a load moan. So now they are wondering what made that noise and where did it come from?

I loved this book so much it kept me reading late into the night wondering what would come next. My favorite part was when she goes to the Crying Rocks and when Carlos tells his secret . I think this was Janet's best books and I will read more of them too. So I hope you like this book as much is I did .

This was a wonderful, historically accurate fiction novel. It is easy enough for children to read and interesting enough for adults to enjoy. It covers subjects regarding adoption, abandonment, native americans and the idea of not knowing where you belong as a child. Highly recommend!

Fourteen-year-old Joelle, who is adopted and lives in Marshfield, Rhode Island, doesn't know much about her past. All she is aware of is that she was brought in from a train station when she was just five years old. "I can't remember anything so don't ask me!" she yells irritably to anyone who snoops, including Carlos, an eccentric kid in her Spanish class. But when Carlos, a collector of arrowheads and Native American lore, tells her that she resembles an Indian girl in an old mural of Narragansett Indians in their school library, she can't resist taking a look. She is dumbfounded by a spark of recognition.

When Joelle asks her adoptive parents, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Mary Louise, about her past, they tell her what happened but she doesn't believe them. Then, while on a hike, Carlos tells her about the Crying Rocks, where howls on windy days are thought to be the spirit voices of children who were flung from the boulders to an early death. Joelle doesn't believe that story either until one day, while at the Crying Rocks with Carlos, she hears crying and screaming. After her Aunt Mary Louise dies, she grows more and more curious about her past, not to mention the cries and screams. Will Joelle ever discover the truth behind the Crying Rocks and her past? Or will both stories be a secret forever?

THE CRYING ROCKS had an incredible ending, and I agree wholeheartedly with Joelle's attempts to learn the details of her past. If you enjoy reading touching books about friends and family, read this one to find out what happens to Joelle and her family.

--- Reviewed by Ashley Hartlaub

" 'So tell me about these Indians who were supposedly around here,' she says, as if she's never heard of Indians before. Which is laughable. Half the names of places in Rhode Island are Native American. There are statues of Indians in the parks and plaques that tell where this treaty was signed or that attack happened. Everyone has heard of the Indians, they just don't think about them that much. Indians are ancient history here, like three hundred years ago or more."

"One little, two little, three little Indians
Four little, five little, six little Indians
Seven little, eight little, nine little Indians
Ten little Indian boys."

I was a little kid on Long Island back in an era when in circle time songs you'd as easily count ten little Indians as you would count six little ducks or ten green and speckled frogs.

A few years further on, in the mid 1960s, I chose "The Indian Tribes of Paumanok" (a Native American name for Long Island) as the topic for a social studies report. And while this raised my 10 year-old state of consciousness a few notches, I still had a heck of a time envisioning the booming suburbs where I lived as having been a vast woodland sheltering those peoples.

In contrast, thirteen year old Joelle, the main character in THE CRYING ROCKS, has such an ability and inclination. In fact, she can sometimes imagine someone from the distant past following her. Joelle, who was adopted at five by "Aunt" Mary Louise and "Uncle" Vernon, has that hunger to know about her own roots. In sharp contrast to her "heavy and earthbound" adoptive parents, Joelle is such a tall and striking seventh grader that a group of little neighborhood girls worships her from a distance, imagines her to be royalty, and emulates her style. But it is clear to the reader that something awful must have happened to Joelle as a young child, since she cannot remember the mysterious and unspoken circumstances in which she came to be discovered at the railroad depot of the northwestern Rhode Island community where she has since lived.

" 'Back in the woods there's a place where they used to meet. A high council place. There are trails, too. You can tell they're old Indian paths because of how deep they're worn down. It would take hundreds of years of feet to wear down a path like that.'
" 'Hundreds of years of feet?' she says. 'Give me a break.'
" 'A thousand years, even. Some artifacts are that old and more. What's amazing is how their culture got wiped out when the white man came. Fifty years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, the Narragansetts were all gone, thirty or forty-thousand people who lived right around here.'
" 'What happened?' Joelle asked in spite of herself.
" Carlos stares at her. 'Disease, first, then they were killed off. The last few were sold into slavery down in the West Indies. It's one of those histories people don't like to remember.'
" 'But you do?'
" 'I'm part Indian.'
" 'Really?'
"Carlos stands up straighter and looks at her defiantly, as if she might have a problem with this. She registers again his gray eyes, his brown hair, his long thin face. " 'You don't look--'
" 'Just a small part,' Carlos says quickly. 'Like about one sixteenth or something.' "

The innocent and tentative relationship that develops between Carlos and Joelle--that of close friends whom the reader imagines/hopes will later become boyfriend and girlfriend--is impeccably drawn. Sometimes as if a pair of bumper cars, sometimes utterly in tune, the connection between these two kids who are finding themselves winds its way through the tension of the story to an absolutely fun and joyous scene where the two are dueling each other with quotes from their research.

THE CRYING ROCKS asks hard questions about the values and behavior of the Europeans who came to America as well as that of the Narragansetts who were there when the ships arrived. The author skillfully ties these questions to treatment of arguably "less fortunate" groups in twenty-first century society. Janet Taylor Lisle has an ability for crafting a story that is taut and powerful while maintaining the limits which allow for this story to be used in middle school classrooms. THE CRYING ROCKS will find a home in those classrooms and is a tale that will surely have readers thinking and asking about their own roots.

Grades 7 and up will appreciate this warm story of Joelle, who discovers a likeness to Native Americans which will change her perceptions of who she is and Native history. Her new friend Carlos who has introduced her to this history has his own hard secret to reveal - one which involves a family loss and a hidden guilt. How they change each other's life makes for a moving saga.