New Mexico Books

Navajo Spoons: Indian Artistry And The Souvenir Trade, 1880s-1940s by Native American artifact and antiquities dealer Cindra Kline is an informative and attractive combination history and art that tells and showcases the story of some truly fine silverware created in an era when the railroad helped open up and streamline travel and trade with the American West. The cross-cultural elegance of Navajo silverware is amazingly displayed in the beautiful, full-color photographs of Navajo Spoons, while the "reader friendly" text offers deep insight into these artifacts and the people who created them. A superb artbook especially for those who enjoy fine silverwork, Navajo Spoons is a recommended addition to Native American Studies supplemental reading lists and reference collections, as well as an invaluable single volume introduction for collectors and dealers of Navajo silverwork.

Caught between a plethora of beautiful picture books written by visitors who rush undigested material into print and scholarly tomes too pithy and densely packed with jargon to be understood by anyone, sometimes even the author, it is rare to find a book that is written by an academic thoroughly versed in her subject yet so enjoyable to read that it may as well be a novel. You will find Professor Willow Roberts Powers' "Navajo Trading the end of an era" a joy to read for its lively style, and you will gain an introduction to and an understanding of a complex period in our national history.
The text is enlivened with quotes from oral histories of Navajo Indians and traders who lived together through friendship and animosity, trust and fear, hardship and wealth. It is evident that Powers understands her subject from decades of contact and is able to outline the intricate social and political interactions that changed the lives of people in the Southwest in fundamental ways.
I know some of the people in the book, many are still alive, and even after years of contact I feel I know them better now that I have read their story as Powers writes it, casting light in the cobwebby corners of memory and bringing a time past into clear view. The era may have ended but the story and its people still live today in its aftermath.
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Absolutely first class! A superb study with everything one would expect from a professional historian: Facts and more facts and more details and then some analysis. The perfect prequel to NAVAJO ROUNDUP, by Lawrence C. Kelly, wherein one learns the truth of the Kit Carson campaign into Navajo land in 1862 and 1863. This book should be required reading for ALL Navajo people. Far too many modern writers and pseudo-historians begin with the Navajo Long Walk; McNitt's book starts where one should, at the beginnig, back in 1625, not 1863.

I collect Navajo Language books, and as a biligaana learner of Navajo, I find this particular dictionary especially helpful in conjugating verbs. I am thankful that the University of New Mexico Press reprinted this book, as I have been trying to find a copy for years. Alyse was one of my teachers at Northern Arizona University, and my friend. She was one of the first Navajos to undertake writing and publishing a book of this magnitude for Navajo Language learners. Her joy and enthusiasm are missed.

In curating NDN ART, I selected the vibrant art of 30 Native American artists connected to New Mexico. In the introductory essay, I discuss the history of "Diversity and Change" in American Indian art and the dynamic way indigenous artists respond to change and use art to support families and communities. This oversize art book printed on quality paper in Italy by the fine art printers Sfera makes the five full pages of color art for each artist brilliant. It's the next best thing to owning the exquisite work of ndn artists as diverse as R.C.Gorman, Fritz Scholder, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Kevin Red Star, Nathan Youngblood, Cheyenne Harris, Doug Coffin, Armand Lara, Ramona Sakiestewa, Charlene Teters, Michael Naranjo, Ed Archie Noisecat, Preston Singletary, Celeste Wohl and Anita Fields. NDN ART has biographical profiles on each artist. The jewel like colors and vivid textures of Dine David Johns' paintings alone are worth the price of this well-designed book.

As a new part-time resident of Albuquerque, I wanted to get to know the area better and explore. Picking up this book has been invaluable in providing suggestions for short trips into the surrounding area. It's like having a resident guide to ride along with you and point out the features and attractions of the area.

Now instead of driving aimlessly and hoping to find something interesting, I not only know what to look for and have some understanding as to where to look and why it is important.

Engagingly written in a conversational style, this is a resource well worth having whether you live in the area or are just passing through and want to know where to look.

Unless otherwise indicated, all photographs were taken by Esther Born.
Data and material were collected and arranged by Esther Born and Ernest Born.
(Esther Born and Ernest Born were both students of architecture at the University of CAlifornia under the distinguished teacher, John Galen Howard.
Disgusted with the amateur photographs she took during a trip to Europe, Esther Born studied photography as preparation for specialization and as an aid to her future architectural work.
Ernest Born is well known both in San Francisco and New York as a brilliant designer, and has been associated with THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD and other publications in designing architecture, typographical layouts and editorial work.)

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Schoold of Industrial Technics, Mexico City
The Pyramid of Cuicuilco
Editorial Foreword
Plan Development of Mexico City
Soil and Foundation Conditions in Mexico
Architect as Contractor in Mexico
The New Architecture in Mexico
Mexican Examples:
* Industrial
* Schools
* Institutions
* Hospitals
* Residential
* Markets
* Commercial
* Parks
* Public Works and Utilities

General Portfolio
Contemporary Painting and Sculpture:
* Mural Painting
* Other Painters
* Painting in General
* Sculpture
* Pottery
* Bibliography
[from the book]

"THIS IS THE MEXICO,
MORE THAN ARCHITECT,
NO ONE CALCULATE."
[from the experience]

I used to work at the restaurant. The food was fantastic. Philomena did a wonderful job with this book. The Sopaipillas are to die for along with the sopa and just about everything in the book. It sure would be good if it could go on the market again.

Ornamental tinwork from the mid-1800s began in Santa Fe, New Mexico with a sardine can and worked its way into other applications: so begin Lane Coulter and Maurice Dixon Jr. in their history of the tools, techniques and products of New Mexican tinwork. Relatively little has been documented in this area, making New Mexican Tinwork 1840-1940 a compilation of history and color photos of particular interest to anyone working in this particular medium.

This book is easy to read for students, but the information is not dumbed down. The photos are a wonderful depiction of New Mexico. It will be a wonderful resource to add to our dull New Mexico History textbook.