North America Books

I just receieved this book the other day and I must say I am very impressed by it. The introduction by Marijo Moore says it all--what this book is about. " To eat the fire of truth is to taste the blood of our existence." Such a beautiful line. Also in this book are great stories and testimonies by Charles Eastman, Steve Russell, Vine Deloria Jr, Joseph Dandurand, also a fabulous poem by Marijo Moore herself "Atop Polacca on First Mesa."
Also some great pieces by Susan Shown Harjo, Linda Hogan, and a slew of other amazing writers.
With a great title and great chapter titles this book is a great follow up to GENOCIDE OF THE MIND. This book should be read in classrooms all across the U.S. It is a burning reminder that the Indian voice is still not heard, but we will continue to start the fires, and make your blood boil.

JW

This book is important in many ways, as the other reviewers have described. I just wanted to mention that the article by David Seals titled "Nicaragua: What's Ward Churchill Got Against You?" was pretty pathetic. It included juvenile insults like calling Churchill "Lurch," which is the same crude name that right-wingers directed toward John Kerry.
No one knows all the details of Churchill's experiences in Nicaragua. But we can all learn many things from his books on FBI counter intelligence programs, the Native American holocaust, the horrible boarding schools Native kids were subjected to, current day ecocidal assaults from mining, timber and massive hydroelectric projects, and many other important topics.
Ward doesn't get it all right, Ward has "issues," - as we all do.
But Churchill has made many important contributions, including having the courage to speak some uncomfortable truths regarding the blowback of September 11.

Regarding the "scandal" over Ward's heritage, I'd just say even Europeans have tribal roots. Unlike Ward, most Europeans do not have a grandfather who is buried in a traditional Indian buriel ground (so, one could understand the roots of Ward's own assumptions about his ancestry). And unlike Ward, most of us have not spent countless hours writing, speaking and teaching about indigenous holocausts - past and present.
Seals' effort to degrade Churchill ultimately speaks more poorly of Seals himself.

In addition to this book, I'd recommend anything by Winona LaDuke and the DVD "Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action" produced by the Katahdin Foundation.

To tell the story, the real story, who better then the current generation of Native American writers. With Marijo Moore as a contributor and editor of Eating Fire, Tasting Blood she has gathered the essays and poems of her peers to tell us what we were never told in school.

With specific references to tribal nations like the Conoy, that are gone but not forgotten and accounts of massacres like Sand Creek and Wounded Knee, these writers bring us up to date and put forth the message that there was a holocaust here too, it just gets no recognition in books or on film.

This anthology hopes to change all of that. With the details brought front and center there is no turning away from what was covered up, taken and not returned, and is still being perpetrated on the survivors. To balance these accounts Moore has included tales of children going back home to learn where they came from, and poems that tantalize the mind and make the spirit soar.

The accomplishment of bringing the likes of Paula Gunn Allen, Vine Deloria, Jr., and Eduardo Galeano in one volume is to say the least, incredible. Read it and learn about the trail, still being walked today.

I thought the book would be a little beyond my son's abilities, but he loved the book from the cover. We have a different edition from the one pictured here - the one we have has two large birds on the cover. I read the stories aloud to him and they held his attention through most of the text - I skipped through some parts. I would definitely recommend this book for reading aloud and/or when the child is able to read himself or herself.

This is one of the most remarkable books of fables that I have read. The stories are told in a riveting style, the illustrations are tremendous, and the added bonus of the author himself reading the tales puts this over the top, and into the realm of "outstanding"!

This book was a complete joy for our whole family. It has good pictures, beautiful typography, and tells the traditional Northwestern indian lore in its best style: humourous, frightening, and full of character. A wonderful bonus is a CD with cheif Lelooska himself telling the stories in the book.

With apologies to the NY Times for this title, this is the book to have on all things moose. Everything is coverered in this comprehensive bible of the moose. From habits, descriptions, pictures, diagrams, and charts to a study of this fine creature's impact on our culture, this is the definative study of a subject that could not be any more worthy of an examination this extensive. The moose is really about all that is good in this world. Brave, handsome, strong, and yet loveable. What more could you want? Don't let the price scare you away reader. Be like the courageous moose and plunk down the 65 bills(plus shipping and handling) for something that will enrich your life time and again.

I would like to take this oportunity to thank all of the people/scientists, biologists, volunteers, etc. who helped put this awesome book together. The information in this book is coming from hands-on time consuming experience. This book is truly a mooselover's bible. I hold the men and women who devote their lives to researching this beautiful animal in the hightest respects. I just hope someday I may be part of the group of people contributing their knowledge into a future book as great as this one. I would like to say a special hello and thank you to the people of the Moose Research Center (MRC) at Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. I hope to be offered the wonderful opportunity of being able to volunteer at MRC. Moose and this book combined have opened up whole new doors to life's avenues for me. Again, thank you for your time and efforts in bringing this great book to us. I love it

If you're a moose-aphile, then this is your book! Every aspect of the moose is covered and includes great pencil drawings and photos. While written for scientists, most of the book is still quite readable for the layperson. I haven't read most of the book, but I do thumb through it regularly, and I always read something else that I never knew about the moose!

This is the best guide for the region -- the drawings are excellent, as is the text. Grab a copy!

This is one of the best books written on edible wild plants. The author has researched the plants thoroughly, reporting on known ethnographic uses as well as his own experiences. The text is botanically accurate and pleasant to read. The line drawings are excellent, and while some would prefer photos, these are very good illustrations. This is one of the wild food books I refer to most often. One thing I really like about it is the way Kelly cites his sources so I can investigate further if I want. I also like that he includes a lot of plants like prairie turnip, ground plum, and bush morning glory, which are not widely discussed elsewhere in edible plant books.

If you live in the prairie region this should be your first edible wild plant book. If you live elsewhere it is still an awsome book to have.

I think this is an excellent book; well-written, with excellent translations of Indigenous People's names for these plants. (I am both D-/Lakota, speak, read, and write my languages; and forage for plants.) IF I have a criticism, it is (1) that the book should have a sequel with another 130 or so plants including both food and medicinal uses, and (2) I would wish for GOOD, SHARP color photographs of the plants as harvested AND as you would see them if you were looking closely for them where they usually grow. The sketches are extremely well done but there is nothing like color to show the differences between plants that appear similar (at least until your eye is honed). Tinpsila, for example, has a near look-alike that grows in the same area where I hunt, and it is hard to teach novices the difference in person, harder from a book with B/W sketches. I like the facts that (1) she includes the medicinal uses of at least some of the plants in the book; (2) she notes the spiritual/cultural perspectives of us Indigenous People, and (3) she doesn't make any majority-culture or "Christianity Way" comments on our Traditional perspectives when she does this, nor does she refer to our Traditional beliefs in the past tense. Our Traditional Ways and beliefs are still very much alive and being lived; even if the number of us practicing them is not all of our People at the present time. If I could have only one book to take with me if I were to be "lost" somewhere, I think it would be this one.

En 1906 le photographe Edward Sheriff Curtis tenait deux dernieres expositions de ses gravures en platine, du format et de l'echelle grands, a l'Hotel Astoria de la Nouvelle York et au Club St Botolph. Car le banquier John Pierpoint Morgan venait de consentir a payer photographier la vie des peaux-rouges des Etats-Unis. Plus tard Curtis vendait ses gravures les plus grandes au Dr Charles Goddard Weld, qui a son tour faisait le don des 108 photographes au future musee Peabody Essex de Salem, dans le commonwealth de Massachusetts. Les gravures montraient a merveille les effets chiaroscuro, le focale attenue, les fonds assombris, les poses romantiques et les regards de tres pres, pour faire ressortir les caracteres forts du paysage vaste. Pour en faire tout cela Curtis se servait d'un objectif tres vieux, fabrique en Allemagne, et d'un appareil photographique lourd a porter. J'aime surtout les gravures qui me font comprendre le milieu, telle que De la foret profonde; les routines journalieres, telle que la serie Battre, vanner, arroser et secher le ble; la solidarite du peuple, telle que Dans les rues des peuples Acoma et Walpi; et la vie familiale, telle que La maison des Hava Supai.

Sheila Metzner's photography is transcendent, rich, refined, esthetic, ethereal, modernist, and yet timeless. Her images are fascinating as they exhibit an astonishing tonal range. Enhanced with informative and illustratively descriptive commentaries by Ralph Lauren and M. Raven Metzner, Sheila Metzner: Form And Fashion is a core addition to any serious American history of photography reference collection, and a "must" for any serious student of photography-as-art.

In 1906 photographer Edward Sheriff Curtis held the last showings of his large-format, large-scale platinum exhibition prints at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel and at Boston's St Botolph Club. He had gotten banker John Pierpont Morgan to agree to help pay for a complete photographic record of Native American life. So he sold his larger exhibition prints to Dr Charles Goddard Weld, who then gave the 108 photographs to what is now the Peabody Essex Museum of Salem, Massachusetts. My sculptress mother and artist sister had already shared with me Curtis's pictorialist photography: so in my opinion THE MASTER PRINTS from these last two exhibitions are excellent examples of how the artist-photographer used chiaroscuro effects, close-ups and soft-focus lenses for dramatic and focused lighting, dark backgrounds for adding or subtracting details, and romantic poses to bring out strong personality and sweeping landscape. The book has helpful, to-the-point, well-written foreword, appreciation, afterword, and notes: I find it interesting that the prints might have been made with just an old German lens and a heavy-to-carry 14x17 view plate camera and that all the head and shoulder shots were taken in a tent lined with maroon-colored material and under lighting controlled by a skylight opening on one side. And I particularly like the prints that give a sense of place, such as the clearly photographed nature in "The Mojave water carrier," "Out of the forest depth" and "Taos water carriers"; a sense of family, such as "Hava Supai home," "Inuit hut and family," and Yakutat Indian seal hunter's hut"; a sense of community, such as Acoma and Walpi street scenes, "Apache camp" and "Apache village," "Blackfoot encampment," "Census hogan," "Estufa of San Ildefonso," "Mishongnovi," and [Tlinkit] "Council house"; and a sense of daily activity, such as "Threshing wheat," "Winnowing wheat," "Washing wheat," "Drying wheat," and "Hopi girls grinding peke bread meal." So the book's collection of photographic artistry works especially well with Shannon Lowry's NATIVES OF THE FAR NORTH, THE PLAINS INDIAN PHOTOGRAPHS, and THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN: THE COMPLETE PORTFOLIOS.

This book gives a well rounded look at the work of Edward Sheriff Curtis in a size that is easy to handle.

After viewing on PBS, a documentary of Edward Sheriff Curtis, I was moved to purchase this excellent work.
I was touched to my soul, by the photos, and how well they conveyed a race of people who have all but vanished.
The text that goes with the pictures is also quite good, and tells a remarkable story of a man obsessed to tell the world a story which we all need to hear and see. Curtis sacrificed his own finances and marriage, and did succeed in completing a very exhausting pilgrimage.

This is perhaps the greatest book authored by my uncle, Victor Hugo Boesen. He worked diligently with Curtis' daughter and other members and friends of the Curtis family to research and to write this book. The photographs are stunning. It is a must read for anyone interested in the history of the American Indian and Curtis' crucial role in recording this history. This book has been translated into French and German. Victor Boesen served as a war correspondent for Liberty Magazine during World War II and was present at the signing of the peace treaty on the USS Missouri. His writings appeared in Life, Look, the Los Angeles Times, and other major periodicals and newspapers.

[Review by Larry Blumenfeld, Blumenfeld & Aswsociates, Post Office Box 2831, 660 Circulo Nomada, Tubac, AZ 85646-2831, (520) 398-3371, published in COUNCIL FIRES, The Publication for Western Americana Enthusiasts, Vol. 8, Issue #1, January, 1998, p. 16-17.] E1 Llano Estacado: Exploration and Imagination on the High Plains of Texas and New Mexico, 1536-1860. Written by John Miller Morris. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, First Edition ($39.95). El Llano Estacado is an extremely well written new work of Southwestern History, brilliantly revealing the historical core and heart of one of America's most history-packed regions--the mesaland of the Southern High Plains in Texas and New Mexico. From the Canadian River in the north to the Edwards Plateau in the south, from the Pecos River in the west to the awesome canyonlands of the Red, Pease, Brazos, and Colorado Rivers in the east, these 50,000-square miles of what is commonly referred to as "the Llano" are here chronicled over a period of 300 years, revealing the history, cultural grandeur, and mythic wonders of this special ruggedly beautiful land. A knockout read for both historians and buffs alike, Morris's new book is his song to this unique environment, revealing, melding, and analyzing a diversified series of Spanish, French, Mexican, and Anglo-American explorers and adventurers and how they made their mark on this remarkable land. The book opens with an examination of what is known as the Lost Coronado Trail, pursuing the question of where did the Coronado Expedition go in 1541. What follows is nothing short of a breakthrough analysis of what they saw and how they remembered it as revealed through their personal accounts and journals. The second part of the book, which deals with the Llano Frontier, continues its unique approach to the study of the three centuries of Spanish exploration and imagination following Coronado. Here we revisit this extraordinary land through the eyes and imaginations of the conqueror, Juan de Onate, the accounts of the French explorers, Pierre Mallet and Paul Mallet, and the travel diaries of trailblazers Pedro Vial, Jose Mares, and Francisco Amangual. Part Three then explores and analyzes "the invention or discovery of the Llano through the Anglo imagination," including the "prose of the poet Albert Pike, the grand deceits of Alexander Le Grand, the reasoning of Josiah Gregg, and the legendary collapse of the Texan-Santa Fe Expedition" as chronicled by George Wilkins Kendall and Thomas Falconer. Together the author analyzes what he calls the "American rhetoric of romantic discovery." The Great Zahara, the last of four parts, deliciously delves into the "perceptual approaches of classic U. S. Explorers James W. Abert, Randolph B. Marcy, A. W. Whipple, Andrew Gray, and John Pope...." Powerful, unusual, stimulating, and nothing short of brilliant, El Llano Estacado is one of the finest works of cultural and mythic history of a region I have ever read. Morris has penned a great work of both history and imagination, pushing the boundaries on historical scholarship to limits that I would have never thought possible. This book should change the way history is not only written but perceived. You must read this mmagnificent book!!

Using historical writings of early explorers, the author captures the mystery and magic of the great Llano Estacado or "Staked Plains" that begin in West Texas and extend north and west. Particularly amusing is the efforts of early railroad surveyors to find underground water at the edge of the Llano (aka the caprock) only to miss one of North America's largest aquifers (the Ogalla) by a matter of miles and in some cases yards.

We were going on a trip to see the Llano Estacado and the canyon in west Texas.This book gave the trip so much dimension and understanding at how hard the life was for the explorers and the pioneers in this harsh land.Very cleverly written,holds one attention. Wonderful

The collaborative effort of Emory Dean Keoke (multicultural relations and communications consultant and enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe) and Kay Marie Porterfield (journalist for the "Indian Country Today, the largest Native American owned weekly newspaper in America), Encyclopedia Of American Indian Contributions To The World: 15,000 Years Of Inventions And Innovations is an exciting resource covering the rich and varied histories of Native American tribes and their precontact discoveries and postcontact influences. From the anatomical knowledge of the Mesoamerican cultures at AD 1100; to Native American contributions to agriculture, medicine and pharmacology; to hammocks of forest cultures; to the American Indian influence on Tabasco sauce, and so much more, the Encyclopedia Of American Indian Contributions To The World is an absorbing, 384-page reference offering information and insights into the complexities of Native American cultural history, interaction and social evolution. A highly recommended resource for students of Native American history and culture, the Encyclopedia Of American Indian Contributions To The World is an essential and core addition to academic and community library Native American Studies collections.

This is a very well researched and comprehensive book. It is quite monumental in its scope. To give you an example, I opened the book at random to page 139. One of the listings on this page is Ipecac. Many households know about this medication. It is
usually used to induce vomiting. Children often swallow things they should not. The books goes into some detail about where the plant was first found, how it is refined, and how it came to be used by Europeans. It then lists some sources for further reading.

It also has a great Appendix section. It shows which tribes lived where, including many good maps. The Chronology section lists when different things were discovered or invented by the indigenous people. It also has an appendix which lists the book's
entries by area, by subject and by which tribal group is associated with that item.

I know how long it took me to do the research associated with my book. I can only guess that the authors spent a very long time putting together the material in this book.

EAICW has a plethora of listings and information. EAICW is 384 pages long and measures (in inches): 1.19 x 11.20 x 8.44. It is a BIG book. It would make an excellent addition to any well stocked library.

I highly recommend it.

Published reliable information on Native Americans and their culutral contributions is hard to find. One of these authors is Lakota (Sioux) and has achieved his goal of collecting information to be used by all peoples about the First Americans. This book was first recommended to me by a friend who is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and an acquaintance of Mr. Keoke. I develop and present presentations to both University and Elementary students and often have a dozen or more books piled up to pull together exact references for my presentations. This book accomplishes that same reference task for me plus more. The information and maps in the appendix are much better than many other sources.

My oldest sister used to read these books to me and my other siblings when we were kids. She probably doesn't remember this, but I always will, being among my fondest childhood memories.
The RunAway books were wildly fun and endearing with vivid writing, compelling stories and finely drawn characters, especially the children. Their heroic escapades and wordly resoluteness set an empowering example for other children to follow. These books are rare and wonderful, a must read for children of all ages.

THIS IS A BOOK YOU WILL LOVE.IT HAS EVERY THING FROM EXCITMENT TO FUN.

One of my favorite "Famous Five" books of all time! I loved the vivid characters and the jokes of the Five. The setting it great fun, on an island George "owned", loved the way she was so possessive about the island.

In regard to Mr Kasprzak's review above -- If interested in Viking explorations or any other matter described in that review, one should buy the Northern Voyages work, not the Southern Voyages edition under which Mr Kasprazak's review appears. His signals were crossed.

There's not much doubt that Samuel Eliot Morison's two volume history of the European discovery of America is the best around. The first of the volumes, "The Northern Voyages," is probably of more interest to North Americans, delving as it does into the Vikings and speculative pre-Columbian discoveries of America.

"The Southern Voyages" begins with Columbus, covering his four voyages in about 200 pages, proceeds onward to Magellan and his circumnavigation of the globe, "the most remarkable voyage in recorded history," and finishes with the English voyages of Sir Francis Drake and Thomas Cavendish. Along the way, Morison also discusses the voyages of many "minor" explorers including the enigmatic Amerigo Vespucci, a man of modest accomplishments who saw his name applied to two continents. Sebastian Cabot rates a chapter as does the Dutch discovery of Cape Horn and the French and Portuguese in Brazil.

Morison was a sailor himself, a student of the sea, a naval historian, a biographer of Columbus, and a fine storyteller. He brings a wealth of insight to the voyages and even undertook expeditions of his own to visit the places where the voyagers called. His admiration for Columbus' seamanship is unbounded. "Never was a title more justly bestowed than...Admiral of the Ocean Sea." This admiration is a bit old-fashioned today, as latter-day historians talk more about Columbus's faults on land than his skill at sea. Morison follows each chapter in his book with notes and a bibliography in which he discusses, often with some humor, the controversies, old maps, and speculations so beloved by armchair theorists and explorers. Numerous photographs and outstanding maps dot the text.

To my mind any reading about the European discoverers of America should begin with Morison's two volumes -- and it can end there in most cases unless the reader's thirst for knowledge is unquenchable. This is an outstanding book and nothing comparable has been written to my knowledge since its publication 30 years ago.

Smallchief

Morrison's monumental chronicle of the European expeditions to America still holds its place as the best work in the field after three decades. Although quite lengthy (two volumes weigh in at more than 800 pages each), the books are quite readable and the writing manages to be both scholarly and entertaining.

This history doesn't deal with the explorations in a vacuum. Every voyage to America was prompted and influenced by a variety of social, economic, political, and technological factors in its country of origin, and Morrison gives a thorough view of the background of the explorers and their home country before treating the expeditions themselves. This book will not only tell you what the explorers discovered, but what they were looking for and why.

For all of those interested in the Viking expeditions to North America, this book tells the definitive story. The exact site of the first Viking settlement has been identified, and the archaeological evidence is discussed here. There is also a thorough debunking of several spurious "Viking stones" in places like Minnesota and New Hampshire.

Other explorations of North America are covered in fascinating detail, including the seasonal but very active sixteenth-century fishing outposts in Newfoundland, and the many attempts to discover the elusive Northwest Passage.

As a naval historian, Morrison devoted a fair number of pages in this book to technical descriptions of ships and sailing. The uninterested reader can safely skim over these parts without detracting from the historical saga, but this landlubber found it interesting to trace the technological development of the vessels that crossed the Atlantic.

In short, if you have any interest in who explored the Americas, why they went there, and what they experienced, then this is absolutely the best book you can read on the subject.