University of Nebraska Books

Languages covered in depth are Alabama, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Caddo, Cherokee, Natchez, and Quapaw. The book also contains articles on the proto-Muskogean and the Muskogean language family in general, and there are brief entries on other linguistic topics like the Mobilian Trade Jargon and the "Taensa language" hoax.

In the same grand style as in his "A Natural History of Trees of Eastern and Central North America" the writer continues with unsurpassed stories on trees, in this case the trees of Western North America, where the greatest living trees on the world can be found. What can I add to this? [see also my review on "Eastern Trees"]

It is a great pity Donald Culross Peattie was unable to follow through on his plan for a volume on Southern Trees. [For a few brief notes on the life and the untimely death of the writer see the afterword by his son Noel in the 1991 Indiana University Press reprint of "Flowering Earth"]

Mavericks of black literature are the focus of these essays, considering such under-mentioned writers as J.A. Rogers, an early member of the Harlem Renaissance and pioneering journalist; and Vincent Carter, who lived as a voluntary expatriate writer in Europe. Out There is an intriguing and thoughtful account of a very unusual set of black writers.

Things have been pretty tough for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in recent years. In 2004 they suffered their first losing season in over 40 years, breaking the nation's longest streak in that area. But it would be hard to argue with anyone who claimed that Nebraska was the most dominant team of the 80's and 90's, compiling an eye-popping record of 211 wins against just 36 losses, averaging less than one loss per year in those two decades. Of course the man at the helm for all but the last two seasons of the 90's was the great Tom Osborne. Nebraska Football is of course the subject of this latest offering from Triumph Books and Athlon Sports in their Game Day series, dedicated to the greatest program in college football.

On thing that really makes Nebraska unique is that they don't have the benefit of professional sports or even another large university in their state to compete with. In Nebraska, the Cornhuskers are it and it is one of the great atmospheres in all of sports. The book follows the same formula as the rest in the series, beginning with a look at the Traditions and pageantry of NU football, including their famous red sea of fans, garbed in crimson, and the blackshirt defense as it has become known. I for one never knew the story and origin behind the blackshirt defense until I read this book.

Nebraska's great players reads like who's who of college football greats: Tommie Frazier, Turner Gill, Eric Crouch, Johnny Rodgers, Mike Rozier, Grant Wistrom, Will Shields, and many more. When it comes to coaches, two names stand out, and what a pair they are! Bob Devaney took over in 1962 after Nebraska had finished 3-6-1 the previous year. NU would not have another losing season for over 40 years! Devaney went 101-20-2 and winning 8 conference titles, and two national championships. He turned the team over to Tom Osborne who would do even better with a record of 255-49-3 and three national championships. From 1994-1997, Osborne's teams lost only two games.

Relive some of NU's greatest games including the 1971 "Game of the Century" showdown with rival Oklahoma, won by the Huskers 35 - 31, the 1995 Orange Bowl win over Miami, and the miraculous overtime win over Missouri in 1997 that preserved an unbeaten season. You'll thrill to many more great moments and rivalries in this thrilling look at Nebraska football.

As with all of Triumph's books it sparkles with fantastic black & white and color photography and is personalized by reflections from former players and coaches. Even if you're not a fan of NU, you can't help but respect them.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Featuring full-color photographs of 103 original quilts, all drawn from the Nebraska Quilt Project survey, Nebraska Quilts & Quiltmakers by Patricia Cox Crews (Professor of Textiles, Clothing, And Design, University of Nebraska-Lincoln) and Ronald C. Naugle (Professor of History, Nebraska Wesleyan University) is a dazzling 245-page showcase of great quilts ranging from the 1800's to the modern day, and from stylized repeating decorations, to applique patchworks, to stunning art visions crafted from needlecrafted fabric. Accompanying each presented quilt is a brief biography of its quiltmaker and a history of the quilt, such as one of a pioneer woman who struggled to protect her children and keep them alive under harsh conditions. Nebraska Quilts & Quiltmakers is a very highly recommended and inspirational resource for dedicated quilters of all levels experience and expertise.

An oversized, very handsomely illustrated history of Nebraska. There is some text, but the emphasis is on the photographs depicting various time periods in the state's development. There are 5 major sections: before statehood, the fledgling state, the emergence of modern Nebraska (1890-1930), drought and war (1930-1970), and the most recent technological era (1970-present). The photos are far-ranging and include famous people, forts, Native Americans, early town and city growth, natural formations, Dust Bowl scenes, cowboy and farm life, and the most recent developments. It's a fun book to look at and would grace anyone's coffeetable, Cornhusker or otherwise.

I had to write an essay on the New Deal's effect on the Native American way of life (which, believe me, has very little written on it) and this book was absolutely perfect. Everything I wanted to know about the New Deal in relation to Native American Indians was readily at my fingertips in this easy to understand, well organized, comprehensive guide to the Indian New Deal. I highly recommend it.

The New Warriors: Native American Leaders Since 1900 is an anthology of essays portraying twentieth century Native American leaders from a diversity of tribes, and professions, including Menominee political activist Ada Deer, Kaw U.S. Senator Charles Curtis, Crow orator and reservation superintendent Robert Yellowtail, and many more. A black-and-white photograph of each individual accompanies the succinct, educational, and highly accessible text of modern day heroes, visionaries, and organizers championing their brethren today.

Robert Bringhurst devoted separate volumes to two great poets, Skaay (I'll leave out the lineage name) and Ghandl. Of the two, Ghandl is the easier. His poems are short, focused, intense and memorable. They're often eerie like nightfall on the water. But they're far more than entertainment. Like all real myths, they point to things that can't be stated outright; they teach us ways of finding ourselves in the world and recognizing the intricate weave of reciprocal forces that underpins what we think of as reality. The whole trilogy is eye-opening. Start anywhere; you'll probably end up with all three. And you'll be glad you did.

I have not yet finished this book, but have thoroughly enjoyed the first 20-30 pages after I got it yesterday in the mail.

When I looked back at this page in Amazon, however, I was amazed at how little information there was, so this is the flyleaf. I hope it helps!

"As a young adolescent, Hollis Dorion Stabler underwent a Native ceremony in which he was given the new name Na-zhin-thia, Slow to Rise. It was a name that no white person asked to know during Hollis's tour of duty in Anzio, his unacknowledged difference as an Omaha Indian adding to the poignancy of his uneasy fellowship with foreign and American soldiers alike. Stabler's story--coming of age on the American plains, going to war, facing new estrangement upon coming home--is a universal one, rendered wonderfully strange and personal by Stabler's uncommon perspective, which embraces two worlds, and by his unique voice.

"Stabler's experiences during World War II--tours of duty in Tunisia and Morocco as well as Italy and France, and the loss of his brother in battle--are at the center of this powerful memoir, which tells of growing up as an Omaha Indian in the small-town Midwest of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma in the 1920s and 1930s. A descendant of the Indians who negotiated with Lewis and Clark on the Missouri River, Stabler describes a childhood that was a curious mixture of progressivism and Indian tradition, and that culminated in his enlisting in the old horse cavalry when war broke out--a path not so very different from that walked by his ancestors.

"Victoria Smith, of Cherokee-Delaware descent, interweaves historical insight with Stabler's vivid reminiscences, providing a rich context for this singular life."