Pacific University Books

This book is groundbreaking. It collects several of Hymes' articles in one place. Important articles like Breakthrough into Performance are present and expanded. Anyone interested in the poetry of Native American verbal art should read this book. Hymes is at pains to show that a close (linguistically motivated) analysis of Native American verbal art reveals much of that poetry (whether it be the structuring of intitial particles or the uses of sound symbolism). However, for all that is important about Hymes' commentary, the most important feature is the the stories he presents. Vicoria Howard's 'Seal and Her Younger Brother Lived There' (in Chapter 8) is a modern classic. This is an important book for linguists, Native Americanists, anthropologists, and folklorists and is widely influential. It is a pity that it is currently out of print. Shame on the University of Pennsylvania Press.

An exciting, spirited and uplifting look into our Native Americans' beliefs, values and morals. This area of study is brimming with imagery, fascination and curiosity for all ages.
We read of myths and legends from the Nez Perce, Crow, Sioux, Arapaho, Blackfeet and Shoshone tribes to mention a few. Herein lies tales of:
Creation of the world; origins of many landforms and stars; spirits and monsters in rivers and lakes; "cannibal dwarfs"; "the little people"; prophecies; animals and plants; the list goes on.
A well researched book which shines with enlightenment.

Though this book was first published in 1953, the stories and legends enclosed in Ms. Clark's book are interesting in 1999. I was surprized to find a story and lore concerning a local rock painting site. Each of the stories are indentified by the tribe or nation they come from. This book is a must for anyone interested in Native American lore or legends.

I suppose that some of the work in this book, one of a 13 volume set written between 1916 and 1932 (reprinted in the 1960s, has been changed by more recent scholarship, but there is still nothing to equal this fantastic achievement. The set includes not only the more familiar myths such as Greek and Roman, but pretty well succeeds in its goal to include all of humanity. The text is extremely detailed but very readable; none of the turgid prose so often associated with academia. The volumes contain numerous illustrations, both in the text and as plates (mostly black & white.)
One of the most useful parts of the set is the final volume, an extremely detailed index, which allows the reader to pursue a theme, or even a topic as specific as the significance of belts, across all the volumes. The individual volumes do not have their own indices, but the tables of contents are fairly detailed. The books appear to have been issued without dust jackets.

J.J. Creighton has written a fascinating book on a largely unknown encounter between a group of art students and instructors and a group of traditional Native Americans. This happened in a rather remote area of the state (the Colville Reservation) in the 1930s when gravel roads were the norm. A wonderful record of life on the reservation has been preserved in the form of portraits and landscapes, many of which are illustrated in this book.

This mammoth volume (over 670 pages) truly is the Indians' own book. Natalie Curtis served as collector, editor, and arranger. The elegant and eloquent simplicity of the tales give testimony that these are the Native American's own words. Not only that, but since it was first published in 1905, these are the memories of chiefs, elders, and holy men that still remembered the old days and the old ways. Plus, the marvelous illustrations were all done by tribe members (except for the photographs) and really contribute to the overall magic of the whole. The songs are all authentic and are given in both English and the original tribal languages (with pronunciation guides.)

While not a comprehensive reference of all the tribes it does give a good range of peoples from the eastern coast, northern woodlands, plains, southwest, and pacific coast. The tribes included are: Wabanaki, Dakota, Pawnee, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Winnebago, Kwakiutl, Pima, Apache, Mohave-Apache, Yuma, Navaho, Zuni, San Juan, Acoma, Laguna, and Hopi.

This book is a great monument to all the peoples and their respective ways of life. It is proof that the social engineers and bureaucrats did not kill the spirit and culture of the rightful caretakers of this land. As long as such a book exists the way back to the old, centered way of living can be backtracked.

This is a moving book. Even Theodore Roosevelt was moved by the "depth and dignity" of Indian thought.

This is a fine book that provides important new insights not only into the history of big cattle ranching in California, but also into our broader understanding of the settlement of the American West and the meaning of American industrialization. Igler's concept of the "industrial cowboy" who works, in essence, in a factory without walls in which the landscape of nature itself becomes part of the technological system should force all American historians to rethink their understanding of what constitutes an industrialization. Likewise, Igler's work adds to the growing body of evidence that one of the best ways of defining and thinking about the American West is a place where a relatively pristine environment interesected with an advanced industrial society.

1. As I write, the complete works of Charles Darwin are available online for free. For instance, you can view this book's content, including all of its images, and the original page numbers, at John van Wyhe's britishlibrary website. This online version includes an excellent indexing and search facility that contains more information than the book's actual index.

2. This book describes Darwin's studies of how carnivorous plants catch, ingest and digest flies. The experiments are historically significant... and amusing, if only for the interesting forms of gunk used by Darwin to study the plants. Of the 18 chapters, the first 11 deal with one specific variety of sundew, Drosera rotundifolia. The twelfth chapter covers other varieties of sundew. The thirteenth and fourteenth chapters are on the Dionaea Muscipula (Venus fly-trap) and Aldrovanda vesiculosa (an aquatic trap). The fifteenth describes the Drosophyllum lusitanicum (Portuguese sundew), the Roridula dentata, and the Byblis. Chapter 16 covers Butterworts (Pinguicula), while the final two chapters examine Bladderworts (Utricularia).

3. If you are interested in Darwin history: In "Insectivorous Plants," we see Darwin the experimentalist, with his old friends, colleagues and family, uniting in 1874 to catalogue and understand insectivorous plants. Included in the studies are long-time Darwin associates Hooker and Thistelton-Dyer from Kew, Sanderson (experimenting with plant digestion) at University College London, Asa Gray at Harvard, and Darwin's sons. There was some correspondence with Lyell, on this topic, but Lyell's friendship with Darwin had soured, and Lyell died while Darwin worked on this book. This book initially sold more rapidly than The Origin of the Species. Francis "Frank" Darwin met and married Amy Ruck, his first wife during this time. George Romanes, who had studied with Frank at Cambridge, joined the family at this time, and may have had an influence on the book. Darwin also corresponded about such scientific greats as FC Donders. And so Insectivorous Plants will be interesting to those who are familiar with Darwin's life and times. If you want to read Darwin's correspondence during this time, see "The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin" (F. Darwin, 1905, also available online). Chapter 13 covers insectivorous plants. As the book went to press, Darwin wrote Hooker: "You ask about my book, and all that I can say is that I am ready to commit suicide; I thought it was decently written, but find so much wants rewriting, that it will not be ready to go to printers for two months, and will then make a confoundedly big book. Murray will say that it is no use publishing in the middle of summer, so I do not know what will be the upshot; but I begin to think that every one who publishes a book is a fool."

4. If you are interested in evolution, and the the evolution of insectivorous plants: There isn't much if any discussion of evolution in this book. If I'm not mistaken, Darwin took something of a break from evolutionary theory and natural selection when he wrote this book. As far as I know, Darwin didn't spend much time speculating about the evolution of these plants. Apparently, there isn't much of a fossil record of carnivorous plants. As tests of genetic similarity have improved, there has been new speculation about the evolution of carnivores. Some sources: A) Juniper, B. E., Robins, Richard J. and Joel, D. M. (1989). The Carnivorous Plants. London; San Diego, Academic Press. B) Cook, Steve R. (2001). ?When plants kill.? Accessed online: October 10, 2001. (find online) C) Cameron, Kenneth M., Wurdack, Kenneth J. and Jobson, Richard W. (2002). Molecular evidence for the common origin of snap-traps among carnivorous plants. American Journal of Botany. 89(9): 1503-1509. (find online). Barry Rice's new book is due out any day, and I feel confident that it will examine this issue clearly.

5. If you are interested in learning more about carnivorous plants, take a look at the list of sources I'll post under Listmania. I feel confident that the new book by Barry Rice will be an excellent source. There are excellent books to consider that have been authored by Gordon Cheers, Peter D'Amato, Rica Erickson, Barry Juniper et al., Patricia Kite, Francis Lloyd (1940's), Allen Lowrie, Charles Nelson, James & Patricia Pietropaulo, Nick Romanowski, Donald Schnell, Adrian Slack, Dorothy Souza, and others. The new book by Rice is probably the most important new book since Schnell (2002) and D'Amato (1998), both highly recommended. Much depends on your interests and level of knowledge. So stay tuned for my list!

The photographs alone make this volume an enormous pleasure.

This book, being written in 1924, is NOT an introduction to MODERN Southwestern Archaeology but, it is a classic. If you are at all interested in the development of SW Archaeology this is the book. Kidder was the person with the most influence on development in this area. He was not the first person to use pottery seriation, stratigraphic methods, dendrochronology, and sound research design but he brought these and other scientific methods to the forefront of American Archaeology. He introduced multidisciplinary approaches to the field and transformed SW Archaeology from simple artifact gathering for museums into the organized empirical science it is today. In this book you can see it being done. You will see terms such as Basket Maker, Post Basket Maker, pre-Pueblo being developed.

The introductory essay by Douglas Schwartz alone is worth the price of the book. He outlines the work done by five other major researchers (There were several more) in the region before Kidder. These five had an impact on Kidder's work. Schwartz takes us beyond 1924 thru the Pecos Conference of 1927, called by Kidder to, among other things, develop a standard nomenclature system which still stands today (Basketmaker I-III and Pueblo I-V). The annual Pecos Conference has been held every year since 1927.