Indian Books

This children's book describes the animal- and plant-life found in the desert in the southwest U.S., including the Papago Indians. Children learn more about what it is like to live in such an environment. The book was illustrated by Peter Parnall and was a 1976 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustrations in a book for children.

The Desert story is beautifully depicted, wonderfully written, enjoyed and gives a vivid insight into life stories and cultures.
I have purchased and read many of "Byrd Baylor's" books. Read them to grandchildren and also read them to very elderly frail folk in nursing home care and been very much enjoyed by all.

HELLO, I AM 24 AND I WILL START TEACHING ON JANUARY. I WILL USE THIS BOOK WHEN TALKING ABOUT ANIMALS AND NATURE. IT IS A USEFUL BOOK FOR GRADES 4TH AND UP BECAUSE OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS AND THE MESSAGE IN POETIC FORM. A MUST READ BOOK! I RECOMEND IT HIGHLY. I AM USING IT NOW FOR MY CHILDREN'S LITERATURE CLASS.

Captain John Gregory Bourke (June 23, 1843-June 8, 1896): 3rd U.S. Calvary, Civil War veteran, graduate of West Point, staff officer to General George Crook for 16 years, writer, diarist, ethnologist, holder of the Civil War medal and Medal of Honor, and later Indian War medal, now buried in Arlington National Cemetery with wife, Mary. What a life he packed into those short 52 years of life!

If any primary sources should see print, it is the written diary that John Gregory Bourke kept throughout his life. We owe a true vote of 'thanks' to Mr. Robinson for taking on this venture.

Though Captain Bourke published many works during his army years his diary, far as I know, has never seen the light-of-day in book form. John Bourke, General Crook's 'Dr. Watson', was himself an ethnologist, a military historian, as well as writer. To the Sioux (Lakota) he was known as "Ink Man" and later to the Apaches he was known as "Paper Medicine Man". He was both an "accurate reporter of Indian custom and ritual".

Eventually he was invited to work with the U.S. Bureau of Ethnology and his interest in tribal welfare did some damage to his long army career. Many readers will remember two of his better known works: ON THE BORDER WITH CROOK, and AN APACHE CAMPAIGN IN THE SIERRA MADRE. Faithful to General George Crook, to whom he had served 16 years in field or post as staff officer, Bourke's writings offer an historical chronicle of their joint military campaigns. In 1986 Joseph C. Porter wrote a fine biography of Captain John Gregory Bourke entitled PAPER MEDICINE MAN.

At the time of this review, 3 volumes of the important historical diaries have been published by Mr. Robinson and University of North Texas Press. May this noble, worthy effort be blessed with much success; what a boon for any reader interested in plains history and the Indian War campaigns of the 19th century.

Semper Fi.

Historians of the Apache and Sioux wars have long used the diaries of Lieutenant (later Captain) John Gregory Bourke but until Charles Robinson came along they have been available only at the West Point library, or in microfilm copies at a few university libraries. Bourke maintained a through and careful journal and frequently included the text of offical cables and reports. This is not a great diary from a literary point of view, but Bourke's gradually developing understanding of the Indians he was putting on reservations reflects what was going on in the collective mind of America itself. Before Bourke died he had become one of the proto-anthropologists who recorded the beliefs and customs of Indians who were fast forgetting their own culture. The present volume -- third in the series -- is notable for an extended account of the killing of Crazy Horse in 1877, an unnecessary blunder for which General George Crook, Bourke's hero in both sense of the word, was largely responsible. Bourke does what he can to defend his commander, including many distortions and a few outright lies. This account must be read with care and frequent reference to other accounts by Oglalas interviewed by Eleanor Hinman and Mari Sandoz, and by Billy Garnett, the ubiquitous interpreter, then only 22--years-old; Jesse Lee and Henry Lemly. But Bourke's sensitivity on the point only highlights the importance of his diary; he was in the thick of events, had the character to shed prejudices along the way, and did serious work in preserving knowledge of Indians as they were in the last third of the 19th century. Robinson is the author of many books of frontier military history, including a biography of Crook. His annotations of the Bourke diaries are thorough and reliable. No interested person or serious library should be without these books. Reviewed by Thomas Powers.

Edited and annotated by Charles M. Robinson (history instructor at South Texas Community College and a fellow of the Texas State Historical Association), The Diaries Of John Gregory Bourke: Volume Two: July 29, 1876-April 7, 1878 is the next published installment of the personal journals of John Gregory Bourke who served as cavalry lieutenant in Arizona from 1872 up to the evening before his death in 1896. A noted ethnologist who wrote extensive descriptions of Native American tribal life and customs that he observed first hand, he illustrated his diaries with both sketches and photographs. This second published volume opens as General Crook prepares for the expedition that would lead to his infamous and devastating Horse Meat March. The diary faithfully recounts the manifold hardships the troops and their officers endured. The diary then continues with the story of the Powder River Expedition and culminates in Bourke's eyewitness description of Colonel Ranald MacKenzie's destruction of the main Cheyenne camp in what become known as the Dull Knife Fight. With the main hostile chiefs either surrendering or forced into exile in Canada, field operations came to a close and Bourke finishes this second volume of his memoirs with a retrospective of his service in Tucson, Arizona. Enhanced for the modern reader with extensive annotations and a biographical appendix on Indians, civilians, and military personnel named in the diaries, this outstanding series continues to be a seminal and strongly recommended contribution to American Frontier History and Native American Studies reference collections and supplementary reading lists.

Wonderful illustrations, words that speak to the heart and soul. This is a great book for all ages. My 20 month old son loves the pictures and the sing-song rhythmn of the words, my 82 year old father loves the spirit of the book. We have the paperback in our sons library, and the hardback on our family library for future generations... Walk in peace, ...

I can't decide who enjoys this book more? Me or the kids. Beautifully written and illustrated. A must have for all nature lovers with children (or without).

This book is the best children's story to read to your kids on a fresh, April morning. It is a poetic journey through the natural world just as Spring begins. The illustrations are breathtaking, bold, and seem to flow off the page into your hand as you turn from one awesome scene to the next. The words, few but powerful, bring the reader through a meditation on the earth's beauty as seen through the eyes of an Oneida woman.

Massive in size, lizard-like, and armed with horns and teeth; it's no wonder dinosaurs capture children's imaginations. "Dinosaurs!" is a book to educate young readers about these massive lizards from millions of years ago, filled with full color illustrations and fun facts. Sure to please any young dinosaur lover, "Dinosaurs!" should be in the science shelves of every community library's children's collection.

This book is a classic for all young dinosaur fans. When my kids were into dinos, this was a favorite early book. The dinosaur pictures are clear. The dinos are all described, w/ enough detail to be able to identify them, w/out being a textbook. But my favorite part of this book is that all the dinosaur names are spelled out phonetically! It makes life so much easier when you know what to all the great beasties!

I will post a photo of the book, ASAP.

Enjoy!
Books-from-mk

This book was a wonderful introduction to Dinosaurs for my son. It taught him the names of dinosaurs and what they eat in a way that was understandable for him.

Visionary Mohawk medicine woman, Ohky Simine Forest's first book is a comprehensive and poetic reporting of long misunderstood ways of the Red Lodge of indigenous peoples. Had Europeans come to this continent as gracious guests, these are mysteries of the matriarchal Mohawk society that could have been shared with them. Herself an initiate in Mohawk, Mayan and Mongolian shamanism, Forest reveals the spiritual matrix which these cultures share and embeds it in a contemporary, real world political urgency. Synthesizing these core spiritual beliefs and practices, Forest offers compelling evidence that the view from the Red Lodge is what the world requires for individual and collective restoration to well being. The Red Lodge ways also provide, in the Medicine Wheel, an earth-derived map to self-governance that modern people are questing for in many guises. She teaches that the Medicine Wheel equips us to relate to planet and self in ways that are nearly inseparable, self-supporting and without which no sane system for enduring societal governance can arise. How do we build, nurture and sustain community? The matriarchs of the Mohawk have been doing it since antiquity and through perils most of us will never face. Forest, a Mohawk matriarch with a vision lives among the Maya people with this community building governance backed by the spiritual backbone of shamanism. Forest has little patience with hit and run shamanic wannabes and the extraction of "techniques" from their cultural matrix which leads, she observes, to further soul and societal illness. In this book she reveals with surprising candor, depth, and her characteristic humor, the world into which the shaman walks with expanding perception and deepening experience. It's no cake walk and Forest's book is unflinching in its descriptions of the challenges and dangers of this work. For instance, trotting out a Power Animal "technique" or forming a relationship with the incorrect Power Animal can have debilitating effects on personal energy and health. It is a sacred relationship born of the waters of the Red Lodge, she cautions, not a one size fits all concept that can be extracted safely from its matrix and doled out casually in workshops. Forest both describes and elucidates the interwoven meanings of the Medicine Wheel, dream body work, lucid dreaming. power animal allies, earth burial ceremony, vision questing, journeying in the nine Mayan underworlds and the thirteen Mayan upperworlds as well as giving a comprehensive recounting of native prophecies and their considerable energetic, economic and political significance for our modern times. This is a text to which those who study or practice shamanic work will refer again and again.

This book is one of the most serious, dense, and challenging of its kind in a genre saturated with slim, superficial volumes. The wisdom is clearly ancient and rich, and is carefully measured out for the reader. The teachings are not easily absorbed (by this North American, at least), but are excellent if you are looking for a deeper, truer understanding of shamanic traditions. Highly recommended.

Dreaming The Council Ways is a beautiful, complex work of synthesis and rebirth. Author Ohky Simine Forest weaves together spiritual training disciplines and practices from several cultures, including Mohawk, Mayan, Mongolian, and others. An added feature is her beautiful fold-out full color art work on several points of teaching. These are truly lovely, deserving extra attention. Forest patiently and warmly encourages the reader to respectfully explore beginning from their own racial perspective(s) and not to expect quick fix New Age short cuts or other cultural appropriation practices to yield valid, lasting insight or growth. Material on matriarchal traditions will interest students of feminine perspectives. Forest is not a comfortable read. That is not her way or her goal. She opens and hopes for a deeper spiritual connection with the reader, sharing information on dreaming, medicine wheel practices, interpreting power animal guides, and vision quests. She seeks the larger view, the convergence of spiritual paths. She challenges and teaches, reflecting the responsibility to heal back to each individual (where it belongs). As with all worthwhile experiences, more will be gained from giving more. That also applies to reading and understanding her book. Dreaming the Council Ways is accessible to nonNative readers, but it will yield more to the better, more thoughtful effort to understand with respect.

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.

I will continue to buy from this seller because they provided fast service.

If you've ever questioned the story of creation as given by organized religions and think it just make any sense and lacks logic, then read this book. It tells the true story of creation and ties it in with all the unanswered questions we've ever had, such as where prehistoric man and dinosaurs fit in, who Lilith was, who the sons of God were who married the daughters of men, as depicted in the first part of Genesis, and where all the ancient myths and legends of various creatues such as centaurs, etc., came from. "The Edgar Cayce's Story of the Origin and Destiny of Man" is great reading and makes you want to keep turning the pages to find out more.

I read this book several years ago and was absolutely enthralled by Edgar Cayce's vision of human "evolution." He speaks of the many epochs on earth from when human beings first incarnated on the planet, through the rise and fall of great civilizations and into the future of today's civilization. Cayce takes you on a journey of spiritual evolvement through the ages. Whether you lend credence to his vision or not (I do...) you will find Mr. Cayce's revelations to be simply remarkable. A wonderful book!

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

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.

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.

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.