A Boy Called Slow (Paperstar Book)

Customer Reviews:

Entirely respectful, explicitly readable.......2003-12-22

Please bear with me as I explain something. When I was an undergraduate in college I did an art project that looked at photographs and their titles. I was interested in the ways in which people will completely reassess their interpretation of a piece of art when they read its title. Many times, a person will completely bypass the art itself so as to see the title and be told what to think. In much the same way, I almost immediately flipped to the back cover of this book to read information about the author. It was as if I had to confirm or deny my suspicions before they'd even formed. As it happens, I was pleased to read that Joseph Bruchac was a Native American storyteller. Would I have enjoyed this books as much as I did had I not read this? I don't know. In any case, the book is lovely. The text is respectful and unhurried, choosing to develop the characters before launching into action. It does not revert to any cliches that I could discover, and the drawings are superb. They are sometimes dreamlike, sometimes evocative shots of people going about their lives, and sometimes tent drawings. I know that some have complained that this book has a bit of a *gotcha* ending, and I have to admit that I agree. It's a surprise ending that comes as no surprise at all. Nonetheless, the story tells well and I would unequivocally recommend it for storytelling to kids. It would pair well with other stories of great Native American heroes.

Cool!.......2003-05-28

When I first opened this book I had no clue the boy called slow was Sitting Bull. When I realized that after reading a few pages, I thought wow! That is so neat. I learned so much about the indian culture and how they came up with their names. I like this book a lot. I'm going to keep it for my children to read when I get older.

A boy called slow: the true story of sitting bull.......2003-05-13

I thought this book was wonderful. It has great illustrations, and explains the story of sitting bull very well. I think it is a great resource for teaching about indian culture.

great book to use in class.......2003-02-25

this is a great book to use in class for a biography lesson on sitting bull. it's also a great way to explore american indian naming practices.

Burlington Public Library Youth Book Discussion Group.......2001-03-24

We read this book for our book club, and rated it on the following items. What is shown is an average of our votes, 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest:

Illustration quality -- 4

Information quality -- 3

Information quantity -- 2

Story quality -- 4

Customer Reviews:

Squanto the great indian!.......2006-11-08

I have been reading this wonderful book called Squanto, If you didn't
read it well don't worry I'll tell you a little bit about him.
Squanto is about your age in this book.White men came to his island.
They where leaving but Squanto wanted to go with them.
He didn't know where he was going.He heard a voise saying
"were going to London!".Squanto stayed there for 3 years.He went back
and saw...............nothing

THE COOL BOOK ABOUT SQUANTO.......2006-11-08

I thought that book was a cool book. In the begening of the book the white men wanted Squanto to go with them to London.So Squanto said yes. So Squanto went with the white men. It took 1 year to get to America to London.Squanto had a comfty new bed that he had to get use to.Next he stayed there for a few years.

A Great Nonfiction Book.......2006-11-08

In this book ,Squanto Friend of the pilgrims,there is a boy named Squanto and in the book it tells how he is a Patuxet. One day he was walking along a path and saw a ship and knew it was a white man's ship. He didn't wait one second to tell his people what he saw. So he ran as fast as he could when he raeched his village Squanot went strate to his home. Squanto told his mom and dad about the ship he saw. His mom was not very happy about this but on the ather hand Squanto' dad was theriled to hear this news and he told him to tell the chief. Also the chief was happy about this news....The next day Squanto went to find the white men and make friends with them. Squanto found the white men over a hill finally they became friends.That is my version of this story.

Awesome Squanto.......2006-11-08

Squanto went with the white men to meet oher people. Squanto wanted to go home but all the ships were full.After one year Squanto lived with his best friend Charles Robbins. Then one day he heard a ship was avalible. He got on the ship and in a few days later. They went huning and Squanto dicided to go home and he got half way there and Caption Hunt and cought him and tied his ankles and wrists with rope.a slave market in spain.Two chrishtens bought him and let him go. He wentto England.Hewent home and he found a little boy and asked him where his tribe was
and the little boy said they had a disease.everyone caughtit and died.The little boy asked him if he wanted tocome to his tibe andhe said" YES". The End!

Squanto the great indian!!.......2006-11-08

Squanto friend of the pilgims is a great book! It gives a lot of information about Squanto.He was a nice person he wanted to meet the white men. When the white men came to their land Squanto went to meet them. Squanto was in a bush hiding from the white men {pilgrims} one of the white men pulled up gun and shot a bird Squanto jumped out and ducked. He met the white men and sailed to London with the pilgrims. He stayed there for many years. When he went back home he was captured and taken back to London and was a slave but two pastors freed him. when he came home his tribe was gone there was nothing left for him.

Black Kettle : The Cheyenne Chief Who Sought Peace but Found War

Average customer rating:

Heart-rending of conquest
A Sad Commentary On Our Nineteenth Century Westward Expansion
One American's Most Shameful Episodes
A Great Biography About An Important Man

Black Kettle : The Cheyenne Chief Who Sought Peace but Found War
Thom Hatch
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471445924

Book Description

The Compelling, Tragic Story of a Great Cheyenne Chief

As white settlers poured into the west during the nineteenth century, many famous Indian chiefs fought to stop them, including Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Geronimo. But one great Cheyenne chief, Black Kettle, understood that the whites could not be stopped. To save his people, he worked unceasingly to establish peace and avoid bloodshed. Yet despite his heroic efforts, the Cheyennes were repeatedly betrayed and would become the victims of two notorious massacres, the second of which cost Black Kettle his life. In this first biography of black Kettle, historian Thom Hatch at last gives us the full story of this illustrious Native American leader, offering an unforgettable portrait of a chief who sought peace but found war.

Praise For Thom Hatch

The Blue, the Gray, and the Red

"Clear and even-handed. . . . This popular history recounts grim, bloody, lesser-known events of the Civil War. . . . The slaughter of Black Kettle's Cheyennes at Sand Creek . . . forms a devastating chapter."
-Publishers Weekly

The Custer Companion

"Highly recommended . . . a reliable and impartial guide to the subject and literature."
-Library Journal

Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn

"A work that is readable by itself, meticulously researched and clearly written."
-The Tulsa World

Customer Reviews:

Heart-rending of conquest.......2006-02-10

Thom Hatch hits the mark on Cheyenne Indian Chief Black Kettle's efforts to uphold peaceful relations throughout manifest destiny. Despite broken treaty after broken treaty by the government and gluttonous bone-headed army generals with personal vendettas and lack of respect for the Indians, it is a wonder that Black Kettle maintained his philosophy on peace for so many years.
It is disheartening that the vision of peace is what eventually killed him along with many of his people.
If surviving the brutal and senseless butchery of Sand Creek Massacre by egotistical Colonel Chivington wasn't enough punishment, Black Kettle was to soon afterwards undergo additional tests of endurance from the thoughtless and misguided behavior of the U. S. military and government.
A very persuasive, gripping and touching account of one man's dream of peace.

A Sad Commentary On Our Nineteenth Century Westward Expansion.......2005-08-30

This work explores the efforts of a great Cheyenne chief who, despite his betrayal by the white man, continued his search for peace, only to lose his life in the process. It reveals how Black Kettle stood in stark contrast to Chivington, Sherman, Sheridan, Custer and others, who enthusiastically effected our government's policy of destroying the culture of the Plains Indians and killing, with little or no excuse, innocent tribal menbers. Make no mistake, there were elements within the tribes who were no better. However, one cannot read this well-written account without coming away with a sense of revulsion toward those members of the white power structure and our military who made so little effort to understand a people who were different and to treat them with the respect they deserved. Read this book if you want to know more than one will find within the usual histories written by the victors.

One American's Most Shameful Episodes.......2005-02-08

The title should read, "Black Kettle, the Cheyenne Chief who Sought Life and Found Only Death". This is a difficult book to read because the story is not only true but shameful. As someone from Colorado, I was horrified to learn many of our streets and city areas are named after men who were often theives, liars, opportunists and some even condoned the murder of the Native Americans. One tries to frame the story in the context of the time and the ignorance and the misunderstandings of the of white America, yet in 2005 the site of the Sand Creek massacre is a minor footnote that most Coloradians are unaware and The Black Hills still have not been returned to the Souix, so has our sense of justice towards Native Americans really changed? The book does a excellent, informative telling of the story of a very shameful part of Colorado and American history.This is the story of an exceptional man who rightly always believed in peace but wrongly believed in the U.S. government. We should be reminded of this past and never forget the genocide that was carried out in the country in the name of westward expansion. Black Kettle should be remembered as man who was as great in statue as any American hero.

A Great Biography About An Important Man.......2004-10-17

It has been 140 years since that dark dawn rose over the eastern plains of Colorado bathing the land in blood and gore at Sand Creek. Countless books have been written about the subject, and its story has been recounted in film. Today, there are those who believe it was a massacre, others it was a battle that turned into a massacre, but to all academic historians Chivington's attack upon a sleeping village of Cheyenne and Arapaho was nothing but a massacre turned into a blood bath of unspeakable horror.

A new book by Thom Hatch is now available entitled, "Black Kettle: The Cheyenne Chief Who Sought Peace But Found War" The book is the first ever written biography about the Cheyenne leader. And, Sand Creek is at the center of Black Kettle's life.

Black Kettle is more than a story of one man's life. The story Hatch shares is rich in Plains Indian culture focusing on the Cheyenne people along with their form of government, laws, religion, courtship, and military society. The narrative follows the Cheyenne relationships with other tribes that were both productive and destructive. Hatch also describes life for the Cheyenne after the white man enters the scene. Hatch's passages about the warrior societies are filled with pageantry, color, and ritual.

Much of what Hatch discusses in this portion of the book has been written before, but Black Kettle finally becomes a human being instead of just a symbol of the wrongs committed against the Indians. After Black Kettle witnessed the peace gathering between his people and the Kiowas, Hatch explains its effect upon the Cheyenne leader.

"Perhaps this event made enough of an impression upon Black Kettle that it served as a lesson in shaping his future role as a man who believed that peace with any enemy - even the white man - was attainable if both parties were honorable and sincere with their promise to become friends."

The centerpiece of any story around Black Kettle has to be the Sand Creek Massacre and Hatch does not disappoint the reader. There can be no honest telling of Sand Creek that doesn't move the reader, and the story of Black Kettle at Sand Creek is powerful. Black Kettle leads as many of his people as he can to safety to the Sand Pits except for his wife, Medicine Woman Later, who is shot down near the creek in a hail of bullets.

At twilight, Black Kettle returns to find his wife as the soldiers commit the atrocities around him. Finding Medicine Woman Later still alive, Black Kettle carries her on his back for miles until he catches-up with the survivors, who by now are moving northeast away from the killing field. Putting his wife on a horse, Black Kettle leads his people to the Dog Soldier camps.

So ends the Sand Creek Massacre, but far more of the life of Black Kettle follows. A true leader is one that stands up for what he believes, never wavers, and makes decisions based solely on the betterment of his people, not for how it might make his life better. Black Kettle was such a leader. Black Kettle continued to sue for peace from the white man, even after Sand Creek, even though many of his people chastised him for it, even though the intimidation of the Dog Soldiers tried to stop him. Black Kettle knew his people would be doomed if they continued to fight the people moving into their lands. He believed peace was the only choice the Cheyenne had to save what they could of their way of life.

Tom Hatch brings us the complete life of Black Kettle -- his analysis of the man's life and the events surrounding it is fresh, bold, and provides new challenges for future researches.

Average customer rating:

A powerful voice
Kiowa memories
Beautifully Written Story
A timeless journey
Unique

The Way to Rainy Mountain
N. Scott Momaday
Manufacturer: University of New Mexico Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0826304362

Book Description

First published in paperback by UNM Press in 1976, The Way to Rainy Mountain has sold over 200,000 copies.

"The paperback edition of The Way to Rainy Mountain was first published twenty-five years ago. One should not be surprised, I suppose, that it has remained vital, and immediate, for that is the nature of story. And this is particularly true of the oral tradition, which exists in a dimension of timelessness. I was first told these stories by my father when I was a child. I do not know how long they had existed before I heard them. They seem to proceed from a place of origin as old as the earth.

"The stories in The Way to Rainy Mountain are told in three voices. The first voice is the voice of my father, the ancestral voice, and the voice of the Kiowa oral tradition. The second is the voice of historical commentary. And the third is that of personal reminiscence, my own voice. There is a turning and returning of myth, history, and memoir throughout, a narrative wheel that is as sacred as language itself."--from the new Preface

Kiowa Indian myth, history, and personal reminiscences.

Customer Reviews:

A powerful voice.......2007-01-24

Mr. Momaday's voice in his collection of stories is priceless. He tells of the Kiowa's legends, follows them up with facts, and includes his own reflections on what it means to be Kiowa, Indian/Native American, human. The inclusion of his father's artwork makes this an even more impressive volume.

I was fortunate enough to meet Mr. Momaday at a Western Writers Conference where he gave readings from this collection. And, not being a writer myself I felt out of place. It was Mr. Momaday's voice (think James Earl Jones), and his notice of me (the only other Indian/Native American in the auditorium) that mesmerized me. I've been a fan ever since.

Kiowa memories.......2006-07-15

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, N. Scott Momaday, has compiled a remarkable book of Kiowan myths and stories. Each story is followed by relevant historical and anthropological commentary and by Momaday's personal memories and musings. Taken as a whole, it is the story of the Kiowa tribe during its Golden Age from the 18th to the late 19th centuries. It is beautifully illustrated by Al Momaday, the author's father.

It is a soulful, nostalgic look at a people and way of life that is now all but lost to us. There is much to be learned from Mr. Momaday's thoughts and reflections. There may come a time when our own culture will wane and pass from the earth. If you've enjoyed this book, take a look at The Wisdom of the Native American, edited by Kent Nerburn, which contains orations and essays by Native American leaders. That book is also very good.

Beautifully Written Story.......2004-01-24

In his writing, Momaday creates a vibrant sense of how stories are expressed through living words within vital communities. His brillant blending of mythology, folktales, oral history, historical descriptions, and personal reflections all connect in a fascinating story about finding one's way in life's journeys. The writing is so vivid and the book is so animated that patient readers will connect with what Momaday presents, provided that they choose to share in the reflective silence that he offers on the way to Rainy Mountain.

A timeless journey.......2002-03-04

The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday; illustrated by Al Momaday. Highly recommended.

Rainy Mountain, a "single knoll [that] rises out of the plain in Oklahoma," is an old landmark for the Kiowa people. It is a land of bitter cold, searing heat, summer drought, and "great green and yellow grasshoppers." It is a land of loneliness, where the Kiowa were drawn after a long journey from the northwest through many types of lands.

The Way to Rainy Mountain is about the journey-in myth, in drawings by Momaday's father Al, in reminiscences, and in historical snippets. All reveal aspects of Kiowa culture, life, philosophy, outlook, spirituality, and sense of self-the beauty and the desolation, how the introduction of the horse revolutionized Kiowa life, the story of Tai-me, and the richness of the word and the past. It is a literal journey as well; Momaday, in Yellowstone, writes, "The Kiowas reckoned their stature by the distance they could see, and they were bent and blind in the wilderness."

This is a small gem of a book, beautifully written, illustrated, and designed. It has moments of insight, beauty, and sadness, as the ending of the Sun Dance, telling as the sun is at the heart of the Kiowa's soul-a soul that survives in every word and drawing of The Way to Rainy Mountain.

Diane L. Schirf, 3 March 2002.

Unique.......2001-01-06

This book is deceptively short: it can be read in about an hour, but you find yourself going back and reading its various passages and thinking about them long afterwards. Momaday tells a story of the Kiowa Indians by tying in three aspects: folklore, actual historical events and his own family history. The book's format underscores this, with the first, folkloric item printed on one page, and the historical and personal reflections in separate paragraphs on the facing page, all set in different fonts. Not meant to be a comprehensive account of the Kiowas, it is rather an attempt to express the author's own feelings and his own view of his heritage. In this he largely succeeds, as he writes poetry in a simple yet powerful prose form. The only shortcoming for me were the illustrations (done by Momaday's father), which seemed to add little to the overall narrative. Otherwise, "The Way to Rainy Moutain" is a very unique and worthwhile book.

Native Peoples of Alaska: A Traveler's Guide to Land, Art, and Culture

Average customer rating:

not what I expected -- not an anthropology text, but a really well-written guidebook

Native Peoples of Alaska: A Traveler's Guide to Land, Art, and Culture
Jan Halliday , and Patricia J. Petrivelli
Manufacturer: Sasquatch Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Tourist Destinations & Museums | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1570611009

Customer Reviews:

not what I expected -- not an anthropology text, but a really well-written guidebook.......2007-07-17

What a shame that this book is out of print! I bought a used copy on Amazon, expecting that it would be an introductory cultural anthropology textbook. Instead, it is really a guide book with a focus on cultural tourism, and an extremely good one. It is highly readable, both well-written and also well-printed on high quality paper, and includes some valuable details that my standard guidebook omitted. If I only take one guide book with me on my upcoming Inner Passage tour, this will be the one.

The American Heritage History of the Indian Wars

Average customer rating:

Good sweeping history on the topic...
Great narrative history of English/American Indian War
Fascinating
The Complete Story of Every US Indian/Anglo Conflict

The American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
Rh Value Publishing
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

ASIN: 0517385546
Release Date: 1985-07-22

Book Description

An absorbing and comprehensive work, INDIAN WARS recounts the violent conflicts between Native Americans and white settlers that lasted more than three hundred years, the effects of which still resonate today. Here, the widely respected historians Robert Utley and Wilcomb Washburn examine both small battles and major wars -- from the Native rebellion of 1492, to Crazy Horse and the Sioux War, to the massacre at Wounded Knee. This volume contains a new introduction by Robert Utley.

Customer Reviews:

Good sweeping history on the topic..........2006-08-09

I would recommend this book for anyone who is not a "buff" in the area of Native American history. It provides a good historical foundation in a rather sweeping treatment of the topic. I personally used this book as a spring board to jump into a fascinating historical treatment of Crazy Horse, as re-told by Sandoz in "Crazy Horse - Strange Man of the Oglalas". Had I not read Indian Wars first, I would not have enjoyed the latter nearly so much. Indian Wars is definitely a good place to start building your knowledge of American Indian wars and skirmishes.

Great narrative history of English/American Indian War.......2005-10-16

This is a straight forward narrative history of the Indian Wars on the North American continent from the time English colonists arrived in the New World until the final confrontation between the US Government and the Sioux at Wounded Knee in 1890. As can be seen throughout the book the conflicts were almost inevitable. The perspective presented by the authors is that, "...both Indians and whites were products of their time and place, responding to the values, attitudes, and beliefs of their time and place, not ours....If war resulted, it was the collision of two ways of life, not the malevolent determination of one to overcome and victimize the other." (p. vi) As the authors point out, in the end the European strategy the Indians couldn't overcome, and one the Europeans couldn't control, was the overwhelming movement of Europeans and Americans onto and throughout the continent. It was the sheer number of Europeans and Americans along with their villages, towns, mines, and farms that overwhelmed any Indian resistance and way of life.

What makes the book interesting is that it is a military history focused on the Indian Wars throughout the English history of North America; it therefore provides continuity throughout the centuries without being overshadowed by more conventional conflicts. Of interest in the early period is the impact of European wars on the relationships between whites and Indians in the east as the French and English allied with Indian tribes against their enemies. Lest anyone think the Europeans "used" the tribes in these wars it must be remembered that the tribes also used the Europeans to further their interests, in the end not caring about war or peace between the European rivals.

Unfortunately the book is not as comprehensive as it could be since its focus is on the English/American wars with the Indians. It doesn't address relationships between the Indians and the French, nor, more significantly, does it cover the wars between the Spanish and the Indians -- wars which were fought just as relentlessly and left an even more negative relationship between Mexicans and Indians.

Fascinating.......2002-08-27

An excellent compendium of the relationships and interactions between discordant stone age peoples and numerous technologically superior counterparts.

This book is written primarily from a Unites States Vs Native American perspective. However, it acknowledges US, British, French, Spanish, and Mexican interactions, all of which treated the American Indian in much the same way: Make them dependent on foreign technology, guns, powder, fabric, iron, food, transportation, etc., and use that dependence against them.

All European influences exploited inter tribal differences, hatreds and animosities, fighting the American theater of European wars with Indians against Indians. All introduced diseases and some utilized germ warfare in defeating their Native American enemies. From the outset in 1492 the result was a foregone conclusion: Native Americans would be annihilated.

This is the story of how it happened.

The Complete Story of Every US Indian/Anglo Conflict.......2000-12-21

This is the book you want if you want a highly informative history of Indian Conflicts starting from Jamestown all the way to Wounded Knee. I virtually felt embarrassment reading about the early trends of the colonists to take advantage of Indians through the kidnapping and killing of chiefs to exploitation of their land and the constant pressure to move them west. From Bacon's (Bacon's Rebellion) attack of any Indians peaceful or otherwise in the 1600's to every conflict in the northeast to the west including King Phillip's War, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Mangas Colorado, Cochis, Commanche's, the Murdoc war. Includes the causes of war, the problem with reservations, Indian agents and the Armies strategies and commanders. A concise and thorough book that is your gateway for more detailed reading on the Indians of North America and their conflicts with manifest destiny.

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A definitive account of a largely overlooked segment of this nation's population
observation
Hypocrisy and Racism
What they don't teach in schools
Simply written - an unscholarly work

Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage
William Loren Katz
Manufacturer: Simon Pulse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0689809018

Customer Reviews:

A definitive account of a largely overlooked segment of this nation's population.......2006-07-29

BLACK INDIANS: A HIDDEN HERITAGE provides a definitive account of a largely overlooked segment of this nation's population, returning to new audiences an outstanding treatise of antique prints, photos, and research. From the positions of black Seminoles and other tribes to Africans who found places to hide among the Indians, chapters trace the concurrent histories of black and Native American peoples and the many connections they have to this day.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

observation.......2005-07-05

My family also claims a mixed heritage (Afro-Euro-Native American). However, I have observed that many Black (as well as White) Americans emphasize their Native American bloodlines and ignore their respective White or Black bloodlines. In the case of Blacks this is because having "White" blood is sometimes attributable to the painful fact that White masters often exploited Black female slaves in ante bellum America. In the case of Whites I can only guess that admitting to having "Black" blood is less prestigious than being able to claim membership in a Native American tribe. I am by no means attempting to minimize any one's connection to Native America or the degree to which we are all bound to each other by blood or history. I am proud of this blended nation. However, we should acknowledge the joy and pain of all races in our common history. Simply, I wish that all Americans were as bositerous in acknowledging their respective Black/White, as well as Native, bloodlines. This might change the way we regard ourselves and each other in the present. Though not scholary, I think this book is worth the effort but romanticizes the relationship between Native Americans and Blacks....since many Native tribes in the east also had Black slaves.

Hypocrisy and Racism.......2004-08-13

Ironic, that an author who pays so much lip service to the evils of racism should write such prejudiced blather. Europeans in this book are eeeeeevil, greedy, lying, rapacious bigots. Blacks and Amerinds are noble, perfect, honorable, completely free of sexism, racism, etc. etc. etc. Add to that the ignorance he demonstrates with regard to Amerind tribes (and even how to spell US Marshal), and you have not only rank hypocrisy but slipshod scholarship. That non-Europeans have generally been slighted and ignored in 'mainstream' American history books is undeniable, but this book is worse than useless in rectifying that, burying nuggets of truth in an easily-dismissed slagpile of ignorance, rhetoric, and credulity.

What they don't teach in schools.......2004-04-06

I first came across this book while visiting FoxWoods. It was the cover and topic that caught my eye.

The book was not written to be scholarly work. It was written to tell a part of history that is not taught in schools. I was impressed the author was about to pull together such an amount of information. I would think that there would be very little record written about African Americans and Native Indians nowadays.

Overall the book is a good introduction. More work needs to be done to expand this topic / genre.

Simply written - an unscholarly work.......2003-06-13

Good topic - poorly written. Book is vague, covers many topics, although nothing is in depth. This book is probably good for middle school children and nothing more advanced.

Traditional Native American Arts and Activities (Celebrating our Heritage)

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Traditional Native American Crafts and Activities

Traditional Native American Arts and Activities (Celebrating our Heritage)
Arlette N. Braman
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Crafts & Hobbies | Arts & Music | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0471359920

Book Description

Did you ever wonder what life might be like in a Native American village? What would you eat, and how would you pass the long winter nights? In this book, you can find out by cooking and eating traditional Catawba roasted corn, making your own Lakota beaded wristband, or creating a decorative Zuni water jar. At the same time, you'll be exploring indigenous cultures from the Inuit of the Arctic to the Tohono O'odam of the Sonoran Desert. You'll be amazed and delighted by the wealth of fascinating facts and exciting things to do and make in Traditional Native American Arts and Activities.

Jam-packed with fun and easy-to-follow projects, recipes, and games, this captivating book explores what makes the heritage of Native Americans so unique and wonderful. Where else can you learn how to sew a Tlingit button blanket, stir up a yummy Yupik wild raspberry dessert, or make a coaster using a traditional Seminole patchwork design? Encounter the stories and customs of the early North Americans, and of their descendants today, and have a great time doing it!

Customer Reviews:

Traditional Native American Crafts and Activities.......2001-11-08

This is an excellent book that provides kids with accurate, historical information about Native Americans.
The activities represent authentic Native American arts and also includes recipes and games.
This book would be an asset to any home or classroom. The author traveled to reservations and native communities to gather her information.

Average customer rating:

Linear, Episodic Text, but Engaging Illustrations
What happened to the Black Dog?

Sacagawea
Liselotte Erdrich , and Julie Buffalohead
Manufacturer: Ediciones Lerner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0822531917

Customer Reviews:

Linear, Episodic Text, but Engaging Illustrations.......2005-05-06

If only this story had the texture of the oil paintings, this would have been an excellent book. Instead, there is very little context about Native American (or Indian, if you prefer) life, the relationships among the tribes and the white explorers/invaders, and the Thomas Jefferson's motivation for conquest that motivated and funded the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Relationships are mentioned but not explored. How was Sacagawea "given in marriage" to the white fur trapper, was it consensual; for that matter, were such marriages ever consensual? Why did Lewis and Clark have such affection for her son, nicknamed "Pompy," and what was the meaning of the nickname?" Was Sacagawea especially resourceful, or were her talents fairly typical for a female Shoshone?

Of course, this is a book for kids, and we can't expect mature psychologically-oriented portrayals. Still, the author aims her book for a somewhat older audience (perhaps older elementary and junior high), and she doesn't spare factual details. What's missing, perhaps, are the kind of details that help an audience identify emotionally with the protagonist. At one point, Sacagawea, as interpreter, attends a meeting with Lewis and Clark and the Shoshone chief:

"But when she looked at the face of the Shoshone chief, she burst into tears. He was her brother, Cameahwait! Sacagawea jumped up, threw her blanket over her brother, and wept!Cameahwait was moved, too. But the council had to continue. Though tears kept flooding back. Sacagawea kept to her duty until the council ended."

Howver, we don't learn what happened after the council ended. Perhaps no one knows. Still, we are told that something happened when the council was over--why bring it up if it just ends abruptly? THe narrative skips is too episodic, and doesn't delve sufficiently into the personalities (we think, ), or the magnitude of their journey. Still, one does get an appreciation for this skilled and relatively independent woman. At least, we think she is highly independent, since there is no explantion of women's roles. KIdnapped by a rival tribe, forced (or not?) into marriage and a long journey (how many miles and years?), and persuaded (coerced?) into leaving her son with Clark for a white man's education, Sacagawea's is a fascinating story that is not adequately told here.

Fortunately, the book's spirited oil paintings, heavy with texture from the painters knife, yet fluid and with pastel chalk shadings draw us into "Sacagawea." There's also a one-page afterward explaining Sacagawea post-Lewis and Clark (the details are conflicting), a somewhat cursory map, a timeline linked to the story's events (rather than other significant dates), and a bibilography for those interesting in learning more. Beautiful and somewhat unusual illustrations by Julie Buffalohead, and an occasionally exciting narrative make this book a satisfactory starting place to about the culture and history of the era.

What happened to the Black Dog?.......2003-12-18

The paintings (illustrations) are beautiful, they capture the beauty, thoughtfulness and resourcefulness of the main character. They make her the central figure and the white men in the story the are the backdrop, as it should be, as it is a story about a Native American girl.

I am rating this book 5 stars solely on the illustrations. The text is written like a history lesson rather than a children's story. The text to me is based on white values - where dates and facts are the main focus. There is just not much story or feeling in the text - it is all in the illustrations.

A dog is introduced and then not brought up again except in the illustrations. The text is a little disorienting... it isn't easy to follow.

But BUY THIS BOOK!!!!

As an adult, I will use the book as a picture book and then read to kids in a paraphrased manner... not making up anything about Sacagawea - but utilizing the illustrations to tell the story and to bring to life this character.

Book Description

From the prehistoric peoples who inhabited the Americas at the end of the last Ice Age to the American Indian of the 20th century, this book encompasses the whole historical and cultural range of Indian life in Corth, Central, and South America. 32 pages of black-and-white photographs.

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