Best of
Native-Americans

1986

Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage


William Loren Katz - 1986
    Using fascinating biographies and detailed research, Katz creates a chronology of this hidden heritage during the settlement of the American West. Illustrations. Young Adult.

The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions


Paula Gunn Allen - 1986
    This pioneering work, first published in 1986, documents the continuing vitality of American Indian traditions and the crucial role of women in those traditions.

Dzelarhons: Mythology of the Northwest Coast


Anne Cameron - 1986
    Magic in many incarnations - mischievous, terrifying, benevolent, erotic-suffuses the pages of this extraordinary collection, from the humourous tales of the trickster Raven through the feminist fable of the bearded woman to the myth of the lazy boy who was reared by whales and saved the world, climaxing with the epic story of the mythical superwoman Dzelarhons - First Mother, Frog Mother, Weeping Woman, guardian and teacher of her people.Praise for Daughters of Copper Woman:"... an enchanting, uplifting revelation."-Ottawa Citizen". . . startling mix of the exotic, the repellent, and the fantastic ... a unique book, a work thick with substance and extraordinary life."-Vancouver Sun"... the underlying vision, though tender, has the thrust and the strength of steel."-Quill & Quire

The Hopi Approach to the Art of Kachina Doll Carving


Erik Bromberg - 1986
    These carved representations of ceremonial figures taking part in celebration of the Kachina religion are highly collected by Indian and white peoples alike. This book serves to explain, compare, and present the variety of dolls that are found through color pictures, line drawings and a concise text. The carvers are given a great deal of recognition throughout the book as the discussion covers the environment, tools, and prominence of these artists. An appendix lists 495 living artists. An introduction is by Frederick Dockstader, former director to the Museum of the American Indian in New York. Mr. Bromberg, a trader among the Hopi, shares his accumulated respect for the culture and people who produce them. His chapters evolved to answer questions by collectors and gallery workers. The result is a first-hand analysis of this contemporary and still changing art form that has both religious and commercial impact on the Hopi carvers. Only a trusted, sympathetic student of the Hopi culture could have compiled the background interpretations of the dolls and won the respect of the carvers.

The Smithsonian Book of North American Indians: Before the Coming of the Europeans


Philip Kopper - 1986