A comprehensive guide to the history, culture, and religious beliefs and practices of America's native people, The Element Encyclopedia of Native Americans tells the varied and colourful stories of the tribes, their greatest leaders, wars, pacts, and the long-lasting impact that their profound wisdom and spirituality has on the West today.
A comprehensive guide to the history, culture, and religious beliefs and practices of America’s native people, The Element Encyclopedia of Native Americans tells the varied and colourful stories of the tribes, their greatest leaders, wars, pacts, and the long-lasting impact that their profound wisdom and spirituality has on the West today.
Dispelling myths, answering questions, and stimulating thoughtful avenues for further inquiry, this highly absorbing reference provides a wealth of specific information about over 200 North American Indian groups in Canada and the United States. Readers will easily access important historical and contemporary facts about everything from notable leaders and relations with non-natives to customs, dress, dwellings, weapons, government, and religion. This book is at once exhaustive and captivating, covering myriad aspects of a people spread across a continent. Divided into ten geographic areas for easy reference, this work illustrates each Native American group in careful detail. Listed alphabetically, starting with the tribal name, translation, origin, and definition, each entry includes significant facts about the group's location and population, as well as impressive accounts of the group's history and culture. Bringing entries up-to-date, Barry Pritzker also presents current information on each group's government, economy, legal status, and land holdings. Whether interpreting the term "tribe" (many traditional Native American groups were not tribes at all but more like extended families) or describing how a Shoshone woman served as a guide on the Lewis and Clark expedition, Pritzker always presents the material in a clear and lively manner. In light of past and ongoing injustices and the momentum of Indian and Inuit self-determination movements, an understanding of Native American cultures as well as their contributions to contemporary society becomes increasingly important. A magnificent resource, this book liberally provides the essential information necessary to better grasp the history and cultures of North American Indians.
This new four-volume encyclopedia is the most comprehensive and up-to-date resource available on the history of Native Americans, providing a lively, authoritative survey ranging from human origins to present-day controversies. From the origins of Native American cultures through the years of colonialism and non-Native expansion to the present, Encyclopedia of American Indian History brings the story of Native Americans to life like no other previous reference on the subject. Featuring the work of many of the field's foremost scholars, it explores this fundamental and foundational aspect of the American experience with extraordinary depth, breadth, and currency, carefully balancing the perspectives of both Native and non-Native Americans. Encyclopedia of American Indian History spans the centuries with three thematically organized volumes (covering the period from precontact through European colonization; the years of non-Native expansion (including Indian removal); and the modern era of reservations, reforms, and reclamation of semi-sovereignty). Each volume includes entries on key events, places, people, and issues. The fourth volume is an alphabetically organized resource providing histories of Native American nations, as well as an extensive chronology, topic finder, bibliography, and glossary. For students, historians, or anyone interested in the Native American experience, Encyclopedia of American Indian History brings that experience to life in an unprecedented way.
"Although there have been a number of recent reference titles on the history and culture of Native Americans, Gale's encyclopedia offers exceptional scope, clarity, and content. Covering almost 400 North American tribes, each essay contains information on both the historical and contemporary issues for the tribe. All entries begin with an introduction about the tribal roots, historic and current location, population data, and language family. This is followed by segments covering the history, religious beliefs, language, buildings, means of subsistence, clothing, healing practices, customs, oral literature, and current tribal issues. Several black-and-white illustrations and bibliographies for further research are included. A cumulative index of tribes, relevant nonnative peoples, historic dates and battles, treaties, legislation, associations, and religious groups adds value."--"Outstanding Reference Sources: the 1999 Selection of New Titles," American Libraries, May 1999. Comp. by the Reference Sources Committee, RUSA, ALA.
Provides a cultural chronicle of the Native Americans of the Great Basin and the Southwest, with descriptions of each tribe and entries on history, religion, government, and daily life.
First Published in 1996. Articles on present-day tribal groups comprise more than half of the coverage, ranging from essays on the Navajo, Lakota, Cherokee, and other large tribes to shorter entries on such lesser-known groups as the Hoh, Paugusett, and Tunica-Biloxi. Also 25 inlcludes maps.
The latest title in the much-loved Element Encyclopedia series, The Element Encyclopedia of Celts explores the history, culture, and mythology of these great peoples.