The Native Americans: The Indigenous People of North America

by William S. Sturtevant, William C. Sturtevant

The Native American looks back at the way of life of the first Americans. Divided into nine cultural areas, it draw particular attention - through the medium of 38 superb artifact spreads - to the ways in which some of the early inhabitants adapted to living in widely varying environments, from the Arctic to the Southwest. Over 1000 tribal artifacts have been selected and described by William C. Sturtevant of the Smithsonian Institution. Drawn from the superb collections of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, and the Smithsonian itself, many of them have not been seen since they were collected by anthropologists and ethnologists near the turn of the last century; none of them has been presented before in color tableaux that give such a rich insight into the material wealth and culture of so many different tribes and groups. With the aid of over 250 archive photographs, maps, color plates and artworks, The Native Americans looks at various cultural aspects, beliefs, key individuals and historical events in the lives of many tribes and groups of Indians,

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Native American, Native Americans

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Velvetink · Rating 4 out of 5]

his book provides an excellent way to study Native American tribal differences and similarities in personal ornamentation. There are 38 photographs of artifact collections that were drawn from the Smithsonian and New York's American Museum of Natural History. The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, opening 21-26 September 2004, will certainly allow more detailed study. This book's 249 pages give a general anthropologic overview that can be used as a guide for further research.

Editor Colin F. Taylor, the book's technical consultant, is the curator of North American ethnology for the Smithsonian. His involvement allowed publication of objects and photographs that just possibly have been included in the new National Museum of the American Indian. In many ways, this book would be excellent to review prior to visiting the new museum.

The book is divided into nine geographic areas of North America then is further divided into tribes from that area, informing us about linguistics, ethnic styles of clothing and embellishment, and whether the tribe relied upon hunting and gathering or had an established agrarian culture.

Many old photographs are sprinkled throughout the book to show how Native Americans dressed before they were absorbed into non-native culture. Both the index and the bibliography are thorough -- a very beautiful book to add to your collection.

[Adam Dawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 / 5 "The Native Americans" by Colin F. Taylor

This is a very informative guide to the history and varied tribes of America's Native peoples. It is very well presented, packed with old and new photographs, illustrations and maps to designate where the different tribes were based. Whilst informative, and to someone like me who is very interested in Native American history, reasonably engrossing, it is very much an academic-style non-fiction book, which means the text is generally quite stuffy and monotonous, written without any real tone.

Overall, an excellent illustrated guide, but the text can be mind-numbingly academic.

3 / 5

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Difficult book to rate.
Somewhat of a long and tedious read.
Yet at the same time, incredibly informative. An unbelievable amount of material. Yet the authors did a good job of chopping up the material into smaller segments so that not any one area was too overwhelming.
Myths. Legends. Beliefs. Medicine. Heroes. Wars. Weapons. Food. Dwellings. Clothes. Goods. Arts. Crafts. Cultures. Traditions.
It's all here. Broken down into 9 different regions of North America.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Native Americans: The Indigenous People of North America
Sturtevant, William C. Taylor,
a brief history, and pictures of native Americans looking at the historical perspective of non native cultures

[SuzAnne King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really amazing read for anyone truly interested in the real story. Invaluable for the amateur anthropologist.