Old Indian Trails

by Walter McClintock

This pioneering study in Native American ethnology and personal odyssey into one of the last American frontiers was first published in 1923 and is now a hard-to-find collector's item. Containing a foreword by the author of BLUE HIGHWAYS and RIVER-HORSE, this moving look at the daily life and customs of a Native American tribe.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

Paperback

First published January 1, 1923

Reviews

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my NEW favorite books. No, it is not a who-done-it book or a fictional account of cowboy and Indian stories. It is a true story of a Yale-educated white man, Walter McClintock, that lived with the Indians and was adopted by one of the Indian chiefs so that he could write, take pictures, and retell their story so that the white society could better understand their life and who they were and have become by the end of the 19th century.
You'll read about the ceremonies, ghost stories, Indian songs, and their beliefs.
Walter wrote and completed this account by 1923.
I knew some of the Blackfoot Indians while working on part of the reservation back in 1961 and it is one of my fond memories.

[Richp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book. I really loved the first three fourths, but I found the last part, about the Sun Dance gathering, boring in parts despite its worth as a (likely) sole written account of a society in transition from independence to domestication by Euro-Americans.

I do wonder about accuracy. The photos were excellent.

[Jude Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly wonderful book.