Describes the religious organizations and the ceremonies that characterized each of the 35 Indian nations.

In his study of the civilian population that fell victim to the brutality of the 1860s Kansas Indian wars, Jeff Broome recounts the captivity of Susanna Alderdice, who was killed along with three of her children by her Cheyenne captors (known as Dog Soldiers) at the Battle of Summit Springs in July 1869, and of her four-year-old son, who was wounded then left for dead.

A beautifully produced and illustrated (bandw) reference that offers complete descriptions and cultural contexts of the dress and ornamentation of the North American Indian tribes. The volume is divided into ten cultural regions, with each chapter giving an overview of the regional clothing. Individual tribes of the area follow in alphabetical order. Tribal information includes men's basic dress, women's basic dress, footwear, outer wear, hair styles, headgear, accessories, jewelry, armor, special costumes, garment decoration, face and body embellishment, transitional dress after European contact, and bibliographic references. Appendices include a description of clothing arts and a glossary. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

When Edward W. Wynkoop arrived in Colorado Territory during the 1858 gold rush, he was one of many ambitious newcomers seeking wealth in a promising land mostly inhabited by American Indians. After he worked as a miner, sheriff, bartender, and land speculator, Wynkoop’s life drastically changed after he joined the First Colorado Volunteers to fight for the Union during the Civil War. This sympathetic but critical biography centers on his subsequent efforts to prevent war with Indians during the volatile 1860s. A central theme of Louis Kraft’s engaging narrative is Wynkoop’s daring in standing up to Anglo-Americans and attempting to end the 1864 Indian war. The Indians may have been dangerous enemies obstructing “progress,” but they were also human beings. Many whites thought otherwise, and at daybreak on November 29, 1864, the Colorado Volunteers attacked Black Kettle’s sleeping camp. Upon learning of the disaster now known as the Sand Creek Massacre, Wynkoop was appalled and spoke out vehemently against the action. Many of his contemporaries damned his views, but Wynkoop devoted the rest of his career as a soldier and then as a U.S. Indian agent to helping Cheyennes and Arapahos to survive. The tribes’ lifeways still centered on the dwindling herds of buffalo, but now they needed guns to hunt. Kraft reveals how hard Wynkoop worked to persuade the Indian Bureau to provide the tribes with firearms along with their allotments of food and clothing—a hard sell to a government bent on protecting white settlers and paving the way for American expansion. In the wake of Sand Creek, Wynkoop strove to prevent General Winfield Scott Hancock from destroying a Cheyenne-Sioux village in 1867, only to have the general ignore him and start a war. Fearing more innocent people would die, Wynkoop resigned from the Indian Bureau but, not long thereafter, receded into obscurity. Now, thanks to Louis Kraft, we may appreciate Wynkoop as a man of conscience who dared to walk between Indians and Anglo-Americans but was often powerless to prevent the tragic consequences of their conflict.

“An all-encompassing study . . . Holm shows the interconnecting historical, social and psychological attributes of Native American veterans.” —Historynet.com At least 43,000 Native Americans fought in the Vietnam War, yet both the American public and the United States government have been slow to acknowledge their presence and sacrifices in that conflict. In this first-of-its-kind study, Tom Holm draws on extensive interviews with Native American veterans to tell the story of their experiences in Vietnam and their readjustment to civilian life. Holm describes how Native American motives for going to war, experiences of combat, and readjustment to civilian ways differ from those of other ethnic groups. He explores Native American traditions of warfare and the role of the warrior to explain why many young Indigenous men chose to fight in Vietnam. He shows how Native Americans drew on tribal customs and religion to sustain them during combat. And he describes the rituals and ceremonies practiced by families and tribes to help heal veterans of the trauma of war and return them to the “white path of peace.” This information, largely unknown outside the Native American community, adds important new perspectives to our national memory of the Vietnam war and its aftermath. “An overview of one kind of serviceman about which nothing substantive has been written: the Native American . . . A fascinating introduction to the role of military traditions and the warrior ethic in mid-20th-century [Native American] life.” —Library Journal

First Published in 1997. The present volume contains references and descriptive annotations for 1,497 sources on North American Indian and Eskimo music. As conceived here, the subject encompasses works on dance, ritual, and other aspects of religion or culture related to music, and selected "classic" recordings have also been included. The coverage is equally broad in other respects, including writings in several different languages and spanning a chronological period from 1535 to 1995. The book is intended as a reference tool for researchers, teachers, and college students. With their needs in mind, the sources are arranged in ten sections by culture area, and the introduction includes a general history of research. Finally, there are also indices by author, tribe, and subject.

Wendy Beth Baker’s The Healing Power of Horses is devoted to the world’s greatest horsepeople, the Oglala Lakota Indians of Pine Ridge, South Dakota. She begins the book by sharing the philosophy of these great horse-loving people: “There are those who feel the sun rises and sets on the back of a horse, and no matter what obstacles life sets in their way, they never dismount.” The spirit and fortitude of the Lakota Indians inform Baker’s words as she describes how this once-nomadic tribe came to view the horse as sacred and assigned it great significance in their culture, religion, and lifestyle. The Indians who live on the Pine Ridge Reservation have grown spiritually and as a community through their relationship with their horses, and it is through this connection to the natural world that the power of healing and ultimately, health, flows. With photography by Hope Vinitsky, The Healing Power of Horses tells the individual stories of over a dozen Lakota Indians and how horses have affected each of their lives. Baker was able to interview each of these inspiring individuals for inclusion in this book. The empowering stories told come from Wayne Waters, Marlin “Moon” Weston, Eugenio White Hawk, Wendell Yellow Bull, Aldeen Twiss, Phillip Jumping Eagle and Billy, Dale Vocu, Emma and Shelly Waters, Wilmer Mesteth, Vernell White Thunder, Pat Heathershaw, Lester Waters, and the Carlows. While the stories of each of these exceptional men and women are different, the common denominator in each is the horse’s transformative power to heal their minds, spirits, and bodies. These are stories of artists, athletes, and common noble folk, all of whom have struggled to overcome life’s many obstacles to thrive and become better people. The author’s intention in this book, as she describes in the final section “The Future of the Lakota Horsepeople,” is to have her readers gain a better understanding of horses in Lakota culture while at the same time affording some of the Lakota people an opportunity to reconnect with their cultural identity. In reading this book, it is clear that the Lakota people have preserved the emotional power of their ancient culture and strength as a people by maintaining their connection to horses, animals that they deeply love. Fiercely loyal to the United States, the Lakota horsepeople are a strong, proud, and brave community who have much to teach all people about life and the pursuit of healing.