A brief survey of life in five North American Indian tribes--Makah, Hopi, Creek, Penobscot, and Mandan--at the time Columbus arrived in the New World.

Illustrates and describes the lifestyles of the great Indian tribes that inhabited the continental United States

When Europeans first arrived in North America, between five and eight million indigenous people were already living there. But how did they come to be here? What were their agricultural, spiritual, and hunting practices? How did their societies evolve and what challenges do they face today? Eminent historians Theda Perdue and Michael Green begin by describing how nomadic bands of hunter-gatherers followed the bison and woolly mammoth over the Bering land mass between Asia and what is now Alaska between 25,000 and 15,000 years ago, settling throughout North America. They describe hunting practices among different tribes, how some made the gradual transition to more settled, agricultural ways of life, the role of kinship and cooperation in Native societies, their varied burial rites and spiritual practices, and many other features of Native American life. Throughout the book, Perdue and Green stress the great diversity of indigenous peoples in America, who spoke more than 400 different languages before the arrival of Europeans and whose ways of life varied according to the environments they settled in and adapted to so successfully. Most importantly, the authors stress how Native Americans have struggled to maintain their sovereignty--first with European powers and then with the United States--in order to retain their lands, govern themselves, support their people, and pursue practices that have made their lives meaningful. Going beyond the stereotypes that so often distort our views of Native Americans, this Very Short Introduction offers a historically accurate, deeply engaging, and often inspiring account of the wide array of Native peoples in America. About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

A dedicated doctor drives her horse through a blinding snowstorm to tend a child sick with pneumonia. An athlete, lagging behind, pumps his arms and flies past his competitors in the 1,500-meter race, to win an Olympic gold medal. In a tangled jungle in the South Pacific, an American marine baffles Japanese codebreakers with an ingenious code based on the Navajo language. Susan La Flesche Picotte, Jim Thorpe, and William McCabe are just three of the distinguished American Indians you will meet in this book- Acclaimed author Doreen Rappaport re-created one dramatic moment in each person's life to give you a glimpse of their incredible accomplishments. Each portrait has been thoroughly researched and is beautifully evoked by noted artists Ying-Hwa Hu and Cornelius Van Wright. Beginning with Tisquantum teaching the Pilgrims how to survive in a new land and ending 370 years later with Sherman Alexie writing a poem, this book provides young readers with a fresh, exciting first took at the great history and culture of American Indians.

Encyclopedic summary of prehistory, history, cultures and political and social aspects of native peoples in Siberia, Alaska, the Canadian Arctic and Greenland.

A look at the varied and fascinating cultures of the North American Indian.

Written in an easy-to-read, narrative format, this volume provides the most comprehensive coverage of North American Indians from earliest evidence through 1990. It shows Indians as "a people with history" and not as primitives, covering current ideological issues and political situations including treaty rights, sovereignty, and repatriation. A must-read for anyone interested in North American Indian history. This is a comprehensive and thought-provoking approach to the history of the native peoples of North America (including Mexico and Canada) and their civilizations.For Native American courses taught in anthropology, history and Native American Studies.

Build your students' understanding and appreciation for the broad diversity in U.S. history. Enhances students' historical and critical-thinking skills with materials on key Native American tribes Promotes easily individualized instruction and engages varied intelligences Includes teacher guide, plus reproducible student information sheets and activities

A richly illustrated, absorbingly written history of North America's indigenous peoples. Drawing on creation stories, oral history, archaeological evidence, federal documents, and hundreds of published sources, Josephy takes readers on an encyclopedic journey through Native America's past and present.