The story of Vancouver's voyage to the Pacific North West is one of much hardship, persistance and determination. John Naish tells the story of the voyage by cross referencing the journals and diaries of four of the key players in this expedition. Taken individualy the journals are a great read themselves but when used to collaborate or just to fill in blanks it results in a very pleasant read. It takes the reader into the world of 1791-1795 in such a way that we can forget, briefly, what we have today and imagine the world during the times of the French Revolution and the emergence of America as a nation.

This book is written by a newsman of the late 1800's. His attempt at times to make the exploits of his chief character a little bigger than they were sometimes gets in the way. However if you can be disciplined enough to read through it you will find a pretty accurate picture of the man who was probably General Crook's favorite scout and a key player in the death of Crazy Horse. Maybe not quite the villian in the Crazy Horse death as many think, but possibly not entirely sqeaky clean. Worth reading for those who have more than a passing interest in the Indian Wars of the latter half of the 1800's.

This could have been a much longer book, since there is an almost endless number of Native American stories dealing with animals. Bruchac made a good selection, though, and the stories of a wide variety of North American native peoples are represented here. All of them show the importance of animals to the Native Americans in that they are central to creation myths, as well as tales of friendship and those providing numerous survival instructions. Bruchac kept the prose simple, making this book ideal for children. Also useful is the glossary at the end, and the descriptions of tribal nations which provide a great deal of useful information on the major North American peoples.

Joseph Bruchac's book, Native Wisdom, has helped me when ever I had questions. In all it is a handbook for life. In the eight chapters of the book small paragraphs of speech and short poems tell about things like creations and the good things in life. The Native American poetry is beautiful. The pieces are almost all from different tribes and tribe chiefs, so it shows wisdom differs among people. I think that you will really enjoy this book.

Recalls the era of grand hotels and processions from Boston to the country shore during the 19th and 20th century when gentlemen and ladies paraded according to a strict code of social behavior. Wonderful photos of bygone places and memories of now suburban places which once were bucolic and a time when life seemed easier and gentler--especially if you were rich enough to enjoy it and not on the 'serving end.'

I was assigned this book as part of a Native American Studies course at California State University Sonoma. I read virtually every poem in this book and went on to read some of the books that this book used excerpts from. My prof. was one of the authors in the book. The poems apart from being good literature were a wonderfull way to gain an insight into how a modern native american views his or her world. The poems speak of schools, gov. problems, conflict of tradition and modern life, and much more, giving a look into a world post people only have a stereotyped view of. If you are interested in poetry this is an excelent book and will be even more enticing if you are interested in Native American Culture as seen by them.

This text is a selection of studies originally prepared for journals and conferences. The chapter topics address selected and interrelated perspectives from cultural anthropology and the history of religions. These topics then demonstrate how Native American spiritual heritages are situated within the context of world religious traditions. All the chapters elaborate on this central concern by means of a wide range of specific examples drawn from selected Native American cultures.
It is a fundamental and universal characteristic of Native American cultures that "religion" is not a separate category of activity or experience that is divorced from culture or society. Rather, religion is pervasively present and is in complex interrelationships with all aspects of the peoples' lives. Each chapter focuses upon specific examples of this integration of religion, or the sacred, with daily life in the context of a particular tribal group.
These fundamental principles, expressed in different cultural contexts through differing formal expression, not only provide a thread of unity throughout the book, but collectively, also represent a model of the multiple dimensions of the sacred which come together in an organic interrelated manner in any one Native American culture

At the time this book was originally written (1830), the Northwest was the upper Missisippi Valley. I originally read this book because the author had lived among the Native American Indians and knew their culture. This was before the true nature of the European White man had become evident to the Indians and the Indians treated the White man as equals. But, in his introduction, even though he blasts other authors for their shallow representation of the Indian, he automatically assumes the Indians are not as good as White people and treats them as such in the book. Frequently though, the Indian looks more honorable than the White man in the ten stories. Despite the author's bias, a picture of the Indian's culture does come through. A good read for Indian and White culture at the time

My son came home literally heaving and very disturbed by the canibalistic story, after the first chapter was read to him in school.
My son is a voracious reader, including the works of J.R.R.Tolkien, however the nature of this story made it highly unsuitable for him. He is nine.

The Boring Book

After Ray Bond turned 18 years old, his uncle gives him $30,000.00 in cash and places it on a vault in a bank. The next day Ray's uncle is found dead, an apparent suicide. Then someone starts following him and calling him. And the threats begin.

I dislike the book because it's boring and confusing. There are too many characters that want the same thing and act kind of the same. Ray is really dumb; he gets mad about everything and acts like a little kid. He treats his really bad and doesn't like to talk to her. Also Ray acts really mean to his girlfriend.

I like this book because it was easy to understand what was happening in it. Some parts of this book had somethings to do with real life. there is one part of the book that i like the most. it is when she had one dream thet her uncle was a skelleton man and she was running away. A rabbit helped her. And lator in the book the same thing happended she was chased by her uncle who was the skelleton man. the same rabbit help her. I like this book because what heppens in the book could happen in real life . Someone can destroy some ones life. When I started reading this book after the first chapter I didn't want to stop reading it because it is so good that I wanted to know how the story was going to end.

Deloria uses the same tired stereotypes to describe relations between Indians and Whites that AIM and other Native activists have offered up for years. His sections on the use of Native spirituality by non-Natives is horribly racist and shows little understanding (or reading) of work in the field. The book plays strongly on feelings of white guilt and minority sympathy. Instead of working to build understanding and bridges bewteen cultures that have been bitterly divided by historical injustices and conflicts - in order to find a way to peaceably inhabit North America together - Deloria continues to inflame feelings of hatred and animosity. Further, the book is developed in a horribly dry and tedious manner, devoid of life or human - as opposed to sensational - feeling. For a better overview of Native/non-Native spirituality issues, read Stephen Buhner's One Spirit Many Peoples. Better perspectives on finding common ground between Indians and non-Indians can be found in the work of Chief Dan George, Ed MCGaa, Brooke Medicine Eagle, Black Elk, and Fools Crow. NOT recommended unless you are doing research or are forced to read it in a college class.

This book was required for me to read for my class. I found the book very dull and dry. It left you thirsty and quite annoyed. It took too, long for Deloria to say what he wanted to say. The book kept pulling you along and made you very tired and sleepy. It is an excellent book to read if you have trouble sleeping.

Overall, this is an excellent work on how "anglo American" culture has taken Native culture in such things as fraternal/masonic organizations (Improved Order of Red Men), youth organizations (Boy Scouts, Woodcraft Indians, Camp Fire Girls, etc), Indian Hobbyist groups, and more.

However, I would have like to seen more substantial coverage in these areas. As a Boy Scout Leader and Arrowman, his coverage of Native culture use in youth groups could have gone further. This is little mention of the Order of the Arrow and other honor socities formed within the Boy Scouts based on Native culture (and the author is himself an arrowman!). And I don't recall if he mentioned the Y-Indian Guide programs!

Still, a good work in this area