Detailed descriptions of how various parts of cedar trees were used to create watertight boats, boxes, baskets, hats, clothing, shelter, mats, buildings, art, etc., etc. What really sends this book over the top are the detailed drawings and diagrams of how cedar was hand-processed and used to construct various objects. With this book as a guide one would have a fair shot at recreating these objects of functional art.

The Northwest Coastal people held the cedar & its spirit in high regard for all the gifts of life it offered them. For millennia they developed tools & skills to fell the giant trees to make canoes, post-&-beam homes, waterproof boxes & carved poles. Dedicated to those who know & respect the spirit of the Cedar, Hilary Stewart's book is a labor of love, respect & infinite knowledge. It intrigued her that people lived so well & for so long using almost exclusively the materials of their environment & her curiosity has wrought a fine book of early illustrations. A must for anyone interested in how the First People lived.

This is absolutely essential for anyone going to British Columbia or Alaska. It gives a brief description and explanation of almost all the important outdoor totem poles you'll come across, taking you through the poles figure by figure. I found it invaluable when in Victoria's Thunderbird Park and Vancouver's Stanley Park and Museum of Anthropology. A real gem you'll read over and glance through again once you're back home.

No frills, no gimmicks, just an excellent written and graphic profile of totem poles as a symbol of a North American people. Allows you to enter a community where beliefs in the earth, sky, oceans, mountains and animals continue to be spiritual.

This is a remarkable work by a young man who was held captive for several years by a tribe of Native Americans on the coast of Vancouver Island during a time when European vessels visited these shores only once every few years. As a result, the account provides a unique insight into the lifestyle of these people prior to European intervention.

I read the work while visiting the area and found it irresistable. The natives have many surprising habits, including a preference for rotting rather than fresh whale blubber (this creates many difficulties for our protagonist) and a penchant for midnight raids on slumbering neighbors. Jewitt is a good writer and his dated prose has a tendancy to amuse the reader. He does a good job both of mentioning the details of every day existence and of capturing the emotional bonds he develops with other members of the tribe. The end of Jewitt's adventure leaves the reader deeply saddened, sharing the conflicting emotions that he himself was torn by.

As it is no longer out of print, I intend to give copies to a variety of friends with interests in anthropology, Native Americans, and adventure in general.

It's been awhile since I picked it up, but I was impressed by the ease with which a layperson could understand the intricacies of the lore and ethnology of the Native Americans. The photographs and drawings are beautiful, the information about artifacts and culture are accurate.

Through well-detailed photographs and drawings, this book provides a nice introduction to Northwest tribal art. It uses examples of two- and three-dimensional works of art to explain the meanings and symbolism behind the animal motifs. You will quickly learn to recognize the ovoid, and S and U shapes that are characteristic to the art form. It also explains stylistic differences between the different cultural groups. I used this book on a trip through the Northwest and it really enriched my experience.

I wanted to dabble in this form of artwork, so starting in the mid-1990's I bought EVERY book I could find on the topic (I currently have in excess of 40). This book was one of the first I bought and it remains one of my favorites. This book is absolutely outstanding, especially for someone new to the artform.

It overviews the native cultures and tribes, provides info about style difference among tribes, covers the components of the art style, and gives lots of great visual examples, including some good basic info about the symbolism of the elements. It is very successful in giving enough detail to be useful without giving so much that it gets complicated or boring.

Regardless of your interest in this artform, whether you just want one book to learn a little or a "first book" to help you get deeply into it, in my opinion this remains the best one to buy.

If you want to do this sort of artwork, buy this book to get a good basic understanding, then buy "Nothwest Coast Indian Art: an Analysis of Form" by Bill Holm for a deeper understanding of the elements, and "Learning by Designing" Volumes 1 and 2 by Gilbert and Clark for more help with how to actual do it.

On vacation in the Olympic Peninsula, I purchased a copy of this book (sorry Mr. Bezos!) because interpreting Haida, Tlingit, and other artists' work has been such a challenge. This book provides amazing descriptions of how to decipher the parts of the artwork to figure out which animal it is, and what the image depicts. The closest comparison is the Renaissance art appreciation class I took in college... and this was much more accessible, and cheaper besides. My mom is craving a copy of this book!