American Indian Religious Traditions by
Combining the work of Native Americans and non-Native scholars, this reference work explores indigenous North American religions, religious practices, and rituals. This extensive work goes beyond similar surveys that focus only on anthropology and history and explores the religious practices, movements, institutions, key figures, ceremonial systems, and religious accoutrements indigenous to North America, from the precontact era to the present. Taking a deep and informed look specifically at the religious and spiritual nature of Native Americans, the encyclopedia places traditions within their historical and theoretical context, examining their relevance within Native religious life and practice as well as within the academic study of religion. Topics covered include key ideas and issues, religious and political leaders, primary ceremonies, mythic figures, and related cultural subjects, such as basketry, whaling, farming, and bison hunting, which have religious significance for Native peoples. Contributors include noted scholars of American Indian religious culture, including many who come from tribal traditions and can offer valuable insights and observations from their personal experience. 150+ entries including extensive entries that address complex key ideas and pan-tribal movements, placing them within their historical and contemporary contexts Comprehensive lists of further readings for each entry that provide the reader resources for deeper research Illustrations including photos of community members, prominent places within traditional sacred geographies, regalia, basketry, traditional artwork, and more Maps detailing tribal homelands, sidebars providing background of regional groups, and a listing of recognized tribes
Atlas of the North American Indian by
Combining clear, informative text with a wealth of maps and illustrations, this unique resource offers the most comprehensive cartographic account available of the history and culture of Native American groups across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Great Plains by
Plains Indians have long occupied a special place in the American imagination. Both the historical reality of such evocative figures and events as Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Sacajawea, and the Battle of Little Bighorn and the lived reality of Native Americans today are often confused and conflated with popular representations of Indians in movies, paintings, novels, and on television. Ingrained stereotypes and cultural misconceptions born of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century images of the romantic nomad and the marauding savage have been surprisingly tenacious, obscuring the extraordinary cultural and linguistic diversity of the dozens of tribes and nations who have peopled the Great Plains. Here in one volume is an indispensable guide to the extensive ethnohistorical research that, in recent decades, has recovered the varied and often unexpected history of Comanche, Cheyenne, Osage, and Sioux Indians, to name only a few of the tribal groups included. From the earliest archaeological evidence to the current experience of Indians living on and off reservations, a wealth of information is presented in a clear and accessible way. The history of the Plains Indians has been a dynamic one of continuous change and adaptation as groups split and recombined to form new social orders and cultural traditions. Contact with Europeans and the introduction of trade in horses, slaves, furs, and guns dramatically altered native societies internally and influenced relations between different groups. In the face of pressures resulting from America's westward expansion throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the extinction of the bison, the imposition of reservation life, and the assimilationist policies of the U.S. federal government. The native peoples of the Great Plains have struggled to preserve their distinct cultures and reorient themselves to a new world on their own terms. The Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Great Plains is divided into four parts. Part I presents an overview of the cultures and histories of Plains Indian people and surveys the key scholarly questions and debates that shape this field. Part II serves as an encyclopedia, alphabetically listing important individuals and places of significant cultural or historic meaning. Part III is a chronology of the major events in the history of American Indians in the Plains. The expertly selected resources guide in Part IV includes annotated bibliographies, museum and tribal Internet sites, and films that can be easily accessed by those wishing to learn more. The third in a six-volume reference series, The Columbia Guides to American Indian History and Culture, The Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Great Plains is an invaluable resource for students, teachers, and researchers.
Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World by 
Encyclopedia of American Indian Costume by
"This impressive reference work took ten years to write, and the waiting was well worth it. Nothing of this scope and magnitude on this subject has been done before. Highly recommended for all libraries."
Encyclopedia of North American Indian Tribes by 
Treaties with American Indians by
This invaluable reference reveals the long, often contentious history of Native American treaties, providing a rich overview of a topic of continuing importance. * Over 300 A-Z entries covering important treaties such as the Treaty of 1778, U.S. and Indian leaders such as Chief Justice John Marshall and Red Cloud of the Sioux, and legal decisions such as Worcester v. Georgia * 16 in-depth thematic essays providing both government and Indian perspectives on major issues, plus six essays looking at U.S.-Indian relations region by region * A complete chronology of the major events that shaped the history of Native American treaty-making * Over 100 contributors who are distinguished scholars in their field, such as Carole Greenberg and R. David Edmunds * Photographs of significant individuals, treaty sites, and artifacts