The World of the American Indian

Fülszöveg

With the measured dignity of some timeless Indian chant the words come rolling: You see, I stand in good relation to the earth to the gods. to all that is beautiful. You see, I am alive, I am alive.
That expression of the North American Indian's personal philosophy sets a cadence in the opening chapter of this book. It is a view of a world in balance, of man in harmony with the earth and all things on it. Untold centuries of adaptation to the environment forged the equations. They echo today among a people whose rebounding numbers total perhaps as many as when Columbus arrived and called the New World natives "Indios."
Descendants of Ice Age Asiatics, aboriginal Americans developed cultures as varied as the regions they settled. Life-styles blossomed in rich array. Now, in 400 fact-filled pages of this remarkable volume, you can explore those many fascinating worlds.
Ten distinguished scholar-authors—four of them of Indian descent—guide you. Dare flashing flukes of a whale... Tovább

Fülszöveg

With the measured dignity of some timeless Indian chant the words come rolling: You see, I stand in good relation to the earth to the gods. to all that is beautiful. You see, I am alive, I am alive.
That expression of the North American Indian's personal philosophy sets a cadence in the opening chapter of this book. It is a view of a world in balance, of man in harmony with the earth and all things on it. Untold centuries of adaptation to the environment forged the equations. They echo today among a people whose rebounding numbers total perhaps as many as when Columbus arrived and called the New World natives "Indios."
Descendants of Ice Age Asiatics, aboriginal Americans developed cultures as varied as the regions they settled. Life-styles blossomed in rich array. Now, in 400 fact-filled pages of this remarkable volume, you can explore those many fascinating worlds.
Ten distinguished scholar-authors—four of them of Indian descent—guide you. Dare flashing flukes of a whale with intrepid seamen of the Pacific northwest and join in their elaborate potlatches. Play stickball— "younger brother of war"—with woodland farmers or go on an Iroquois raid. Count coup with Plains warriors, beseech rain gods with Hopi Snake dancers, learn that Indian languages—where one word may contain all the elements of a sentence—can hardly be called "primitive." Use the book's tribal supplement and SZVz-by-37V2-inch cultural map to discover details about nearly 600 tribes of the United States and Canada.
More than 440 illustrations —361 in full color—enrich this vivid account of the American Indian. A title in the Story of Man Library, it and magnificent companion volumes are available only from the National Geographic Society, Washington, D. c. 20036. You and your friends are invited to write for a publications order list and information on Society membership.
Tradition-rich face paint, bead-and-horsehair headband, quill-and-feather roach bedeck a youthtiil Ponca dancer.
ROBERT W. MADDEN, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTOGRAPHER COPYRIGHT © 1989 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY Vissza