Fourteen artists and picture book illustrators present paintings with descriptions of ancestors or other sources of inspiration that have inspired them.

Our Ancestors, Our Stories offers insights into the African American experience in Edgefield County, South Carolina through the eyes of five very different authors.These family historians and storytellers have come together to share their family stories to inspire and encourage others, and to keep alive the memories of their ancestors.

Recorded from the 1960s to the present by twelve tradition bearers who were passing down for future generations the accounts of haa shuka, which means our ancestors. Narratives tell of the origin of social and spiritual concepts and explain complex relationships. Text in Tlingit with English translation on the opposite page. Includes biographies of the narrators. Also extensive introduction and notes.

In this companion to a new PBS series beginning in April, "In Search of Our Ancestors" features over 100 true stories of the amazing luck, unexpected kindnesses, and unusual serendipity encountered by researchers as they track down their family's records.

Gathers advice on obtaining happiness, finding fulfillment, clarifying the emotions, and promoting family harmony.

What were the principal causes of death in the past? Could your ancestor have been affected? How was disease investigated and treated, and what did our ancestors think about the illnesses and the accidents that might befall them? Simon Willss fascinating survey of the diseases that had an impact on their lives seeks to answer these questions. His graphic, detailed account offers an unusual and informative view of the threats that our ancestors lived with and died of. He describes the common causes of death—cancer, cholera, dysentery, influenza, malaria, scurvy, smallpox, stroke, tuberculosis, typhus, yellow fever, venereal disease and the afflictions of old age. Alcoholism is included, as are childbirth and childhood infections, heart disease, mental illness and dementia. Accidents feature prominently road and rail accidents, accidents at work and death through addiction and abuse is covered as well as death through violence and war.Simon Willss work gives a vivid picture of the hazards our ancestors faced and their understanding of them. It also reveals how life and death have changed over the centuries, how medical science has advanced so that some once-mortal illnesses are now curable while others are just as deadly now as they were then. In addition to describing causes of death and setting them in the context of the times, his book shows readers how to find and interpret patient records, death certificates and other documents in order to gain an accurate impression of how their ancestors died.

"Anthony Aveni reveals how !Kung and Mursi hunter-gatherers depended on signals in the sky for their survival and sustenance; how Polynesian sailors navigated a seemingly limitless watery world by star bearings; how social cohesion in cultures as diverse as the Pawnee and the Inca was mirrored in celestial imagery; and how the cosmic connection between the arrangement of Chinese and Aztec cities and the constellations served as an expression of political authority." "For most of human history, people found meaning in the dance of the cosmic denizens. Today, many aspects of this intimate contact between daily life and what happens in the sky have disappeared. Did our ancestors have an understanding of the cosmos that we ourselves lack? How and why did it all happen? These are the questions addressed in this engaging and erudite book."--BOOK JACKET.