"Provides real insight into the religion of the nineteenth-century Gros Ventre (Atsina) Indians. Known to themselves as the White Clay People, this little-known tribe now shares the Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana with the Assiniboines. However, throughout much of their recorded history they were allied with the Blackfeet. The book is a record of the spiritual life of Bull Lodge (born ca. 1802, died 1886), religions leader, healer, and for a time, keeper of the Feathered Pipe, one of the two tribal objects of the Gros Ventres. . . . [It] makes absorbing reading. Beginning at the age of twelve. Bull Lodge sought spiritual power through the tribal Feathered Pipe. From the ages of seventeen to twenty-three he was favored with a series of seven visions on seven buttes that together outline a Gros Ventre cultural geography. . . . "The strength of the narrative is the rich detail of ritual description: fasting, sacrifices, vision experiences, the practices of healing. By describing ritual in the context of a man's life, the book gives a uniquely historical understanding of the dynamics of traditional religious life. It provides deeper understanding of the Gros Ventres' way of life and gives a valuable comparative perspective on plains Indian religion."--Raymond J. DeMallie, Western Historical Quarterly. George Horse Capture is field manager of Fort Belknap Ventures. Inc., a tribal enterprise to develop and market traditional Indian art. At present he is helping to establish a tribal museum.

Native American scholars reflect on issues related to academic study by students drawn from the indigenous peoples of America. Topics range from problems of racism and ethnic fraud in academic hiring to how indigenous values and perspectives can be integrated into research methodologies and interpretive theories.

"Everything you know about Indians is wrong." As the provocative title of Paul Chaat Smith's 2009 book proclaims, everyone knows about Native Americans, but most of what they know is the fruit of stereotypes and vague images. The real people, real communities, and real events of indigenous America continue to elude most people. The Oxford Handbook of American Indian History confronts this erroneous view by presenting an accurate and comprehensive history of the indigenous peoples who lived-and live-in the territory that became the United States. Thirty-two leading experts, both Native and non-Native, describe the historical developments of the past 500 years in American Indian history, focusing on significant moments of upheaval and change, histories of indigenous occupation, and overviews of Indian community life. The first section of the book charts Indian history from before 1492 to European invasions and settlement, analyzing US expansion and its consequences for Indian survival up to the twenty-first century. A second group of essays consists of regional and tribal histories. The final section illuminates distinctive themes of Indian life, including gender, sexuality and family, spirituality, art, intellectual history, education, public welfare, legal issues, and urban experiences. A much-needed and eye-opening account of American Indians, this Handbook unveils the real history often hidden behind wrong assumptions, offering stimulating ideas and resources for new generations to pursue research on this topic.

In The Dream Seekers, Lee Irwin demonstrates the central importance of visionary dreams as sources of empowerment and innovation in Plains Indian religion. Irwin draws on 350 visionary dreams from published and unpublished sources that span 150 years to describe the shared features of cosmology for twenty-three groups of Plains Indians. This comprehensive work is not a recital but an understandable exploration of the religious world of Plains Indians. The different means of acquiring visions that are described include the spontaneous vision experience common among Plains Indian women and means such as stress, illness, social conflict, and mourning used by both men and women to obtain visions. Irwin describes the various stages of the structured male vision quest as well as the central issues of unsuccessful or abandoned quests, threshold experiences during a vision, and the means by which religious empowerment is attained and transferred.

From clambakes to wild strawberry bread, this practical primer on natural foods not only provides recipes for varied Native American dishes but also describes uses of ceremonial, medicinal, and sacred plants. 147 illustrations.

The Routledge Companion to Native American Literature engages the multiple scenes of tension — historical, political, cultural, and aesthetic — that constitutes a problematic legacy in terms of community identity, ethnicity, gender and sexuality, language, and sovereignty in the study of Native American literature. This important and timely addition to the field provides context for issues that enter into Native American literary texts through allusions, references, and language use. The volume presents over forty essays by leading and emerging international scholars and analyses: regional, cultural, racial and sexual identities in Native American literature key historical moments from the earliest period of colonial contact to the present worldviews in relation to issues such as health, spirituality, animals, and physical environments traditions of cultural creation that are key to understanding the styles, allusions, and language of Native American Literature the impact of differing literary forms of Native American literature. This collection provides a map of the critical issues central to the discipline, as well as uncovering new perspectives and new directions for the development of the field. It supports academic study and also assists general readers who require a comprehensive yet manageable introduction to the contexts essential to approaching Native American Literature. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the past, present and future of this literary culture. Contributors: Joseph Bauerkemper, Susan Bernardin, Susan Berry Brill de Ramírez, Kirby Brown, David J. Carlson, Cari M. Carpenter, Eric Cheyfitz, Tova Cooper, Alicia Cox, Birgit Däwes, Janet Fiskio, Earl E. Fitz, John Gamber, Kathryn N. Gray, Sarah Henzi, Susannah Hopson, Hsinya Huang, Brian K. Hudson, Bruce E. Johansen, Judit Ágnes Kádár, Amelia V. Katanski, Susan Kollin, Chris LaLonde, A. Robert Lee, Iping Liang, Drew Lopenzina, Brandy Nālani McDougall, Deborah Madsen, Diveena Seshetta Marcus, Sabine N. Meyer, Carol Miller, David L. Moore, Birgit Brander Rasmussen, Mark Rifkin, Kenneth M. Roemer, Oliver Scheiding, Lee Schweninger, Stephanie A. Sellers, Kathryn W. Shanley, Leah Sneider, David Stirrup, Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr., Tammy Wahpeconiah

Empowering Settings and Voices for Social Change combines a focus on understanding social settings as loci for empowering intervention with a focus on understanding and giving voice to citizens. Volume chapters illuminate advances in theory and method relevant to changing a broad spectrum of social settings from a strengths-based perspective.