"Exploring advances in prehistory and early history of Numic hunter-gatherers in the Rocky Mountain West through analysis of archaeological and historic research from the earliest established presence more than a thousand years ago to the forced removal of tribes to reservations in the mid-nineteenth century"--

Spirit Lands of the Eagle and Bear explores advances in the prehistory and early history of Numic hunter-gatherers in the Rocky Mountain West through the presentation and analysis of archaeological and historic research on the period from the earliest established presence in the Rockies and its borderlands more than a thousand years ago to the forced removal of Ute, Shoshone, and other tribes to reservations in the mid-nineteenth century. New research into Numic archaeology, ethnohistory, and ethnography is significantly changing the understanding of migratory patterns, cultural interactions, chronology, and shared cultural-religious practices of regionally defined Numic branches and non-Numic populations of the American West. Contributors examine case studies of Ute and Shoshone material culture (ceramics, lithics, features and structures, trade and seasonal migration), chronology (dendrochronology, radiocarbon dating, thermoluminescence), and subsistence systems (hunting camps, game drives, faunal and botanical evidence of food sources). They also delineate different hunter-gatherer “ethnic groups” who co-occupied or interacted within one another’s territories through trade, raiding, or seasonal subsistence migrations, such as the Late Fremont/Ute and the Shoshone or the early Navajo/Ute and the Shoshone. With a strong emphasis on diverse cases and new and original archaeological, ethnohistoric, and ethnographic lines of evidence, Spirit Lands of the Eagle and Bear interweaves anthropological theory and innovative applications of leading-edge scientific methodologies and technologies. The book presents a cross-section of field, laboratory, and ethnohistoric studies—including indigenous consultation—that explore past, recent, and ongoing developments in Numic cultural history and prehistory. It will be of interest to scholars of Southwestern archaeology, as well as private and government cultural resource specialists and museum staff. Contributors: Richard Adams, John Cater, Christine Chady, David Diggs, Rand Greubel, John Ives, Byron Loosle, Curtis Martin, Sally McBeth, Lindsay Montgomery, Bryon Schroeder, Matthew Stirn

Standing Bear's dismay at the condition of his people, when after sixteen years' absence he returned to the Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation, may well have served as a catalyst for the writing of this book, first published in 1933. In addition to describing the customs, manners, and traditions of the Teton Sioux, Standing Bear also offered more general comments about the importance of native cultures and values and the status of Indian people in American society. Standing Bear sought to tell the white man just how his Indians lived. His book, generously interspersed with personal reminiscences and anecdotes, includes chapters on child rearing, social and political organization, the family, religion, and manhood. Standing Bear's views on Indian affairs and his suggestions for the improvement of white-Indian relations are presented in the two closing chapters.

Land ownership is exciting but being a part of the land, claimed by the land, opens a bond to all the people of the land. From ancient people to modern people land has fashioned an identity and bond between people who share common problems, troubles, joys and celebrations. It is as though people become connected through the ages. Our own stories are what tell about the connected lore. Lore is personal, but never private. Telling the lore, sharing the lore creates, and is created by, spirits mingling stories into a common humanity. Lore is humorous; lore is heartbreaking; serious and silly, but lore of identity is the backbone of culture. It is why we laugh together and why we cry together. My stories are not much different than the stories of all time. In this book some of the Spirits of the Land do their speaking through what I remember, through what I have learned about events, and through imagination. Childhood memories, significant times in life, historical understandings- these are the body of lore ready to be woven into our spirit as people. As I sought to understand all of this I was guided by a powerful voice. It was a mystical voice, a driving voice. I came to know the voice of the spirit world as a physical body, a face I could see, hear and talk to, in a small pool of water. The face and the voice came at her own will and sometimes overtook my will. The face and voice left my view when it willed me to act on my own strengths. But the voice of the face is never gone. The spirit is never gone. It is the Spirit of the Land.

Spirit Bear Kee.á, a Native American girl, sets out on a spirit journey to seek her father in the wilderness of the Pacific North West. The Huldu Woman In the Faroes, before the Norse settlers arrived, there was another people, the Huldu folk living there. They were tall slender with black hair and clad in grey. They could make themselves and their dwellings disappear and reappear. Lotta of the Wild Horses Imagine deeptime, when there were no people, only birds, furry creatures, and horses, wild horses.