The Mammoth Book of Native Americans: The Story of America's Original Inhabitants in All Its Beauty, Magic, Truth, and Tragedy - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0786712902 ISBN 13: 9780786712908

Publisher: Carroll & Graf, 2003

Synopsis

Horses, buffalo, warbonnets and war paint, peace pipes, tepees, totem poles, and powwows—they epitomize what most people know of native American culture. Yet America’s native people can trace their origins back thousands of years, to an age when mammoths still thrived in North America, and in the millennia before the arrival of European explorers they had evolved a vast variety of social and religious rituals in settlements. Four centuries of warfare, though, would ultimately decimate most of America’s five hundred tribes, and the vitality of their traditions would survive largely as a memory on the reservations to which they were consigned in modern times. The Mammoth Book of Native Americans rethinks the historical cliches long associated with the Indian nations. This volume focuses on the stories, songs, customs, tribal organization, dress, and arts of the first Americans. It does not ignore some of the more uncomfortable facts of the American Indian past, like the practice of cannibalism among some of the tribes or the part played by the native peoples themselves in the extinction of the buffalo. From the Arch of Heaven to Wounded Knee to Foxwood Casino, this is a story filled with magic and beauty, wisdom and tragedy.

About this title

About the Author:

Jon E. Lewis is a historian and writer, whose books on history and military history are sold worldwide. He is also editor of many The Mammoth Book of anthologies, including the bestselling On the Edge and Endurance and Adventure. He holds graduate and postgraduate degrees in history. His work has appeared in New Statesman, the Independent, Time Out and the Guardian. He lives in Herefordshire with his partner and children. Praise for his previous books: England: The Autobiography: 'A triumph' Saul David, author of Victoria's Army The British Soldier: The Autobiography: 'this thoughtful compilation ... almost unbearably moving.' Guardian 'Compelling tommy's eye view of war.' Daily Telegraph 'What a book. Five stars.' Daily Express

About this edition

• Publisher: Carroll & Graf
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0786712902
• ISBN 13: 9780786712908
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 512
• Editor: Lewis Jon E.