Product Description
Anyone interested in mythology and legends will enjoy these stories which have been passed down orally for generations by the Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest. They reveal Pueblo customs and traditions as well as the ceremonial aspects of Pueblo religion. A character called Grandfather, the fictional narrator of these stories, embodies the collective wisdom of the Pueblo Indians, the attitudes about universal dilemmas and conflicts in human life that developed through many generations. Some of the stories are realistic; others involve the supernatural. Some evoke the initial contact between the pueblos and the Spanish conquistadors. There are also tales of the joy and bitterness of interactions between parents and children, husbands and wives, and humans and spirits. Rites of passage and 'vision quests' often enter into the characters' attempts to live in harmony with nature, other humans, and spirits. Lessons on how to live, of growing up, marrying, parenting, and growing old sometimes emerge straightforwardly in these stories, but more often, readers are left to draw their own conclusions. These stories, collected by the Teresa Pijoan since she was eight years old, actually came from many different storytellers, some of them childhood friends of the author. She had heard several versions of each story before writing it down and she often used elements from one version to fill in the parts missing from other versions. She then showed her drafts of each story to members of several different pueblos and weighed their comments before putting each story in its present form. ... Read more

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An absorbing and thought-provoking assemblage of folklore
Pueblo Indian Wisdom: Native American Legends And Mythology is a collection by Teresa Pijoan of the legends, folktales, and myths which were passed down orally for generations among the Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest. Powerfully rendered, the recorded drafts of each individual story was shown to multiple storytellers, with their comments taken into account for the final draft. An absorbing and thought-provoking assemblage of folklore, Pueblo Indian Wisdom is a welcome and commended addition to any personal, academic, or community library Native American Studies collection. ... Read more

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Culled from nineteenth- and twentieth-century accounts of native American life, customs, and folklore, this collection of stories, written by a New Mexican artist who lived among the Pueblo Indians, was first published in 1929. ... Read more

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Provides an overview of the past and present lives of the Pueblo Indians, covering their daily activities, customs, family life, religion, government, history, and interaction with the United States government. ... Read more

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Ideal for today's young investigative reader, each A True Book includes lively sidebars, a glossary and index, plus a comprehensive "To Find Out More" section listing books, organizations, and Internet sites. A staple of library collections since the 1950s, the new A True Book series is the definitive nonfiction series for elementary school readers. ... Read more

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"Fascinating myths, legends, festivals, and stories help students experience the rich heritage of ancient cultures around the world. Detailed maps and vivid illustrations demonstrate how various people lived and what they accomplished. Each book in this s" ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Pueblo Indian Stencils Review
These stencils are good if you need designs of the pueblo indians, however, they are very large.I would have preferred them to be smaller.

Stencils Southwest
We used these stencils to decorate a wooden bench with Southwest
decorations.I used acrylic paint and scotch tape to hold the
stencils down.Because the stencil is shiny, the paint did not sink
into the paper.These are good for paint but cannot be used more
then a few times.I had a hard time finding good Southwest stencils
to decorate with, but the ones in this book work fine. ... Read more

Product Description
Working without the use of the potter's wheel, the Pueblo Indians in the American Southwest created beautiful ceramic ware for both utilitarian and ceremonial use. A classic in the field, this book is the first comprehensive account of historic Pueblo pottery, and results from years of study by Larry Frank, an authority on this and other North American Art Forms, and lengthy technical research by Francis Harlow, an internationally known scientist. Illustrating the text are dozens of superb photographs by Bernard Lopez. With nearly two hundred examples, the authors appraise the aesthetic value of Pueblo pottery as rivaling that of any ware made by Neolithic societies, whether in America, Europe, the East of Africa. This book captures that beauty and informs the reader. ... Read more

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Art Defines the Culture
Art, or pottery in this case, defines the culture. Historic Pottery of the Pueblo Indians (of Southwestern United States) is an impressive collection of photographic works and analysis that exemplifies the highest artistic achievement of these Native Americans. The Pueblo Indians have kept their culture basically intact for over a thousand years. Their works of pottery are an essential and practical form of artistic expression. The basic ingredient for making pottery is clay dug up from deposits in the earth. These deposits of clay were pulverized and cleaned of impurities and used in the process of making pottery. This book examines this process and details the different types of Pueblo pottery both of practical use and those exemplifying the highly decorative samples of artistic expression. This pottery truly defines the culture of these people.
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An authoritative treatment of the social, cultural, andethnohistorical data on both the Eastern and Western Pueblos! Theinformation contained in this case study is the result of the author's lifetimespent among the Pueblos. "I have lived in or visited every village small andlarge from the Hopi towns of lower and upper Moencopi in Arizona to thedouble apartment buildings of Taos Pueblo in northern New Mexico," writes theauthor in his preface. He writes not of a single people and their culture but ofa group of related peoples and their adaptation through time to their changingphysical, socioeconomic, and political environments. A rare, inside view ofnative life and culture by an anthropologist who is himself a Pueblo Indian.Perhaps the best single volume on the subject. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good overview of period
General info
Still pretty good read though for those interested in Pueblo Indians

Pueblo culture explained
Best book for understanding Pueblo culture. Not just for anthropologists, good general read.

Full of Information
This book is packed with information about the history of New Mexico (the real history), and about the different ethnic groups, and the various pueblos.Dozier also wrote a similarly good book about Hano, the non-Hopi pueblo on the Hopi reservation.Warning:These books challenge some of the commonly held views about Hispanic and Indian culture and origins in the Southwest.Dozier was a Santa Clara Indian, and a professor of anthropology and related subjects at several universities in the US.Much of the information he gives is from firsthand research and experience.Given his background, he writes from a highly unbiased viewpoint.To be fair, his research is from the fifties and sixties, and so with respect to the situation today may be a little out of date.Still - highly recommended. ... Read more

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Find the nations from your region and use these books to add depth and interest to your collection. The history and lifestyles are respectfully presented, showing how these rich, impressive cultures have endured. ... Read more

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When is a fetish not a fetish? Find out in this celebration of the most misunderstood genre of Southwestern Indian carvings. From Beast Gods to Directional Guardian Spirits, this book explores the magic and mystery behind the charismatic, mostly stone, animal figures (or fetishes) skillfully carved by artists from Southwestern Pueblos. Enthusiasts will delight in the hundreds of full-color photographs. Pictures and text highlight the impressive variety of forms, materials, and traditional and contemporary styles available to collectors. This book discusses the symbolic meanings associated with these figures and explains how they are "borrowed" for use by members of non-Native American cultures. A newly revised price guide is included to help collectors orient themselves to current market values. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not much different from the first edition
This was not the best book on fetishes out there to begin with ,but I expected a new edition would at least have some new photos and cover more recent artists. I was wrong. The only thing that seems to be changed from the first edition are the prices quoted. If you you have the first edition don't waste your money on this one. If you don't it's worth having if you are really into fetishes, but if you only want one book on fetishes this is not the one to get. Both Kent McManis's and Mark Bahti"s books are much better. ... Read more

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For Native Americans, religious freedom has been an elusive goal. From nineteenth-century bans on indigenous ceremonial practices to twenty-first-century legal battles over sacred lands, peyote use, and hunting practices, the U.S. government has often acted as if Indian traditions were somehow not truly religious and therefore not eligible for the constitutional protections of the First Amendment. In this book, Tisa Wenger shows that cultural notions about what constitutes "religion" are crucial to public debates over religious freedom.

In the 1920s, Pueblo Indian leaders in New Mexico and a sympathetic coalition of non-Indian reformers successfully challenged government and missionary attempts to suppress Indian dances by convincing a skeptical public that these ceremonies counted as religion. This struggle for religious freedom forced the Pueblos to employ Euro-American notions of religion, a conceptual shift with complex consequences within Pueblo life. Long after the dance controversy, Wenger demonstrates, dominant concepts of religion and religious freedom have continued to marginalize indigenous traditions within the United States. ... Read more

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Awsome!
This is a beautifully written treatise that answers the question of Pueblo Indian religious practice and the inability of the U. S. government and Constitution to adequately address the needs of these indigenous peoples. Wenger follows the history from the 1880s through 1929 and briefly touches on several court cases involving Native
American legal conflicts.I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this social-cultural-legal history of the New Mexico Pueblo controversy regarding costumbres and dances. ... Read more

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Pueblo Nations is the story of a vital and creative culture, of a people sustained by ages-old traditions and beliefs, who have adapted to the radical challenges of the modern world. Written by a respected writer, educator, and elder of the Jemez Pueblo, this rare, insider's view of the history of the 19 Indian Pueblos of New Mexico illuminates Pueblo historical traditions dating from millennia before the arrival of Columbus and chronicles the events and changes of the European era from the perspective of those who experienced them.
Drawing on both traditional oral history and written records, Sando describes the origin and development of Pueblo civilization, the Spanish conquest and occupation, the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, and the response of the pueblos to Mexican independence and conquest by the United States. Sando offers several portraits of notable Pueblo leaders whose contributions have helped shape the history of their people. He looks at internal developments in Pueblo government and presents a detailed account of the unremitting struggle to retain sovereignty, land, and water rights in the face of powerful outside pressures.

This new edition is fully indexed and updated. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A beautifully written history from a unique perspective.
As a member of the Sun Clan of the Jemez people, Joe Sando was in a unique position to research and write this history. As a scholar trained at Eastern New Mexico State and at Vanderbilt, he developed his skills as an historian. As a person he retained his empathy and humanity while confronting the unjust policies that have been visited on the Pueblo peoples by the Spanish, Mexican and United States governments.If you are interested in a well-balanced, incisive history of the New Mexico Pueblo people (the Hopi are not covered here), this book is worth the money to buy, the effort to read and the time to understand. ... Read more

Product Description
When is a fetish not a fetish? Find out in this celebration of the most misunderstood genre of Southwestern Indian carvings. From Beast Gods to Directional Guardian Spirits, this book explores the magic and mystery behind the charismatic, mostly stone, animal figures or fetishes skillfully carved by artists from the Southwestern Pueblos. Enthusiasts will delight in the hundreds of full-color photographs. Pictures and text highlight the impressive variety of forms, materials, and traditional and contemporary styles available to collectors. This book discusses the symbolic meanings associated with these figures and explains how they are "borrowed" for use by members of non-Native American cultures. A price guide is included to help collectors orient themselves to current market values. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An informative book for the beginning or advanced collector.
This would be an excellent starter book for anyone interested in learning about fetish carvings, or collecting them.Ms. Whittle not only discusses the different types of animals carved and what they mean in the traditionalZuni sense, but also talks about the carvers and the materials they use. There are color pictures on nearly every page, each giving the kind ofanimal represented, the carver, materials used in the piece, and a priceguide as well, which is useful if one is just starting a collection! Besides the Zuni, there are other Native peoples of the Southwestern US whomake fetishes for sale, such as the Navajo and Isleta, and Ms. Whittleincludes some of their works as well. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Reference Resource for the Serious Collector
Gregory Schaaf's latest book has turned out to be one of the most valuable and most used in my collection of books on this subject.Not only does he provide a concise and well structured biography on every important potterof the Rio Grande Pueblos, he also provides family trees, some great colorplates and a number of black and white photographs of both the artists andtheir work.Bur Mr. Schaaf goes further than that, and supplies his readerwith all-important pricing info, including the prices some of the pottersfetched for their work at recent auctions.I use this book forresearching; confirming or refuting the extraneous piece of information,and for simple reading pleasure.Sometimes I get the book down just tolook (again!) at the pictures.A great job, and a wonderful companion tohis earlier book of biographies on the Hopi potters.Armed with these twovolumes, any collector of pueblo pottery will find himself making fewermistakes on who to pursue, what to buy and how much to pay for it.Ihighly recommend this book. ... Read more

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The Native Americans series offers an authoritative introduction to the native tribes of the United States. Each book examines the tribes of a particular region, describing their traditional customs, religious beliefs, and daily life and touches on how those traditions have been passed on to their descendants. More than 50 illustrations. ... Read more