Encyclopedia of American Indian Costume

This book is very informative, with detailed text describing Native American costume, but more illustrations would be helpful. The few illustrations that are included are not always reproduced well, possibly an artifact of working with more-than-a-century-old photographs. A few of the descriptions of the photographs are not completely accurate, as in the case of a dentalium shell choker described as a hair pipe choker. Otherwise I believe it will be very useful in my quest to reproduce traditional Native American women's clothing.

For anyone fascinated by the customs and dress of the American Indians, this book is a rich reference. The adaptation of materials found in nature along with the practicality of clothing in different regions provides interesting reading for hours. Anyone who thinks all Indians dressed alike in drab buckskins or adorned themselves or wore their hair alike needs to read about the skill and beauty involved in making their wonderful clothing and jewelry. It would be nice to see more photos and some color pictures, but it is still a great book! My only disappointment is in the choice of the word "costume" in the title. Go to any Pow Wow and you'll see today's Indians cringe at that term as it implies dressing up as something they are not. "Regalia" is their preferred term for their outfits. I recommend this book.

This book is the best general guide I've ever seen to the different costume practices of each major North American Indian tribal group. The book has only two significant drawbacks for the general reader: not enough illustrations (though many are rare photographs almost 100 years old) and unclear chronology. All tribes' costume changed after European contact and such contact occurred at different times for different areas; these factors can make it challenging to pick the relevant information from the text. However, I still learned a lot from this book.