Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Revised Edition

I wanted something thorough and informative about Native American Tribes. I also wanted something clear and concise, but not so bogged down with detail that it was a chore to weed through. This encyclopedia gave me what I wanted and more. I'm writing a fictional novel with a Native American character and needed help in knowing him and his background. I was impressed with how easy it was to look up information by tribe and get interesting tidbits, that if I so desired, I could research further. This is definitely a writer's dream. I feel confident writing about a character from any tribe with this book in my collection.

Now in a newly updated and expanded third edition, "Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes" is a compilation of facts for more than two hundred Native American tribes in North America, including prehistoric peoples on the North American continent as well as all of the identifiable Native American civilizations on the continent. Organized alphabetically by tribe or group, there is at least one representative Native American tribe from each language family or language isolate for each culture area covered. From locations, migrations, contact with non-Indians, wars, customs, housing, tools, clothing, art, rituals, diet, and cultural contributions, "Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes" has special relevance for contemporary tribal issues and concerns. "Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes" is a critically important, superbly presented, essential and core addition to professional, academic, and community library Native American Studies reference collections.

Excellent presentation of past and present information about the culture groups of native North America, arranged alphabetically and accompanied by a terrific selection of pictures. This reference book is easy enough to read that it works as a children's resource, but it doesn't 'dumb down' or get lost in silly romanticizing. I could recommend this book to anyone with an interest, but particularly for school libraries.

They say this book is designed for older teens or young adults. So how come an old guy like me read it enraptured and learned a lot! This is a very strong and well written book that will give you all the basics about tribal, ethnic and cultural differences, customs and habits. If you are interested in native Americans, but are not yet an expert, this is your book.

Ever wondered if there were differences between the Apache and the Navajo, the Cheyenne and the Sioux? Did you know that many of the names we have for tribes were ones used by other tribes or by the white man? Learn what the different native american tribes called themselves, their sacred rites, their style of warfare- even what the tribes are doing today. This is a great tool for the novice since tribes are listed alphabetically, not by classification (such as Southwest, Plains, etc.). The only possible drawback is the generalization of the California Indians. This is a definite must have in any historian's library