Native American Crafts & Skills

Native American Crafts and Skills: A Fully Illustrated Guide to Wilderness Living and Survival An excellent resource for learning crafts and skills.

There are a number of useful details in this book, but also some details that are inauthentic, or stereotypically over generalized. For example, the tee pee instructions are for using canvas fabric, not hides. Also, most (but not all) of the items explained are for plains Indians / tribes only, and at that, only from latter periods. If you want to learn the skills of native peoples on the east coast during the 15 and 1600's, say, then this isn't the book (C. Keith Wilbur's books are EXCELLENT for native New England technologies). You'll find some useful informatin in that case, but not much. There is some information on foods eaten, including plant I.D. drawings, but the drawings leave A LOT to be desired. For example, the drawing of "Indian potatoes" is way off from what the plant actually looks like. You could not go out in the woods and pick out an "Indian potatoe" plant based on that picture alone. Neither is there information on where any of the plants grow wild. There is a short list of what natural ingredients would have been used for what ailments - a nice little start. The information on how to make clay pots for real end use (cooking) is far from enough to experience good success. Nothing is said, either, about where to get natural pottery clay, how to prepare it, and what precautions to take when "firing" it. The instructions given on clay pot making also are limited to the pots made in the southwest. One well done section is that on natural brain tanning of hides. There is enough information there to have good success. The section on making a bow is 95% complete - you can do it if you already know what sinew is, and where to take it off of a dead animal (and what kind of dead animals). No weaving instructions (exept for the under-gird of a hut shell). There is a nice map of where various tribes were located across the US, however no dates or information specifying if this is reservation sites, locations of origin, or a mixture of both. I give this book a four star because there are not enough books like this out there, and therefore we should be glad to have even this much documented for future generations. To round out what this work lacks I would recommend adding David Wescott's Primitive Technology books to your library of native how-to titles (and don't forget to check out C. Keith Wilbur's books).

Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (6/06) I was particularly interested in reviewing this book to further my knowledge on my husband's Cherokee ancestors and their roots in crafts. I was amazed how detailed this book is and found some interesting information. Growing up in Northern Canada I often found arrow heads and remnants of tools on our family farm. Montgomery explains how these items are made and I now appreciate the painstaking time and labor it took to make just one tool. Montgomery not only explains the construction but he gives dimensions and step-by-step instructions for each item. He not only details tools and weapons, but shelters, including a Tipi. He also covers hunting and trapping, tanning, clothing, cooking, transportation, and jewelry, including bead and quill work. After perusing Montgomery's book I have a heightened appreciate for the crafts that the Native American people continue to preserve. "Native American Crafts & Skills" is certainly a "101" book for anyone that wants to learn any native crafts.