a An introduction to the history, culture, and people of the many Indian tribes that inhabited the region between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, including the present Prairie provinces of Canada.

"Wishart and the staff of the Center for Great Plains Studies have compiled a wide-ranging (pun intended) encyclopedia of this important region. Their objective was to 'give definition to a region that has traditionally been poorly defined,' and they have

The content of the following Storyline project conceived around the topic 'Indians' respectively Native Americans2 is aimed to introduce children into Native American culture. In the context of regional studies the children are acquainted with various interesting aspects of Indian lives, of their habits and living conditions. Although in primary English a detailed discussion and reflection on the dramatic historical and contemporary Native American problems (the conflict with the 'White Man', the life in reservations, the danger of 'cultural extinction' etc.) is hardly possible, the occupation with more 'positive' aspects of the topic may provide a more realistic image of Native American culture than offered by commercial media thus making a first decisive step to counter the arising of rigid, prejudiced, stereotype-based attitudes that even a majority of adults have today. The widespread stereotypical image of 'Indians' in movies (e.g. Winnetou), books or comics is an exaggerated portrayal of the so called Prairie and Plains Indians. However, there were other cultures and over 500 different tribes living together on the huge continent. The focus of this project is on three major Indian cultures: The Prairie and Plains Indians, the Forest Indians, and the Pueblo Indians.

At the core of this nuanced book is the question that ecocritics have been debating for decades: what is the relationship between aesthetics and activism, between art and community? By using a pastoral lens to examine ten fictional narratives that chronicle the dialogue between human culture and nonhuman nature on the Great Plains, Matthew Cella explores literary treatments of a succession of abrupt cultural transitions from the Euroamerican conquest of the “Indian wilderness” in the nineteenth century to the Buffalo Commons phenomenon in the twentieth. By charting the shifting meaning of land use and biocultural change in the region, he posits this bad land—the arid West—as a crucible for the development of the human imagination. Each chapter deals closely with two novels that chronicle the same crisis within the Plains community. Cella highlights, for example, how Willa Cather reconciles her persistent romanticism with a growing disillusionment about the future of rural Nebraska, how Tillie Olsen and Frederick Manfred approach the tragedy of the Dust Bowl with strikingly similar visions, and how Annie Proulx and Thomas King use the return of the buffalo as the centerpiece of a revised mythology of the Plains as a palimpsest defined by layers of change and response. By illuminating these fictional quests for wholeness on the Great Plains, Cella leads us to understand the intricate interdependency of people and the places they inhabit. Cella uses the term “pastoralism” in its broadest sense to mean a mode of thinking that probes the relationship between nature and culture: a discourse concerned with human engagement—material and nonmaterial—with the nonhuman community. In all ten novels discussed in this book, pastoral experience—the encounter with the Beautiful—leads to a renewed understanding of the integral connection between human and nonhuman communities. Propelling this tradition of bad land pastoralism are an underlying faith in the beauty of wholeness that comes from inhabiting a continuously changing biocultural landscape and a recognition of the inevitability of change. The power of story and language to shape the direction of that change gives literary pastoralism the potential to support an alternative series of ideals based not on escape but on stewardship: community, continuity, and commitment.

Until the last two centuries, the human landscapes of the Great Plains were shaped solely by Native Americans, and since then the region has continued to be defined by the enduring presence of its Indigenous peoples. The Encyclopedia of the Great Plains Indians offers a sweeping overview, across time and space, of this story in 123 entries drawn from the acclaimed Encyclopedia of the Great Plains, together with 23 new entries focusing on contemporary Plains Indians, and many new photographs. ø Here are the peoples, places, processes, and events that have shaped lives of the Indians of the Great Plains from the beginnings of human habitation to the present?not only yesterday?s wars, treaties, and traditions but also today?s tribal colleges, casinos, and legal battles. In addition to entries on familiar names from the past like Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, new entries on contemporary figures such as American Indian Movement spiritual leader Leonard Crow Dog and activists Russell Means and Leonard Peltier are included in the volume. Influential writer Vine Deloria Sr., Crow medicine woman Pretty Shield, Nakota blues-rock band Indigenous, and the Nebraska Indians baseball team are also among the entries in this comprehensive account. Anyone wanting to know about Plains Indians, past and present, will find this an authoritative and fascinating source.

The Military Conquest of the Prairie is a study on the final wars on the prairie from the Native American perspective. When the reservation system took hold about one-third of tribes stayed permanently there, one-third during the harsh winter months, and the last third remained on what the government termed unceded territory, which Native Americans had the right to occupy by treaty. For the Federal government it was completely unacceptable that some Indians refused to submit to its authority. Both the Red River war (1874-75) in the south and the great Sioux war (1876-77) in the north were the direct result of Federal violation of treaties and agreements. At issue was the one-sided violence against free roaming tribes that were trying to maintain their old way of life, at the heart of which was avoidance on intermingling with white men. Contrary to the expectations of the government, and indeed to most historical accounts, the Native Americans were winning on the battlefields with clear conceptions of strategy and tactics. They only laid down their arms when their reservation was secured on their homeland, thus providing their preferred living space and enabling them to continue their way of life in security. But white man perfidy and governmental double-cross were the order of the day. The Federal government found it intolerable that what it termed savages' should be able to determine their own future. Vicious attacks were initiated in order to stamp out tribalism, resulting in driving the US aboriginal population almost to extinction. Analysis of these events is discussed in light of the passing of the Dawes Act in 1887 that provided for breaking up the reservations to the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 that gave a semblance of justice to Native Americans.

Dispelling myths, answering questions, and stimulating thoughtful avenues for further inquiry, this highly readable reference provides a wealth of specific information about all known North American Indians. Readers will delight in the stirring narratives about everything from notable leaders and relations with non-natives; to customs, dress, dwellings, and weapons; to government and religion. Addressing over 200 groups of Native American groups in Canada and the United States, A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and People is at once exhaustive yet readable, covering myriad aspects of a people spread across ten geographical regions. Listed alphabetically for easy access, each Native American group is presented in careful detail, starting with the tribal name, translation, origin, and definition. Each entry then includes significant facts about the group's location and population, as well as impressive details about the history and culture of the group. Bringing each entry up-to-date, Editor Barry Pritzker also addresses with ease current information on each group's government, economy, legal status, and reservations. Engaging and precise, Pritzker's prose makes this extensive work an enjoyable read. Whether he is giving the court interpretation of the term "tribe" (Many traditional Native American groups were not tribes at all but more like extended families) or describing how a Shoshone woman served as a guide on the Louis and Clarke expedition, the material is always presented in a clear and lively manner. In light of past and ongoing injustices and the momentum of Indian and Intuit self-determination movements, an understanding of these native cultures as well as their contributions to contemporary society becomes increasingly important. This book provides all the essential information necessary to fully grasp the history, culture, and current feelings surrounding North American Indians. It is not only a compelling resource for students and researchers of Native American studies, anthropology, and history, but an indispensable guide for anyone concerned with the past and present situation of the numerous Native American groups.

The wild plants in this book tell stories of land, people, and food. As renowned botanist Kelly Kindscher guides us through over one hundred edible plants in this beautiful field guide, we find that foraging has always been an important part of prairie life. Before colonization, Native American women were the primary gatherers of wild plants, which were an abundant, sustainable, and delicious feature of Indigenous diets. Colonizers reduced the significance of wild plants in prairie life as they relocated Native peoples and imposed their agrarian culture on the land, but these Indigenous foodways were never truly lost. In the recent past, foraging has become a tremendously popular way for many peoples to connect with the earth, promote sustainability, and revive and honor cultural food traditions. In this beautifully illustrated new edition, Kindscher explores 117 wild plants of the prairie, offering information about habitat, food use, and cultivation. Color photos and maps make this stunning book a useful foraging guide for anyone to take out into the prairie. A must-have for enthusiasts and professionals alike, Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie gives us the great opportunity to engage with the land we live in.