Blackfeet: Artists of the Northern Plains : The Scriver Collection of Blackfeet Indian Artifacts and Related Objects, 1894-1990 [Hardcover]

Bob Scriver (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1991

This book has become the classic reference for students of Blackfeet culture. It highlights the excellence of design and ornamentation that touched all phases of their lives. The Scriver Collection of Blackfeet Artifacts, presented here, is truly a source of information and inspiration to all who view it.

Dr. Philip Stepney, Director of the Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada (where the collection now resides), observed that "the Scriver Blackfeet Collection is possibly the greatest single collection of historic Blackfeet material in existence." The artifacts are some of the finest examples of design, coloration and craftsmanship known today. The 1,500 pieces collected by the Scrivers and portrayed in this comprehensive volume represent all facets of Blackfeet life, including a sensitive and moving presentation of the aura and meaning of the ceremonial side of an earlier era.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bob Scriver was a man of great and varied accomplishments: an internationally recognized Western sculptor, an accomplished trumpet player with a master's degree in music, a well-known taxidermist, and with his father, Thaddeus Emery Scriver, a collector and preserver of a large segment of Blackfeet Indian material and culture.

Scriver expressed his "deepest respect and appreciation to the countless Blackfeet and other native craftspeople who, though unknown, created the beautiful object pictured on these pages. I also wish to thank the people who recognized the need to preserve these items so that future generations of Blackfeet could marvel at, study and be inspired by the works of their forefathers."

ALSO BY BOB SCRIVER: An Honest Try, ISBN 0-913504-22-X and No More Buffalo, ISBN 0-913504-75-0

Product Details

• Hardcover: 293 pages
• Publisher: Lowell Pr; First Edition edition (December 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 093284538X
• ISBN-13: 978-0932845382
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,516,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is an uninterpreted direct view of local materials, May 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Blackfeet: Artists of the Northern Plains : The Scriver Collection of Blackfeet Indian Artifacts and Related Objects, 1894-1990 (Hardcover)

Before Bob Scriver sent this collection of materials off to the Edmonton Provincial Museum to be preserved for expert study, he personally paid for these photos to be made and for this book to be printed-- not so much to sell books, as to make sure all Blackfeet or persons who cared about Blackfeet could hold the collection in their hands. Scriver had known the Carberry family and knew that their collection went to the Field Museum in Chicago, where they were no longer accessible to the public. Something similar happened to the Sherburne Collection after it went to Gonzaga University in Spokane. Scriver knew that unless the materials went into the protection of a major institution, they would be separated and maybe destroyed. Therefore, he did the best he could-- as a man trained in music rather than anthropology-- to guarantee the future. The photographer, Marshall Noice, is particularly fine.

Of course, Scriver was self-indulgent when he included family photos from his album, but to him these materials were part of his real life and came from his friends and neighbors.

The fancy scientists are free to study the collection and render their judgments in later books. It was more important to Scriver that the school kids and elders on the reservation should be able to "own" these materials for $60 or a library card.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bob Scriver " The Blackfeet - Artists of the Northern plain, April 10, 2001

By 

Tracie Williams (Marion, MT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blackfeet: Artists of the Northern Plains : The Scriver Collection of Blackfeet Indian Artifacts and Related Objects, 1894-1990 (Hardcover)

This book is one that will stand beside any beautiful book on Indian History. The significance of this collection of Indian artifacts is remarkable. The photography of the items in complete medicine bundles, and the detail of the of bead work in moccasins, feathers in a Sioux-style bonnet and a Split -horn bonnet, circa 1870, would be of great bennifit to any artist who is looking to depict the true color and beauty of these rare indian items.This book was, "honered by the Printing industry of America as one of the outstanding art books created in 1992."Unless you want to drive to the Provincial Museum of Alberta to view this collection, It is well worth the price of the book to see this religious History of a great Indian People.

2 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This is a book with little value as a research tool, March 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Blackfeet: Artists of the Northern Plains : The Scriver Collection of Blackfeet Indian Artifacts and Related Objects, 1894-1990 (Hardcover)

It is unfortunate that a subject, as important as this,could not have been treated in a more intellectural manner.It is unfortunate that a series of photographs have been utilizied to represent ethnographic material to serious collectors or researchers,when the written material is superficial, at best. This is,in many respects an unfortunate book when a more serious approach was needed. Any individual, when writing about an important subject, such as this, has a responsibility to be accurate and to provide information that informs and educates the reader. this book fails those tasks tasks in many respects.