Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.