The Mystic Warriors of the Plains offers readers an extraordinarily detailed view of the daily activities of the peoples of the North American plains, including the Sioux, Cheyenne, Pawnee, Nez Perce, Comanche, and many others. Used by Kevin Costner as a resource text for the motion picture Dances with Wolves, this is an extraordinarily in-depth examination of the day-to-day lives of the North American plains Indians, with over one thousand illustrations and thirty-two four-color plates. Covering everything from social customs, personal qualities, and government to types of weaponry, achievement marks, and the training of Indian boys, The Mystic Warriors of the Plains is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Plains Indian lore that will delight and inform everyone interested in understanding the native peoples of the Plains. "Magnificently and accurately ... conveys both the tragic ironies and splendors of the rich plains civilization." —Newsweek "Fascinating detail that gives a better idea of the plains people than mere description can do...."—Navajo Times
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Don't Believe Everything You Read!,
By Jeff Pert (Minneapolis, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Mystic Warriors of the Plains: The Culture, Arts, Crafts, and Religion of the Plains Indians (Paperback)
There is no doubt that the author's veneration of the old time Plains Indians borders on hero-worship; and if enthusiasm alone could guarantee accuracy, this would be a great book. Unfortunately, that is not the case here. I have studied Plains Indian culture for more than 30 years, and must agree with the previous reviewer from Montana that this book is riddled with errors from beginning to end. For example, Mails tells us that the Indians made bow cases from the tails of mountain lions. I am currently making a mountain lion quiver and bowcase myself, and I can tell you flatly that the mountain lion never lived whose tail was big enough for this purpose. Instead, the tail was always left as a pendant hanging from the mouth of the quiver. Since Mails' book includes a full page color painting, done by him, of a quiver with the tail hanging down in just that fashion, you wonder how he could make this error - but he did, and many others like it. Most of them could have been avoided if Mails had carefully read the primary sources listed in his own bibliography. This is a big, impressive looking coffee-table type book, and so our natural inclination is to believe whatever it says - an inclination strengthened by the fact that Mails makes every statement with an air of absolute authority. The reviewer from Pipestone, MN says that this book has all the answers, and it does. The problem is that those answers are so often completely wrong.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mystic Warriors a technical source, not a story.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Mystic Warriors of the Plains: The Culture, Arts, Crafts, and Religion of the Plains Indians (Paperback)
The Mystic Warriors of the Plains uses a respectful and sensitive--but not fawning--tone that is perfect for anthropological history. It contains a huge quantity of detail about plains culture, with an emphasis on the material culture of the Siouxan peoples. However, the abundance of detail makes this a book that is difficult to read in anything but small doses. Further, the author implicitly treats Native Americans as a thing of the past. Use this book as a reference or browse it at bedtime, but don't try to read straight through it
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best book I've ever read!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Mystic Warriors of the Plains: The Culture, Arts, Crafts, and Religion of the Plains Indians (Paperback)
Thomas Mails brings us this unforgettable book of the Plains Indians! Mails has really given us a classic here that must be read over and over again! This book is so informative. I personally think that it could be used in colleges as a textbook! It tells us all about their dress, weapons, hairstyles, and religion. I think that every person should run out and buy this book
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Neither historians nor archaeologists have progressed to the point where they can say precisely how the Indian tribes of the Plains came into being. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
vision helpers, quilled bands, buffalo horn bonnets, horned bonnets, tribal defense, sacred sage, mystic warriors, war bridle, two leggings, breath feathers, medicine items, painted lodges, rock medicine, eagle tail feathers, shoulder loop, war shirt, buckskin thong, spirit keeper, hair plates, beaded designs, buckskin fringes, reservation period, bow case, coup stick, beaded bands Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Plains Indians, Great Spirit, George Catlin, Plenty Coups, North America, Thunder Bird, United States, Bear Cult, Oglala Sioux, Fox Eyes, Great Plains, Gros Ventre, White Bull, Colonel Dodge, Ghost Dance, Crow Indian, Mountain Wind, Sitting Bull, First Worker, Charles Russell, Eastern Woodland, Great Mystery, Harvey Collection, Herman Lehmann, Plains Crees New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Neither historians nor archaeologists have progressed to the point where they can say precisely how the Indian tribes of the Plains came into being. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
vision helpers, quilled bands, buffalo horn bonnets, horned bonnets, tribal defense, sacred sage, mystic warriors, war bridle, two leggings, breath feathers, medicine items, painted lodges, rock medicine, eagle tail feathers, shoulder loop, war shirt, buckskin thong, spirit keeper, hair plates, beaded designs, buckskin fringes, reservation period, bow case, coup stick, beaded bands Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Plains Indians, Great Spirit, George Catlin, Plenty Coups, North America, Thunder Bird, United States, Bear Cult, Oglala Sioux, Fox Eyes, Great Plains, Gros Ventre, White Bull, Colonel Dodge, Ghost Dance, Crow Indian, Mountain Wind, Sitting Bull, First Worker, Charles Russell, Eastern Woodland, Great Mystery, Harvey Collection, Herman Lehmann, Plains Crees New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
See all 100 books this book cites
2
books
cite this book:
- Teton Sioux Music by Frances Densmore on 7 pages
- North American Indians (Penguin Classics) by George Catlin on 7 pages
- Indians of the Plains by Robert H. Lowie on 6 pages
- The North American Indians: A Selection of Photographs by Edward S. Curtis by Edward S. Curtis on 6 pages
- The Story of the Indian by George Bird Grinnell on 5 pages
See all 100 books this book cites
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