Customer Reviews

Naked Against the Rain: The People of the Lower Columbia River 1770-1830

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Rick Rubin's NAKED AGAINST THE RAIN: THE PEOPLE OF THE LOWER COLUMBIA, 1770-1830, is a fascinating look at the last days of the many tribes which populated the lower Columbia river. The collision of culture and disease, brought to the tribes by the "floats ashore", whites, began the demise of these remarkable people and their unique way of life. Daily life is beautifully portrayed by Rubin as he details the people and their relationship with the land they occupied for many thousands of years. Surviving people are to be found on the reservations of the Grand Ronde, Warm Springs and Siuslaw. Many languages and many tribes share the language that has come to be known as Chinook Jargon; a language developed to accomodate trade amongst the people of various tribes. Rubin has done a magnificent job of chronicaling the lifestyle of these fascinating people. Diet, clothing, cultural norms and daily life are detailed in this very fine synthesis of what is known about the people of the Columbia and what is conjectured. Rubin has honorably brought to life a people who are intelligent, humorous and enormously resourcful. This is an excellent book, written in a manner that is accessible to all. I highly recommend Mr. Rubin's very fine book.

One would think that a book that continuously refers to geographic features and locations, archaic place names, native villages and encampments, and river miles above the mouths of the Columbia and Willamette rivers would include a map. Not so with this book. I found it extremely frustrating that this book did not include even one useful map. This would seem to be a monumental oversight by the author or editors, since it significantly detracts from the clarity and accessibility of the subject matter. I finally attempted to annotate several USGS quad maps so that I could get my bearings (This made it somewhat difficult to read the book on the bus or the train). I grew up in the area Rubin writes about, and even so, I definitely could have used a map. Were the publishers trying to save money? Save yours, and check the book out from the library if you are interested (luckily, that's what I did). Oh, and get a good map while you're at it.