Everyday Life Among the American Indians: 1800 to 1900 (Writer's Guide to Everyday Life Series) (Paperback)

by Candy Moulton (Author)
Key Phrases: United States, Northwest Coast, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The lives of American Indians and the vital role they played in American history has been riddled with stereotypes and falsehoods. Everyday Life Among the American Indians corrects decades of misinformation with insightful, accurate scholarship that belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in reading--or writing--the real story.

Covering more than 500 tribes and utilizing maps, illustrations, chronologies, and detailed overviews of day-to-day life, this invaluable reference for writers, researchers and students is at once comprehensive yet strikingly accessible. From the Louisiana Purchase to the Trail of Tears to Wounded Knee and beyond, author Candy Moulton vividly portrays the disappearing cultures of 19th century American Indians with dignity and dynamic detail, including information on:

* Tribal leadership and religion
* Weaponry and warfare
* Food and shelter
* Tools and medicine
* Languages and customs
* Crime and punishment

From the Publisher
The Everyday Life series helps writers, students and researchers save valuable time and bring richness and historical accuracy to their work. Each guide describes the food, clothes, customs, slang, occupations, religions, politics and other historical details that are so often difficult to find.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 273 pages
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898799961
• ISBN-13: 978-0898799965
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #835,061 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars huge range of information, December 12, 2001

By	rhonva (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews

I am a fan of the "Everyday Life" series, and this is the most detailed of them that I have seen. I was impressed. It has more information over a wider variety of topics than I expected, especially considering that this is such a broad subject.

This, however, is also the book's weakness. The author was asked to cover such a massive range of information (the 'everyday life' of every American Indian tribe within a hundred-year period) that she would have needed three times the page count to do each tribe justice.

Most chapters (Family Life, Wars, Weapons and Treaties, Clothing and Accessories, etc.) are divided into geographical area, with information about the tribes in that area mixed within the section. For example, under Family Life, Great Basin, we find paragraphs on the birthing traditions of the Shoshane, puberty rituals of the Paiute, marriage among the Ute, and death rituals of the Shoshane. All detailed and engaging, making this an excellent overview, but you may be frustrated if you're hoping to learn in-depth about any specific tribe.