The story of the Native Americans is one of compelling interest to all contemporary North Americans.  This authoritative volume describes the Native Americans who once inhabited every major region of the country from the Pacific Northwest to the Eastern Seaboard, both as they once lived and as they live today.

Many of the customs initiated thousands of years ago by various tribes still exist today and are presented here in all their ceremonial splendor as practiced at annual Native American gatherings and at reservations.  Despite the demands of their rigorous outdoor lifestyles, the Native Americans developed intricate social systems.  Each tribe created its own distinctive social order, language, dwelling type, and particular set of rituals and ceremonies.

Captivating portraits of many tribes are presented on a region-by-region basis, covering every aspect of Native American life, from breathtaking examples of traditional dress to weaponry and artifacts.  Through concise text and full-color photography, this book conveys the majesty of tribal life, expressed in both full-dress traditional ceremonies and the high art of Native American crafts such as basketry, kachina dolls, totem pole carving, weaving, and bead-and-featherwork.  Historic, haunting black-and-white photographs of bygone tribal moments and reproductions of painting of Native American life, as it was captured in the American frontier period, complement contemporary photography of families sharing time-honored traditions of dance and craftsmanship.