Presenting a brief survey of American Indian self-expression through singing, this article examines both ceremonial and powwow songs with both meanings and definitions. (RTS)

Noting Indian tribes had invented ways to record facts and ideas, with graphic symbols that sometimes reached the complexity of hieroglyphs, this article illustrates and describes Indian symbols. (Author/RTS)

Maria Tallchief has earned a lasting place in the history of dance as one of the world's greatest ballerinas. She is also an American Indian. She was born in 1925 in Fairfax, Oklahoma; her father was a full-blooded Osage Indian, her mother was of Scotch-Irish and Dutch ancestry. Discovery of oil on the Osage Reservation had brought wealth to all…

One in a series of stories of the Blackfeet Indians, this short novel is set in the late 1800's when the life of the Blackfeet centered around horses and buffalo, and they were one of the most powerful tribes on the northern plains. The novel consists of 12 chapters, each with a full-page illustration, and tells the story of Lame Bear, a boy who…

This collection of writings by and about New England's American Indians focuses on the Indians' relation to the land. Articles examine Indian folklore and spiritualism, the importance of the oral tradition, and advice to young Indians about receiving the oral tradition and passing it forward. Articles describe Indian lifeways; native cooking,…

Written for children, this story is one in a series about the history of the Blackfeet from the precontact period to the mid-nineteenth century. The story begins when the tribe first encounters gunfire in a battle with the Plains Cree, then their neighbors to the east. A Blackfeet warrior is killed and the others return home to tell the chiefs and…

Part of a series of stories about the Blackfeet Indians, the illustrated story details the capture of the first horses by the Blackfeet. In the story, young Running Crane is allowed to join a party of warriors who raid a Crow camp for horses. Running Crane uses gentleness to capture a black horse but is separated from the raiding party and must…

Ghost stories are universal. They are told and heard in different cultures throughout the world. They generally center around an incident or experience that is true, but that cannot be explained as an everyday occurence. True but unexplained experiences on the Blackfeet Reservation are told and retold in the winter months. In contemporary…

The two illustrated children's stories are part of a series about the Blackfeet Indians. The first story, originally published in 1916, is the story of Weasel Woman, an orphaned girl who stole her way into a raiding party and became a successful warrior and, ultimately, a war chief named Running Eagle. The second story is a Blackfeet creation tale…

Born in 1767, Black Hawk was the last great war leader of the Sauk Indians, who lived in the Rock River valley in Illinois. By age 25, he was a famed warrior and leader of his people who raided neighboring tribes until a period of peace and prosperity began about 1800. Various treaties of which the Sauk knew and understood very little deprived the…

Part of the Montana Council for Indian Education's Indian Culture Series, the book contains six folk stories recorded on reservations and by headstart teachers. The stories are: "The Owl", a Gros Ventre tale; "How the Robin Got a Red Breast", from the Flathead Tribe; "Old Man Coyote and the Wild Geese", a Crow Indian…

As part of an effort to preserve oral tradition and produce a history about the Blackfeet people, Tom Many Guns relates the story of his life and, in so doing, brings out the rich cultural heritage of the Blackfeet. The recollections were gathered through interviews and translated from Blackfeet to English using every effort to preserve Tom Many…

Pablita Velarde Hardin is a famous Tewa Indian artist, born in Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico in 1918. She has helped revive and reinterpret traditional Indian art forms, preserving both for the pleasure of people today and for future generations. From ancient tales told to her by her father she has written and illustrated "Old Father, the Story…

Napi stories have been passed down from generation to generation in the Blackfeet Nation. All Blackfeet people knew of Napi, from the serious side of his creation to the foolish and spiteful deeds he performed. At one time it is said that Napi could talk with all living things--the animals, plants, rocks, everything. He teased, pulled pranks, many…

Brief biographies and pen and ink portraits of over 40 chiefs and other distinguised American Indians comprise this book. Each page contains a full page portrait and a biography that notes tribal affiliation, important dates, geographical location, major accomplishments, and dealings with other tribes, white settlers, and the United States or…