Native America - Arts, Traditions, and Celebrations [SOLD]

Native America - Arts, Traditions, and Celebrations

By Christine Mather

Photographs by Jack Parsons

Publisher: Clarkson Potter Publishers, New York

Hardcover with slip jacket, first edition, 1990. 240 pages profusely illustrated in black and white and color

From the Slip Jacket

“The arts of Native Americans—both past and present—have never been more popular.  In Native America, the author and photographer of the best-selling Santa Fe Stye celebrate the highlights of American Indian culture—the sacred landscapes, the colorful powwows and dances, the earthworn architecture, and especially the remarkable crafts of the original Americans in more than 400 photographs.

“For over a millennium Native Americans have responded to the natural wonders and diversity of the continent by creating objects of singular spiritual beauty.  Traveling to twelve states and Canada, Christine Mather and Jack Parsons have documented the extraordinary artifacts of the past and the treasures and rituals of Indian life today.  The baskets and pottery of the Southwest Pueblos, the silver jewelry and fine woven blankets of the Navajos, the leather moccasins and beadwork of the Plains Indians, and the totem poles and masks of the Northwest Coast tribes—all of the arts of the American Indians are as useful, handsome, and potent as symbols as they were when their makers were the only inhabitants of the land.

“Native America not only presents ideas for collections and home designs, it also shows the living traditions, with artists at work in their studios and selling their wares at Indian markets, renowned private and public collections, and the annual gatherings where the costumes are worn and the dances and rituals performed as they have been for hundreds of years.  Compelling vintage photographs by master turn-of-the-century portraitist Edward S. Curtis and many others provide the historical link between Native American life of the past and Native America today.

“Native America will bring to serious collectors as well as novice enthusiasts a new appreciation for the rich culture and wide-ranging talents of American Indians.”