Reference library of Native North America

Library Journal

Editor Champagne, the director of UCLA's American Indian Studies Center, was aided by a staff of over 70 specialist editors and contributing authors in compiling this almanac. The Almanac's 17 chapters cover such topics as culture areas, religion, arts, health, education, economy, languages, and legislation, plus a chronology from 11,000 B.C. through the early 1990s and biographies of prominent Native North Americans. The latter part of each chapter covers Canadian aboriginals. As such, it is broader in scope than other recent publications, e.g., Barry Klein's Reference Encyclopedia of the American Indian (LJ 1/93) or Arlene Hirschfelder's Native American Almanac (LJ 11/1/93); Hirschfelder's almanac covers many of the same topics as this one but more briefly and in a less scholarly style. Numerous photos depict a wide variety of American Indian activities, with charts, maps, listings by state, and subtopical bibliographies rounding out each chapter. A glossary, general bibliography, and 35-page index further aid the reader. Recommended as a general source for ready reference answers and as an authoritative overview on the topics.-Stanley P. Hodge, Ball State Univ. Lib., Muncie, Ind.