What an interesting book. So much information on towns with their early histories, and great humor. Highly recommended for history buffs!

Our Native American Legacy: Northwest Towns With Indian Names is a unique, amazing, highly recommended anthology focusing on a specific aspect of the settlement and growth of over 150 Pacific Northwest towns and locales, in the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. Our Native American Legacy is a compendium of truly fascinating stories concerning how the towns in these states got their names, the native tribes who inhabited the area before white settlement, maps, and is enhanced for the reader's enjoyment with black-and-white photographs, Our Native American Legacy is intriguing reading material showcasing a slice of definitive American history that should not be forgotten.

Peoples of the Northwest Coast is a rich volume dealing with the archaeology of the Alaska, B.C. and Washington coasts. The thematic nature of the book allows the reader to explore topics such as Ecology: Environments and Demography, Northwest Coast Subsistence, and Households and Beyond. Photographs and illustrations offer an additional insight into prehistoric life on the northwest coast. Ames and Maschner have presented "their view of things", which may frusterate some readers; however, it remains the first synthesis of northwest coast archaeology and prehistory: a valuable book.

Peoples Of The Northwest Coast presents a condensed thematic overview. "The evolution of ranking and stratification among Northwest coast societies is at the heart of any understanding of the coast's cultural history (p. 254)." The text goes on to say "..obsidian evidence shows large -scale exchange networks existed on the coast by...10,000 B.C." This is a summary-survey of Northwest Coast archaeology with an emphasis on the role of variability in prehistory and cultural development. Written by two renowned professors of anthropology, the style and language of Peoples Of The Northwest Coast have been made deliberately accessible . The spare text is enriched by copious black and white photos, illustrations, maps, and diagrams. The richness and beauty of the Northwest Coast from Oregon to Alaska is always present in this 13,000 year archaeological history of its peoples. Cautious in tone, wary of leaping to generalizations or stereotypic thinking, the text achieves the authors' goals of educating the interested public with pleasure, presenting Northwest archaeology for popular consumption, and introducing to specialized students the pressing research questions of Northwest Coast excavation, and finally to present some of the value of archaeology to First Nation Peoples, the fourth audience. It is seen as another means to supplement and display the Coast Peoples' traditional oral histories.

Writing such a book is an ambitious undertaking. The result is well worth exploring. The role of art in these prehistories is especially presented in the ninth chapter titled "Northwest Coast Art." Nonlinear prehistory is not the oxymoron it might at first seem to be. Focussing on ecology, environments, oldest cultures, later Pacific and Modern Period Northwest Coast Subsistence Status, Ritual and Warfare, the chapters lead to a condensed complex of conclusions about variability, regional similarities, and cultural richness. The pathway to conclusions about community organization and social stratification is well defined.

Peoples Of The Northwest Coast is a respectable rave of a book.

Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer

I loved the book. I found myself reading before I went to work in the mornings besides reading at night. I felt an eagerness to find out if she shared the same awe of the native culture that I did. She appreciated the culture she found herself in while exploring her inner thoughts and trying to come to peace with them.

This book is a biography of a bush teacher beginning in 1986. It is available only in hardback but if you are considering teaching in Alaska then go ahead and invest. Carolyn Kremers came to Alaska to teach at a turning point in her life and her wonder at what she sees is shared with the reader. Kremers gives a real "sense of place" through stories, conversations, poetry, journaling and student writing. Prospective teachers should especially consider reading the chapter titled "I hate school." This book demonstrates how challenging the teaching of multicultural students and students in general is everywhere. It covers not only teaching but also living in Alaska. It is also very different from all of the others books I have read about Alaskan teachers because of the contemporary prospective of the author versus the Alaska of 1900 or even 1950 that most books cover.

This book has an honesty I find rare in short fiction today. There is a slowness and a sincerity to the writing that is admirable. The subject matter is not new, and yet the stories read with a surprising freshness. They are vivid and beautiful (and brutal). Briggs lacks the flash of many of his contemporaries, but he lacks nothing in the way of talent.

This first novel of Matt Briggs' is a collection of a dozen or so chapters which are each told in different voices, similar to William Faulkner's technique for "As I Lay Dying." It starts off with the youngest son in grade school, then the oldest son who is in high school, as well as their mother and father, and takes place in the south end and other rural parts on the outskirts of Seattle, not just Renton, but all the way up to Monroe, too. Lots of reminiscences of everything from Pike Place Market to all over the state.

I bet he's a hell of a poet, because there are a lot of flashes of brilliance. He keeps everything chugging along nicely but I didn't grow up around people like that when I lived in Renton, so a lot of the time I'm never sure if I'm just along for the ride or what since I can't judge whether or not their actions and reactions are accurate as far as their threadbare lives would have them be. They're amazingly self-reflective for characters with limited or non-existent choices, not to mention consistently self-defeating attitudes and mores.

The characters all have very unusual ways of expressing love. Yeah, it's there in a very obligatory familial way, but the underlying assumption is that these are new parents in the 70s when substance abuse led to directionless ennui rather than clinics. There's no attempt by the characters to better their lives even though you get the feeling that they believe they do and ARE in the only ways they know how. A lot of the movements and dialogue seem kind of wooden, but on purpose: the characters don't really know how to deal with emotion at all, probably because they're drunk or stoned half of the time.

The use of the passive voice gets to be downright leaden as you feel the characters not really able to do anything more than just react to what someone else does. The love and sex scenes are filled with a tactile aggression which is borne more out of miscommunication, bad timing and emotional rage than any real tenderness whatsoever. "Is this the precipitation of the promise of the panacea of sex, drugs and rock and roll that fueled the 60s?", the novel seems to ask quietly. Pretty sad, pretty joyless, and a pretty damn good first novel. I can't wait to read his second.

I chose to read this book.... I was looking for a novel that seemed interesting. I also wanted to read a book with a different genre from most of the other books I've read...
The main character in this story is a young boy named Ben Mac Donald. Ben Mac Donald has two older sisters,... . and one older brother. Ben is the youngest of the four and also the quietest. He seems to be on the reserved side and it seems like he enjoys being home alone, and keeping to himself. Ben is also fascinated with nature, and loves to go and frolic with the wildlife on the prairie. At one point in the story, Ben even stays with a mother badger in her den...
I really enjoyed this book and I found it very interesting. I love the adventures that he goes on. Sometimes the adventures he goes on are to save the lives of others, other times it's to get away with his own. I give this book a score of 4+/5-; because the book just pulled me in I couldn't put it down. I really enjoy adventures both in books and in real life, and this book had plenty of adventures to keep me reading. I hope to read the next volume of this book series titled Incident at Hawk's Hill and experience more heart racing adventures that Ben Mac Donald goes on. Hopefully, none too dangerous though.

This sequal to Incident at Hawk's Hill was a great book. It was nice to find out that Ben MacDonold did well in school. When the familie's adventure starts, they didn't know that it would lead to a friendship with indians. This book was full of incredible suspense and action.

This is a wonderful book that introduces through color photography and historical references many of the national parks in the pacific northwest and Alaska. While a little outdated to be considered a true travel guide - it is great for reference and a wonderful guide for those who only can travel to these majestic and mystical places through pictures.

There are no more beautifully written or pictured guides to the national parks than this series put out by the Sierra Club. For a historical, geological, and biological snapshot of a park, no book does it better. If you need very specific information, contacting the park is your best bet. There is some information about trails, camping, contact info, etc. The main purpose of the book, however, is to give you an understanding about all aspects of the park. These books are truly treasured in our home.

Mostly unknown by the general public and historians, the story of the ill-fated Utter and Van Ornum parties in 1860 ranks high on the list of most moving struggles of the westward-bound emigrants along the Oregon Trail. This story, inaccurately recorded until now, rates as a must-read by any afficianado of Oregon Trail history. Mr. Shannon spent several years researching this book, and the quality of that reasearch shines through on almost every page. The names of all the players in the tragedy are there. Details of every conceivable facet of the story is included. There are many very rare photos and drawings included, and well-drawn maps of each part of the tale grace the pages of this invaluable resource. The story itself is compelling beyond measaure. There is heroism, cowardice, death, destruction, and intrigue at every turn. If only the story of 13 year-old Emmeline Trimble and her 10 year-old brother Christopher were included in this book, I would still recommend it highly. This slim volume, however, is easily read in one sitting and yet covers the subject of the "massacre" completely. The writing is energetic and entirely factual. This is easily one of the best books on Oregon Trail matters written in the last ten years. I recommend it highly. Anyone interested in how the west was REALLY won and lost should consider Donald Shannon's book an absolute must-have.

I grew up near the scenes in this book and I have received considerable information from local folks. I summarized the tragedy in a Malheur newsletter several years ago, but Don Shannon's book far exceeds my work. He has done a beautiful job of spicing his narrative with letters and quotes from survivors and pioneers of the time. Don's book is so moving I sort of wept at some passages. It has heroes, a particularly savage Indian group of renegades, and some blundering ordinary people. And it is all true!

A fascinating study of how land molds people and forges alliances between groups who should be enemies. My sisters and I grew up in the Weiser Valley, never knowing of the existence of this group. When we studied Idaho history, we never learned about this hardy band who walked where our parents settled dozens of years later. The steep, formidable mountains which rise from the Weiser Valley still provide remote shelter to hardy souls who can survive in a non-electronic world. It pleased me to read this story and know that the white settlers in the upper mountains made their own alliances with the Weiser Indians and helped them keep their whereabouts unknown for many years.

I was raised in Southwestern Idaho with an interest in the history of the Native Americans of my area. Finally, I have encountered all of the information that I always wanted but had never found: IN THIS BOOK. This book is not limited to the "Weiser" Indians, but includes all of the cultures that traded or traveled through this area. It tells of a gathering area where an annual regional rendezvous allowed peaceful cultural and material exchange from the West Coast to the Great Plains. And it tells of a band of Shoshoni who had the foresight to quietly embrace the forces of change and thus avoid the genocide that destroyed so many others. It brings together historical accounts which are carefully annotated, and it includes the lives of numerous important historical persons. Thank you, Hank Corless, for providing this delightful book. It is good, readable storytelling, organized by timelines. This book combines readability with academic research, and it avoids romanticizing. I hope it gets reprinted. At the time of this review, it is out of print and only available used, but still well worth buying.

This is a definite fun read. If you grew up in Portland in the 50's and 60's, like I did, it's a wonderful stroll down memory lane as well as a good refresher on what's been going on since. Seems very close to the truth, at least on the topics I'm in a position to judge. Only knock is it's a little too Seattle oriented for my blood!

I'm a native Southerner, so reading this book about the Pacific Northwest was a lot of fun. The writers have a unique voice that makes this book much more than a mere compendium of facts. Each piece is written with a lot of humor and insight. Anyone interested in pop culture should own this book!

Whale In The Sky, written and illustrated by Anne Siberell, is a clear and strong story about how whale came to live in the ocean and not in the stream. The text is concise and spare, which keep the story from being bogged down. The relaxed style of the writing is also reflected in the graphics. The illustrations are done with woodcuts. This style adds to the native Pacific Northwest Coast rythym of the words. The colors contrast for easy 'reading' of the pictures. A beginning reader can get the messages without being able to read the words. This is a great story to learn about how totem poles came into being. The book starts with a one paragraph history of the area and totem poles. The book ends with the story, Whale In The Sky, depicted in a totem pole. Without giving it away, the story shows cooperation toward a goal, as well as, respect for others and their needs. My chldren love to add words as we read or tell the parts themselves. When this book is back in print, pick up a copy and add it to a young persons library near you.

This is a beautiful, well told book full of color woodcut illustrations inspired by Northwest Native American totem poles The pictures are wonderful: bursting with action and atmosphere. The story, based on a legend of the Northwest Indians (it would have been nice to name them), is about diverse animals working together to save salmon from a river-going whale! Thunderbird's talons take the whale up to a mountaintop and the two creatures strike a deal to make the river safer for Frog and abundant with fish for people.

In addition to the unique wood prints, Siberell's book is noteworthy for the last page's description of tools and natural color sources (e.g., cedar, animal blood, berries, clamshells) used to make totem poles. 29 pages, suitable for reading to toddlers up through first grade or so, as well as a good reading book for the somewhat older child (around second or third grade).