Indian Rawhide: An American Folk Art

This superb volume tells in words and pictures about an almost lost art among the North American Indians - the making and decoration of rawhide articles, which were essential in pre-Columbian times and afterward until the last of the buffalo were slaughtered by the invading whites. Ethnologist Alice Marriott says in a foreward: "Not only does this book tell of the preparation and many uses of rawhide: also it provides glimpses of Indian life, particularly Plains Indian life, that can be found nowhere else.". Rawhide was fashioned into containers for the preservation of dried buffalo meat, the Plains Indians' basic food, and for other supplies. it supplied shelter as the covering for lodges and was fashioned into clothing. When the buffalo disappeared, a whole way of life was destroyed in a relatively few years for the Indians of North America. The techniques involved in the manufacture and decoration of rawhide have made the subject of great interest to artists and technicians to the present day. The author of this boo, Volume 132 in The Civilization of the American Indian Series, believes that an understanding of the people and their customs is necessary to an understanding of their arts and crafts. A wide range of Indian tribes is covered in this book - from Apaches to Yakimas, from the Algonquian linguistic family to the Waiilatpuan. In addition to a detailed discussion of methods of preparation, the author describes all kinds of individual rawhide articles. Many of these are shown in 100 of her own black-and-white drawings and 40 pages of drawings and paintings in color, some of historic items, some of modern-=day pieces. The drawings and paintings, plus rare photographs, provide an exciting visual experience along with the basic text. Of special interest and importance is a chart of parfleche design characteristics identifying articles according to tribe and area.