Houses of Wood

Andrew Vaisius is a Winnipeg daycare director.

Bonnie Shemie’s Houses of Wood follows succinctly the pattern of her
four other books on habitations of North American Native peoples. She
comes directly to the point when she avers that “[not] having as hard
a struggle against hunger and cold as tribes further inland, [the
Northwest Coastal Indians] developed a culture rich in art and ritual,
and built the most spectacular wood shelters on the continent.” These
are the justly famous Kwakiutl and Haida structures of the alluring
murals and massive totems.

Shemie captures the essence of the Native architecture in beautifully
executed colored and black-and-white drawings. Her text is thoughtfully
researched, and Tundra Books is to be complimented for publishing the
series.