Life in a Pueblo

Christine Linge MacDonald, a past director of the Toronto & District
Parent Co-operative Preschool Corporation and a freelance writer, is an
elementary-school teacher in Whitby.

North America is a huge land mass with varying climates and landforms.
These differences become very apparent when examining the lifestyles of
the First Nations, who have always lived close to the land. Even though
the basic necessities of living are common to the various groups in this
series, their highly individual approaches to these staples are
surprising and intriguing. Consequently, the reader may be persuaded to
look more closely at how he or she lives after learning about the
life-sustaining relationship that Native peoples had with their
environment.

Nations of the Western Great Lakes and Nations of the Southwest each
begin by placing the indigenous group in its setting, using a map and
place names in the native tongue. The ancient history of each people is
briefly discussed, with an in-depth look at the period just prior to
first contact with Europeans. The concluding pages deal with the
different faces of European influence: the Western Great Lakes nations
co-operated in the fur trade for several years before disease and
settlers wore them down; the Southwest nations openly rebelled against
Spanish colonization, and suffered great losses to battle and disease.

Life in an Anishinabe Camp and Life in a Pueblo focus, respectively, on
these same two groups, but at the level of the individual. Where Nations
of the Western Great Lakes illustrates the four types of dwelling
commonly used, Life in an Anishinabe Camp looks at how a family erects a
wigwam and cohabits inside it. Details of hunting, cooking, crafting,
clothing, games, and beliefs are described and generously illustrated.
All of the volumes hold the reader’s attention with an impressive
variety of images, from modern photos to beautiful paintings, and
conclude with a list of websites pertaining to each nation as it exists
today. Highly recommended.