Reviews for Kenneth Milton Chapman: A Life Dedicated to Indian Arts and Artists

The average rating for Kenneth Milton Chapman: A Life Dedicated to Indian Arts and Artists based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-04-01 00:00:00 Mike Williams This book commemorated the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian - which comes under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution. I didn't read all of it from beginning to end. Rather I dipped and dived, and read the parts relevant to the pictures in the book that interested me. The book covers the lifestyles, crafts, symbolism, myths, spiritual beliefs, family status and tribal affiliations of many different tribes in America. The wealth and quality of the images are superb. Old pictures of tribal life....and recent pictures of beautiful and fascinating tribal artefacts. Herewith a little taster of pix and quotes. Today, as in the past, nearly every native person is related to an artist. The creative process is still an integral part of growing up Indian. Miccosukee women began making patchwork clothing during the early decades of the twentieth century. These two duck decoys, found in 1924 in Nevada, are part of a cache of decoys about two thousand years old. The bear crest hat, from a Chilkat clan of the Tlingit, was an 'at.oow', or family treasure. The concept of at.oow refers not only the the physical object, but to the ancestral spirit it depicts and the songs and speeches that accompany its display. The greatest treasure is the crest hat that embodies the history of the clan from the time of its creation to the present. A crest hat is somewhat analogous to a royal crown in European tradition. This rare quilled mask for a horse was acquired from the Northern Cheyenne. It would have been used on parade occasions when both horse and rider were outfitted in their most striking regalia. This is a fairly hefty book, at 256 pages; and it's big enough, at 31 x 24 centimetres, to carry photographs which present really well. It's an excellent - and pleasurable - introduction to American Indian culture and artefacts.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-12-28 00:00:00 David Wilkins I read this book shortly after it was published, and reviewed it for an expressive culture course in anthropology. The book is visually stunning, well-written, and offers profound insights from the point of view of Native American scholars. Absolutely loved it.