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ON THE COVER
Wayne Price (Tlingit) of Haines, Alaska holds one of the traditional small paddles once used by hunters to sneak up on their prey that Price fashions today as a fine arts item—just one of the many handmade and once obscure crafts making a comeback through the efforts of Native artisans throughout the continent. Photo by Matt Davis.

FEATURES

Tradition! Ancient Arts and Crafts Revived
Obscure and once-dying arts and crafts practices—birchbark biting, caribou hair tufting, shell carving, cornhusk weaving, porcupine quillwork, leather tanning and the making of feather fans and bustles, cedar hats and clothing, and parfleche boxes—are making a comeback in the hands of the dedicated body of artists profiled here. Artists noted include Patrick Scott (Diné), Lisa Telford (Haida), Hastings Shade (Cherokee), Dan Townsend (Muskogee Creek), Angelique Merasty (Cree), Brendalynn “Inuk” Trennert (Inuvialuit), Michael R. Johnson (Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla), Wayne Price (Tlingit), Black Eagle (Shoshone/Yokut), Wesley Dick Kwassuhe (Paiute), Boni Bent-Nelson (Cherokee) and Debra Box (Southern Ute). By Gussie Fauntleroy.

Talking Leaves: A Look at Native American Women Authors
Just a few years ago, Native women authors were few and far between, but today they are rapidly taking their rightful place at the table of world literature as seen through the work and lives of Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mt. Chippewa), Linda Hogan (Chickasaw) and Paula Gunn Allen (Laguna Pueblo/Métis). Plus, notes on other leading female writers. By Candelora Versace.

Holiday Gift Guide
Our annual holiday gift suggestions, featuring handmade Native arts and crafts, CDs, books and more.

DEPARTMENTS

Viewpoint
The rush to riches via extractive industry—tar sand mining—poses a moral dilemma and an environmental calamity for Native peoples in the Fort McMurray, Alberta area. By Floyd Favel (Cree).

On the Wind
Montréal’s First Peoples Festival draws a hemispheric cadre of artists. Also, other important news in the arts, education, the environment, business, politics, sports, health and other realms of life in Indian Country. By Daniel Gibson.

Happening
Film buffs will flocks to San Francisco for the 30th annual American Indian Film Festival. Plus details on other special events of Native interest across North America. By Daniel Gibson.

Spirit of the Harvest
Wilma Mankiller and Gloria Steinem, most unexpectedly, team up to create a new—er, killer—version of pumpkin pie. By Beverly Cox and Martin Jacobs.

Galleries
We motor in to Muskogee, Oklahoma to check out the Tiger Art Gallery, owned and operated by a dynastic art family, the Tigers. Also, brief looks at other Native-oriented galleries throughout the continent. By Russ Tall Chief (Osage).

Museums
The art, culture and history of the Anishinaabe people of the Great Lakes region is explored and celebrated at the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation center in Ontario, Canada. Also, notes on other museum exhibitions coast to coast. By Wendy Weston (Diné).

Books
We review a selection of books for holiday gift-giving, including Canyon Spirits: Beauty and Power in the Ancestral Puebloan World; The Encyclopedia of Native Music; Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand: American Indian Art of the Ancient Midwest and South; The Pottery of Santa Ana Pueblo; and a children’s book, The Lost Kachina. By Deborah Utacia Krol (Salinan/Esselen).

Music
We catch up with the multi-tasking Jim Boyd hot on the heels of his latest release, Them Old Guitars. Also, brief reviews of Our Beloved Land by R. Carlos Nakai and Keola Beamer, and Gotta Have Your Love by the Red Rhythm Band. By j poet.

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