Barona Cultural Center & Museum

Barona Cultural Center & Museum Book Inventory for Website

 

Books/Periodicals:

 

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• 40th Annual Barona Powwow, Friday September3rd—Sunday September5th 2010; $5.00

 

• Follow us into the 40th Barona Powwow that was held in September of 2010! Inside this book you will find information, photos, and everything you need to know about Barona’s own annual Powwow!

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• A Cross of Thorns, The Enslavement of California’s Indians by the Spanish Missions, Elias Castillo; (February 15, 20125; $16.95

 

• A Cross of Thorns challenges this mythologized history and presents the facts of the Spanish occupation of California, describing the dark and cruel reality of Mission life. Beginning in 1769, California Indians were en­ticed into the missions, where they and their descendants were imprisoned for 60 years of forced labor and daily beatings. The chilling depictions of colonial cruelty in A Cross of Thorns are based on little known church and Spanish government archives and letters written by the founder of California’s mission, Friar Junípero Serra (who advo­cated the whipping of Mission Indians as a standard policy), and published first-hand accounts of 18th and 19th-Century travelers.

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• A Is For Acorn, A California Indian ABC, Analissa Tripp; (October 1, 2015); $9.99

 

• This alphabet board book welcomes youngsters of all cultures into the abundant world of Native California. Beautiful illustrations of animals, plants, and cultural objects show off the spectacular diversity of California's indigenous cultures and environments. Sturdy enough to withstand any toddler's grasp, A Is for Acorn is a playful, loving introduction to California's oldest and most abiding sense of itself.

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• American Indian Basketry of Northern California, Christopher L. Moser; (January 1, 1989); $48.00

 

• Filled with many detailed photos, descriptions, and information on Northern Californian Indian basketry and their ways of life!

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• An American Genocide, Benjamin Madley; (June 27, 2017); $22.00

 

• Between 1846 and 1873, California’s Indian population plunged from perhaps 150,000 to 30,000. Benjamin Madley is the first historian to uncover the full extent of the slaughter, the involvement of state and federal officials, the taxpayer dollars that supported the violence, indigenous resistance, who did the killing, and why the killings ended. This deeply researched book is a comprehensive and chilling history of an American genocide.

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• A Natural History of the Anza-Borrego Region Then and Now, Mike wells, Marie Simovich; (December 1, 2019); $39.95

 

• This book evolved from a course on the natural history of the Anza-Borrego region that was developed by the authors over a 16-year period and taught at the University of San Diego. It tells a coherent story of how the landscape and features of a desert region evolved over time and how organisms that inhabit the desert have adapted to the conditions found there by taking many different evolutionary paths to deal with aridity, heat, and saline soils. The result is an amazing biological diversity that has evolved in response to these conditions. This book is encyclopedic in detail and is yet very readable. Each illustration was handcrafted to tell a story and to help the reader better understand the fascinating story of this unique desert place and its first human inhabitants. This is the go-to book for anyone wanting to understand the natural environment of the Anza-Borrego region.

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• Anza-Borrego, A Photographic Journey, Ernie Cowan; 2nd Edition Hardback  (October 15, 2013); $22.95

 

• Photographer Ernie Cowan captures the essence of this California state park through stunning images that impress the viewer with the sheer scope of size, moods, and seasonal variations found within Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. This is an arm-chair adventure into one of the nation's finest desert parks that leaves one wanting more.

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• Barona Inter-Tribal Dictionary, ‘Iipay Aa Tiipay Aa Uumall, Barona Museum Press; (2008); $60.00

 

• This dictionary, conceived as an expansion of the 1988 Barona Tribal Dictionary, incorporates the speech of Barona Tribal members and also members of the broader community of which Barona is a part. Primary contributors include Lenora Banegas, Dora Curo, Charles Magginni, and Isabel Magee, who worked with linguist Margaret Langdon in the 1970s, as well as Edward Brown, Patrick Curo, Jane Thing Dumas, Herman Osuna, and Adolph Thing, who worked with linguists Amy Miller and Margaret Langdon between 2001 and 2008.

 

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• Before The Wilderness, Environmental Management by Native Californians, Thomas C. Blackburn, Kat Anderson; (March 1, 1993); $32.50

 

• The explorers, the gold-seekers, and the settlers who arrived in California in the mid-19th century saw California as a wilderness unmodified by the Indians who lived in it. The authors of this book tell a different story. That landscape the newcomers saw was not a wilderness, not untouched by nature. It was a landscape carefully managed by knowledgeable people to provide them with food, clothing, shelter, fuel, and tools. It was a landscape, this book shows, where the wilderness came latter—after the Euro-Americans had stopped the controlled burning the Indians had practiced, drained the wet meadows that had preserved the water supplies, and fenced off the areas where Native California women’s coppicing had encouraged the growth of choice basketry materials.

 

This is a book for those interested in the beginnings of agriculture, for here, in the salubrious climate of California, peoples who lived mainly by hunting and gathering had taken, by the eighteenth century, many of the steps that make up the technology of agriculture. This is also a book for those interested in learning better ways to manage our environment now. Our Forest Service and parks have already acknowledged the value of controlled burning. We may someday catch up with Australia, where the aborigines participate in the management of the national parks because of their special knowledge.

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• Bibliography of the Diegueño Indians, Ruth Farrell Almstedt; (1974); $4.95

 

• The perfect bibliographical source to learn more about the Kumeyaay/Diegueño Indians!

 

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• Bird Songs Don’t Lie, Writings from the Rez, Gordon Lee Johnson; (November 1, 2018); $25.00

 

• In this moving collection of short stories and essays, Gordon Lee Johnson (Cupeño/Cahuilla) cements his voice not only as a commentator on American Indian reservation life but also as a master of fiction writing. From the noir-tinged mystery of “Unholy Wine” to the gripping intensity of “Tukwut,” Johnson effortlessly switches genre and perspective, vividly evoking people and places that are fictional but profoundly true to life. Johnson’s nonfiction is equally revelatory in its exploration of connections between past and present. Whether examining his own conflicted feelings toward the missions as a source of both cultural damage and identity or sharing advice on cooking for eight dozen cowboys and –girls, Johnson plumbs the comedy, catastrophe, and beauty of his life on the Pala Reservation to thunderous effect.

 

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• California Indians: Primary Resources, A Guide to Manuscripts, Artifacts, Documents, Serials, Music and Illustrations, Sylvia Brakke, Lowell John Bean; (July1, 1990); $20.00

 

• This is a book that invites the reader to go on a treasure hunt a hunt through our public "attics" in search of the treasures of history, language, wisdom, and art that derived from the many and varied cultures of California Indians. The hunt will lead to museums, libraries, and archives; through cities, villages, and national parks; it will serve as an introduction to the stories and songs, paintings and photographs, clothing and jewelry, skills and crafts, and literature and history of the Indians of Southern California. Teachers in California schools will find it a sourcebook for ideas, since it lists the resources on Indians by California counties in an easily accessible manner. Students and scholars of all levels will find it irreplaceable as an outline, a planner, and a tour guide of Native California.
  
  An invaluable volume for anyone studying the ethnography and ethnohistory of Native Californians. After an introductory chapter on how to access and use primary resources, the holdings of libraries, museums, and archives are presented first by California counties in alphabetical order, then by states, and finally by countries.

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• Ceremonial Fertility Sites in Southern California, Charlotte McGowan; “San Diego Museum Papers No. 14” (December 1, 1982); $6.95

 

• The perfect source for learning about Kumeyaay fertility rites and practices, as well as, important landmarks revered as sacred fertility sites for many southern Californian Indians. Includes many photographs, drawings, and diagrams of featured fertility sites.

 

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• Coloring Lizards, Snakes, & More, Southern California, Bradford D. Hollingsworth; (November 15, 2019); $9.95

 

• Amphibians and reptiles are bewilderingly diverse, and often intrigue the nature lover for their secretive lifestyles. A few have adapted well to urban neighborhoods and are regularly seen. Most are mysterious. Being able to recognize each is difficult, especially when you catch only a glimpse before they dart off. Others come out only at night or are so secretive they live their entire lives within a rock crack. Coloring Snakes, Lizards, and More, Southern California will reveal the rarely seen, and nature lovers of all ages will find it helpful in identifying the species that call this region home. This book has 40 amphibian and reptile species from southern California including frogs, salamanders, lizards, snakes and turtles. The book includes the common and scientific name of each, where the species can be found, its food preferences, and interesting facts about its natural history. Each illustration has a corresponding color photograph. The coloring pages provide an introduction to the diverse body forms and lifestyles these animals display and help in species identification. Color and Learn series will help you learn about the biology of amphibians and reptiles as you create colorful artwork to call your own.

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• Coloring Plants Used by Desert Indians, Diana Lindsay; (January 15, 2018); $9.95

 

• Native plants provided food, medicine, tools, construction material, articles for clothing or regalia, and materials used for decorative items or for ceremonial purposes. Specialists within each band knew exactly when to harvest plants for their use and how to prepare them. Desert Indians of California and the Southwest had a great variety of plants at their disposal. Learn about these important plants that sustained desert Indians as you enjoy adding color to the various blooms and fruits as displayed in this book.

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• Cooking The Native Way, Chia Café Collective (March, 17 2010); $22.00

 

• This cookbook invites you to experience the Native American cultures of southern California through their foods. Full-color photos and detailed recipes showcase the diversity, health, and flavor of modern cuisine made from southern California native plants in combination with other foods. The results are mouthwatering: dishes including mesquite-rubbed quail marinated in prickly pear juice, “superfood” cookies featuring chia and pine nuts, acorn dumplings, and tepary tarts topped with an elderberry reduction. Accompanied by essays that bring to life the rich history and the hopeful future of the Native people of the area, Cooking the Native Way showcases the luscious scents and tastes of vibrant indigenous cultures and is for all who wish to reconnect with the land through gathering, cooking, and savoring.

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• Coyote At The Big Time, A California Indian 123, Lyn Risling; (December 1, 2013); $9.99

 

• The follow-up to Heyday's best-selling A Is for Acorn, this board book takes young readers to a Native California Big Time, with Coyote as their guide. Counting from one clapperstick up to ten stars twinkling above the gathering, Coyote explores indigenous cultural traditions, including songs, dances, hand games, art—and, of course, delicious food. Lyn Risling's beautiful illustrations depict the diversity of traditions that continue to thrive throughout the state. At once a fun introduction to numbers and a celebration of community, this lively counting book shows babies and toddlers how to take in the beautiful world around them.

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• Delfina Cuero, Her Autobirography, An Account of Her Last Years, and Her Ethnobotanic Contributions, Florence Connolly Shipek; (June 1, 1991); $12.50

 

• With simple elegance the story of a Kumeyaay woman from the San Diego region engulfs the reader, until we feel as though we are sitting at the feet of some great aunt or grandmother as she tries to pass onto us something of worth from her life. As though her existence among us was not enough. Elders benefit us all. If we stop to listen we may be enriched beyond our wildest dreams…

 

In this powerful and moving book, Florence Shipek makes available the memories and thoughts of a woman who remembered old ways and described the changing scene in terms which speak volumes in simple sentences.

 

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• Desert Critters Wacky Wisdom, The Lives and Survival Skills of Seven Unique Desert Animals, Carol Stout; (December 15, 2018); $9.95

 

• Basic life-saving survival skills can’t live without them. Parents teach their offspring, and sometimes the lessons and techniques may seem strange, especially in the animal world. Whatever it takes to stay alive and thrive! Find out how seven different desert animals do it, even though it might seem wacky. It is tried and true wisdom that works! Its animal characters include a Coyote, Rattlesnake, Crow, Mrs. Crow, Mother Skunk and kits, Kangaroo Rat, Javelina, and Ringtail Cat.

 

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• Dictionary of Mesa Grande Diegueño, Ted Couro, Christina Hutcheson; (1973); $25.00

 

• Dictionary of Mesa Grande Diegueño is the first dictionary of a Yuman Indian language, and introduces a world of words, sounds, and ideas which directly reflect a still vital cultural tradition of California and the Southwest. Diegueno is the major native language of San Diego County, and is still spoken today in a variety of dialects in the northern part of Baja California. This dictionary is presented in a practical orthography devoid of special symbols, fully capable of representing the sounds of the language. Although no specialized knowledge is required for its use, making the dictionary suitable for both the layman and the scholar, it conforms at the same time to sound principles of linguistic scholarship. The intention of the authors, assisted by their editor Margaret Langdon, was to produce a dictionary which would prove of value not only to linguists, anthropologists, and historians, but which could be used by Indian people, school teachers, and everyone interested in the California Indian.

 

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• The Early Ethnography of the Kumeyaay, Steven Shackley; (June 8, 2006); $23.99

 

• The Kumeyaay occupied the largest and most diverse territory of any Native Californian group—from arid deserts to alpine mountains, foothills, and a large expanse of coast, from what is now San Diego County to northern Baja California. Living as complex hunter-gatherers, the Kumeyaay combined elements of both Californian and Southwestern cultures, including an acorn economy, floodwater agriculture, and the production of paddle and anvil pottery. The Early Ethnography of the Kumeyaay includes the pioneering research of three anthropologists of the early part of the twentieth century—Thomas T. Waterman, Leslie Spier, and Edward W. Gifford. An introduction by M. Steven Shackley and Steven Lucas-Pfingst explores the particular perspective brought to the research by these early scholars, contrasted with recent anthropological research in the region.

 

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• Earth Pigments and Paint of the California Indians, Meaning and Technology, Paul Douglas Campbell; (November 11, 2007); $19.95

 

• This subject is brought together and treated in depth for the first time. Drawing on the best scholarship of others and extensive personal research, the author uncovers the technology and the significance of paint in early Native California. Hundreds of rare photographs parallel the text. Many are of painted 19th century Indians. Others in full color depict an array of ochre-covered artifacts. Images from walls of remote caves transport the reader to a California long past and little known.

 

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• El Capitan, Tanis C. Thorne; (February 1, 2012);  $15.95

 

• “The story of the seizure of El Capitan form the Capitan Grande Indians is long overdue. How a politically weak community made the best of a tragic situation is an inspiration that echoes into the present day. Dr. Thorne’s study of the topic provides a range of insight beyond the legal doctrines and into the personal, political, and economic dimensions of Indian existence in the early 20th century”—Michael Connolly Miskwish (Kumeyaay Historian)

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• Essential Art: Native Basketry from the California Indian Heritage Center, Brian Bibby; (November 1, 2012); $24.95

 

• Join Brian Bibby, a longtime scholar of Native California culture and history, as he walks us through the basketry collection of the California Indian Heritage Center. This selection from more than three thousand pieces explores a world of weavers and collectors, with samples of historical baskets for winnowing, sifting, cooking, and seed gathering; baskets as treasure chests; woven hats and a baby cradle; and granaries, gift baskets, ceremonial baskets, and art baskets, each a window into Indian life. Heyday is proud to present a book of beautiful photography, deep scholarship, and inspired storytelling, all working together to pay homage to one of the world's great artistic traditions.

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• Ethnobotany Project, Contemporary Uses of Native Plants, Rose Ramirez, Deborah Small, Tima Lotah Link, Malki-Museum Press Publication (June 22, 2018); $25.00

 

• This work documents the contemporary uses of native plants of profound importance to the intellectual, spiritual and cultural vitality of California Indian people, from the Chumash territories to the Paipai and Kiliwa territories in Baja California. Many of the collaborators are repositories of cultural knowledge, eloquent defenders of the land, its sacredness for Native people, and its importance for all species that inhabit the land. Every page contains a storehouse of knowledge in the voices of our collaborators: Barbara Drake harvesting elderberry, Lorene Sisquoc teaching Sherman Indian High School students how to dehydrate wild cherries, and Teresa Castro processing agave leaves into fibers for making sandals. The Ethnobotany Project offers us the opportunity to learn from people whose ancestors were here for thousands of years, living in sustainable and ecologically viable communities.

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• Fry Bread, A Native American Family Story, Kevin Noble Maillard; (October 22, 2019); $18.99

 

• Told in lively and powerful verse by debut author Kevin Noble Maillard, Fry Bread is an evocative depiction of a modern Native American family, vibrantly illustrated by Pura Belpre Award winner and Caldecott Honoree Juana Martinez-Neal.
  
     Fry bread is food.
      It is warm and delicious, piled high on a plate.

Fry bread is time.
It brings families together for meals and new memories.

Fry bread is nation.
It is shared by many, from coast to coast and beyond.

Fry bread is us.
It is a celebration of old and new, traditional and modern, similarity and difference.

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• Geoglyphs of the Desert Southwest, Harry Casey, Anne Morgan; (March 1, 2019); $19.95

 

• Across the deserts of the American southwest are one of the largest concentrations of geoglyphs outside of Peru's Nazca Lines. These ancient Native American works of earthen art can be up to hundreds of feet long, and yet are often invisible until viewed from above. Before drones, GPS, or Google Maps, photographer Harry Casey began a unique archaeology project. Armed with nothing more than topographic maps, 35mm film cameras, and his beloved Piper J3 Cub aircraft, Casey spent thirty-five years documenting the region's geoglyphs before natural erosion and human intervention could destroy these fragile sites. Here, for the first time, is a visual record of these beautiful and mysterious, little-known features.

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• The Heart Is Fire, The World of the Cahuilla Indians of Southern California, Deborah Dozier; (October 1, 1996); $8.00

 

• The Heart is Fire offers rare, first-person insight into a remarkable California Indian culture. In relaxed, conversational language, Cahuilla elders discuss a variety of topics: family, language, rock art, basketry, pottery, song, medicine, traditional food preparation, and other aspects of the Cahuilla life. They describe the creation of the Cahuilla world in mythic times and discuss the singing of “bird songs,” epic accounts of the wanderings of the first people. With passion, knowledge, sadness, and laughter, they relate what Cahuilla life was like when they were young, what it means to be Cahuilla today, and how they envision the future of their culture.

 

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• Indian Cradles of California and the Western Great Basin, Justin Farmer; (June 1, 2001); $29.95

 

• This book presents a thorough survey of cradles, cradleboards, and cradle baskets from thirty-one tribes across California. Farmer visited public and private museums, private collections, and auction houses to document the characteristics of these sturdy and lovingly constructed baby baskets from cultures as diverse as the Klamath River, the eastern Sierra Nevada, and Baja. Full-color photographs display each cradle's distinctive construction and decorative work.

 

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• Indians of the Oaks, Melicent Lee; (January 2, 1989); $12.95

 

• Indians of the Oaks is that rare event, a book that is both fine adventure and ethnographically accurate. Melicent Lee’s association with the Kumeyaay Indians of southern California brought her not only their friendship but a wealth of information. It is this knowledge, illustrated by her husband Leslie Lee, which is the solid foundation for Indians of the Oaks and makes it of value to scientists, experts, and students of all ages.

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• Irving Gill: Progress & Poetry in Architecture, Save Our Heritage Organization; (2016); $22.99

 

• Irving Gill is one of San Diego’s greatest architects, revered by fellow designers, architecture lovers, and preservationists. His early 20th-Century modernist buildings are extraordinary in the way they embody the essence of California’s missions, yet make a successful leap forward with enduring cubist designs.

 

This catalog, which commemorates the exhibition , features essays by four San Diego experts on Gill who approach his buildings from personal hands-on experience, study, and reflection. And, in what may be the first compendium of its kind, we have also gathered some of the most important period writings by and about Gill and reprinted them here.

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• Jackpot Trail, Indian Gaming in Southern California, David J. Valley, Diana Lindsay; (January 1, 2003); $6.48

 

• In ten short years southern California Indian casinos have evolved from small bingo parlors to major destinations rivaling the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas. Jackpot Trail tells how this transformation came about and gives the most complete information a discriminating patron could want about the 22 gaming casinos in the southland. This indispensable guide has easy-to-use maps, summary charts, gambling tips, information on casino features, restaurants, and lodgings. Also included are tribal histories of southland Indian reservations, the evolution of gaming, and how it is shaping California’s economy.

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• The Journal of San Diego History, Vol. 55 No. 3 Summer 2009; $2.50

 

• Dive into San Diego’s rich history with featured article, “Charles C. Painter, Helen Hunt Jackson, and the Mission Indians of Southern California”.

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• Just Before Sunset, Lora L. Cline; (June 30, 2008); $14.95

 

• A revised edition of The Kwaaymii: Reflections on a Lost Culture, which describes life for the Kwaaymii, also known as Mountain Kumeyaay. The book describes food gathering and preparation, hunting, social and political customs, tools, houses, and everyday life. Cline also describes the beliefs of the Kwaaymii and the myths and legends which help perpetuate those beliefs. Maps, illustrations and several appendices add to the information about the culture.
  The book is based almost entirely on the contribution of one informant, Tom Lucas, the last of the Kwaaymii. The Kwaaymii of the Laguna Mountains was a sub-tribe of a larger group of Indians who at one time inhabited the southernmost section of California.

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• Kumeyaay Ethnobotany, Shared Heritage of the Californias, Michael Wilken-Robertson; (October 15, 2017); $29.95

 

• For thousands of years, the Kumeyaay people of northern Baja California and southern California made their homes in the diverse landscapes of the region, interacting with native plants and continuously refining their botanical knowledge. Today, many carry on the traditional knowledge and skills for transforming native plants into food, medicine, arts, tools, regalia, construction materials, and ceremonial items. Kumeyaay Ethnobotany explores the remarkable interdependence between native peoples and native plants of the Californias through in-depth descriptions of 47 native plants and their uses, lively narratives, and hundreds of vivid photographs. It connects the archaeological and historical record with living cultures and native plant specialists who share their ever-relevant wisdom for future generations.

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• Maay Uuyow Kumeyaay Cosmology, Michael Connolly Miskwish; (December 26, 2016); $12.95

 

• Kumeyaay cosmology was traditionally intertwined with ceremonies, harvest and hunts, burning schedules, and the acquisition of spiritual power. Personal conduct was subject to cosmological constraints and rewards. Cosmology was so important that Spanish priests and subsequent U.S. government agents worked hard to repress and expunge the beliefs from Kumeyaay society. This monograph provides a partial glimpse of the Kumeyaay cosmology with worldview, observatories, constellations and stories. Includes modern interpretations of the calendar.

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• Medicinal Plants Used by Native American Tribes in Southern California, Donna Largo, Daniel F. McCarthy, Marcia Roper; (November 25, 2009); $14.95

 

• A resource guide for medical providers and traditional health care practitioners to better coordinate patient care with traditional practices, and make available information about traditional medicine to anyone interested in disease prevention through Native American knowledge and traditions.

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• Medicine Man, The Story of An Indian Service Doctor 1918-1934, Ada Hildreth; (1999); $16.00

 

• This original manuscript was written by Ada Waite Hildreth. It provides valuable insight into the life of a country doctor while serving his patients on the Indian Reservations of San Diego.

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• My Ancestors’ Village, Roberta Labastida; (January 31, 2004); $9.95

 

• A charming story, told from the point of view of a young Indian girl, Dove, who describes the traditional way her family lives. An entertaining way for young readers to learn more about San Diego County's early inhabitants.

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• Native Athletes in Action, Vincent Schilling; (May 20, 2012); $9.95

 

• From the Olympics to national and minor league teams, here are the stories of some of the many Native athletes who have excelled in the field of sports. These stories highlight the lives and achievements of 13 outstanding athletes, both men and women, who followed their hearts and through hard work became champions.
  
  Including:
  Naomi Lang (Karuk) - US Olympian and ice dance champion
  Ross Anderson (Cheyenne/Arapaho, Mescalero Apache) - Downhill speed skier and US record holder
  Jordin Tootoo (Inuit) - National Hockey League player
  Stephanie Murata (Osage) - US National Wrestling champion
  Beau Kemp (Choctaw and Chickasaw) - Professional baseball pitcher
  Alwyn Morris (Mohawk) - Olympic gold and bronze medalist in kayaking
  Cory Witherill (Navajo) - Professional Indy car racing
  Richard Dionne (Sioux) - CBA basketball champion
  Cheri Becerra-Madsen (Omaha) - Wheelchair racing Olympian, world record holder
  Shelly Hruska (Metis) - Ringette Team Canada
  Mike Edwards (Cherokee) - Professional bowler and PBA champion
  Delby Powless (Mohawk) - Lacrosse champion
  Jim Thorpe (Sauk and Fox) - Olympian and professional football and baseball player

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• Old Magic: Lives of the Desert Shamans, Nicholas Clapp; (2015); $22.95

 

• For a thousand generations, desert shamans of the far West sought order in the stars and in the mysteries and wonder of their grand, if unforgiving, landscape. When summoned, they doctored the stricken, be they stoic elders of frightened little children. They conjured rains. Taking leave of reality, they rode whirlwinds and soared in magical flight. They epitomized a Native American ability “to relate the land in ways beyond a Western way of thinking.”

 

They’re gone now, but there remains telling accounts of how, day-to-day, they lived: how omens foretold a shaman’s destiny, how he learned his craft, how he could exercise his power for both good and evil, and how a shaman could travel to the land of the dead and (hopefully) return. Drawing on the lore of a dozen tribes, conjures the year-to-year life of a shaman—a life of service to his people, a life fraught with torment and danger, a life often taking a man or woman to the edge of madness.

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• The Painted Rocks, Ruth Alter; (1995); $12.95

 

• The Piedras Pintadas archaeological site, located in north central San Diego County, is seen through the eyes of a young girl and her guide. This informative book includes information on how Kumeyaay people lived, built their homes, played games, made meals, a recipe for shawii, how they made clay pots, their bow construction and hunting implements, stone tools, rock art, their legends, a glossary of Kumeyaay words and more.

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• Plants of the Southern California Kumeyaay, A Coloring Book; (2015); $6.95

 

• This book contains 24 black and white illustrations containing over 30 plants ready to be colored. The plants shown in this book were collected and used by local Indian Tribes. Each plant is identified by its Common, Latin and Diegueno name.

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• Rock Art Papers Vol. 19, San Diego Rock Art Association; (2018); $20.00

 

• The San Diego Rock Art Association (SDRAA) is dedicated to educating the public about rock art, providing an environment for scholarly research, and promoting the preservation and conservation of rock art. This volume of Rock Art Papers presents the results of research on petroglyphs and pictographs from California, Baja California, and the Southwest as presented at the annual Rock Art Symposium held in November of each year.

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• San Diego Museum Papers, Diegueño Curing Practices, Ruth Farrell Almstedt; (January 1977); $5.95

 

• Professor Almstedt brought together and preserved a highly significant body of information on the healing practices of the Indians of southern California. She has assembled the major findings of earlier observers and has added to these much data which she obtained from native informants and which has not been previously published. Of special importance is a carefully prepared listing of the plant resources used in healing with their current botanical identifications. This paper is a definitive review of its subject in terms of present knowledge and will, it is believed, be of interest to both specialists and general readers who are concerned with healing customs and the use of environmental resources by the Indians in their ancient ways of life.

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• The Sea of Grass, A Family Tale from the American Heartland, Walter R. Echo-Hawk; (July 1, 2018); $25.95

 

• Inspired by real people and events, The Sea of Grass is the story of the Pawnee Nation, which was shaped by the land, animals, and plants of the Central Plains. The long sweep of indigenous history in the grasslands of North America comes alive through the folklore of a single family. Major events are told from a Pawnee perspective, and capture the oral tradition of ten generations of Echo-Hawk’s family. This historical novel tells the stories of the spiritual side of Native life, and gives voice to the rich culture and cosmology of Pawnee Nation. 

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• Shrouded Heritage: Island of the Blue Dolphins, Tom Holm; (May 1, 2019); $20.00

 

• A father and his young daughter set out to learn the truth about California’s ancient island-dwelling People, especially the real-life woman fictionalized as Karana in Scott O’Dell’s beloved novel, Island of the Blue Dolphins. That endearing soul became the last of her kind after witnessing the bloody massacre of her tribe. She then suffered 18 years of isolation on her cold and merciless island.
  
  This investigation of her life and the legacy of her People inadvertently triggers a battle among academics and Indigenous Peoples with world-wide implications. Bitter conflicts arise as evidence suggests that archaeologists and powerful institutions are manipulating data in order to continue exhuming and warehousing human remains once entombed on the real “Island of the Blue Dolphins.” Their challengers are historically-ignored indigenous tribes, which simply wish to rebury their ancestors’ bones, in accordance with their faith, so that their souls can rejoin their families in heaven.
  
  Woven together within this saga are data from church records, court papers, ship logs and dozens of other historic and “scientific” documents. Likewise, and with equal reverence, included are oral accounts, traditional songs, and religious beliefs of tribal elders. This uniquely inclusive approach provides the source of new information about the real “Island of the Blue Dolphins” and its remarkable heritage.

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• Southern California Food Plants, Wild Edibles of the Valleys, Foothills, Coast… and Beyond, Charles W. Kane; (November 1, 2013); $10.75

 

• Designed as a primer to the wild edible plant life of southern parts of the state, Southern California Food Plants is a booklet (52 pages) best serving the hiker, camper, hunter, or prepper, whom desires a fact-based overview to 50 common regional wild edibles. Not a fancy recipe book designed for the coffee table, nor a collection of homey antidotes well suited for bedtime reading, but rather a publication for the cargo pocket, backpack, glovebox, or bug-out-bag, SCFP is written with a clear, uncomplicated, and just-the-facts type of approach.
  
  Every profile is accompanied by 1-2 color photos, common and scientific names, and sections describing the plant's range and habitat, edible use and preparation, and medicinal use and cautions (if pertinent). Readers will also find each plant's sustenance rating (low, medium, or high) and county-by-county California location maps (one for every profile) unique additions that separate it from other similarly-titled publications.

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• Strangers in a Stolen Land, Richard Carrico; (July 31, 2008); $16.95

 

• The original edition of Strangers in a Stolen Land covered San Diego County Indian history from 1850-1880. This expanded edition takes a far more inclusive view of the narrative that is San Diego County Indian history. It begins with what is known of the first inhabitants, not at a later point based on the start of European intrusion, and is updated to cover half-century between 1880 and 1935—a period dramatically different from the previous three decades.

 

Richard Carrico offers a historically and culturally accurate description of the Kumeyaay (Ipai/Tipai), Luiseño, Cahuilla, and Cupeño Indians. Covering the Spanish, Mexican, and American periods, with details, maps, and illustrations not previously published, this book meets the requirements for college-level courses in Indian or Ethnic studies.

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• Survival Skills of Native California, Paul D. Campbell; (1999); $40.00

 

• In the most comprehensive work of its kind, author Paul Campbell reveals the knowledge he has spent twenty years acquiring and reproducing from California’s Natives. Included are sections on basic skills, the tools for gathering and preparing food, implements household and personal necessity, as well as the arts of hunting and fishing. Survival Skills is astounding in the breadth of skills taught and contains more than 400 pages with 2,000 skills and nearly 1,000 instructional illustrations. With a variety of Native Californians, young and old, as his sources of information, the author delves into the practices they used to successfully live on a land that is often seemingly poor in life’s essentials. This book offers the opportunity to see beyond the apparent, to overcome modern-bred helplessness in the wild, and to capably employ the varied resources of Earth’s bounty that make survival possible.

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• There There, Tommy Orange; (June 5, 2018); $25.95

 

• There There is a relentlessly paced multigenerational story about violence and recovery, memory and identity, and the beauty and despair woven into the history of a nation and its people. It tells the story of twelve characters, each of whom has private reasons for traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow. Jacquie Red Feather is newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind in shame. Dene Oxendene is pulling his life back together after his uncle’s death and has come to work at the powwow to honor his uncle’s memory. Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield has come to watch her nephew Orvil, who has taught himself traditional Indian dance through YouTube videos and has come to the powwow to dance in public for the very first time. There will be glorious communion, and a spectacle of sacred tradition and pageantry. And there will be sacrifice, and heroism, and unspeakable loss.

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• The Universal Tool Kit: Out of Africa to Native California, Paul Douglas Campbell; (2013); $19.95

 

• From earliest Stone Age in Africa to 20th-century California, our ancestors smashed rocks to make tools, and the tools from the broken stones formed the most important survival kit ever invented. Elements of that kit live on today in remote corners of the globe among people close to the earth. The most important survival kit ever invented, it altered the very shape of the human species and for millions of years was truly a universal tool kit. This book explores the origin, description and function of baseline stone tools and its practical applications and templates of manufacture. It also looks at Stone Age spear throwers and how they were used.  

 

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• The Way We Lived, California Indian Stories, Songs & Reminiscences, Malcom Margolin; (June 1, 2017);  $18.00

 

• This collection of personal histories, songs, chants, and stories draws together a range of experiences from throughout the state and across generations to reveal the continuous Native presence in what is now called California. Speakers share traditional knowledge such as rites of passage, coyote tales, and dream journeys, and in equal measure they address the devastation that arrived with outsiders and the challenges that exist to this day, as well as the remarkable revitalization of their cultures. Variously funny, painful, insightful, and strikingly beautiful, The Way We Lived presents California’s original, incalculably rich sense of itself. This updated reissue contains a new foreword by Michael Connolly Miskwish (Campo Kumeyaay Nation).

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•  Wild Edible Salad Guide: How to Harvest, Assemble, and Eat a Wild Salad in Southern California, Michelle Howard, Michelle Renaud; (March 15, 2019); $9.95

 

• When was the last time you identified and harvested a wild plant to make a Wild Salad? This is your opportunity! This friendly resource will allow you to explore the outdoors in a new way as you make your own Wild Salad. It will help you identify edible plants such as Common Mallow, Sweet Fennel, and Miner’s Lettuce, and also help you avoid dangerous look-alikes such as poisonous Castor Bean and Common Poison Hemlock. Each plant has its own card which you can easily remove from the secure metal ring while you’re out foraging.