The diversity of Native American cultures goes far beyond the popular image of the "Indian." The bison, hunters and horseback warriors of the Great Plains, with their wind-blown feather headdresses, make up only a small part of the fascinating world of the people and cultures which developed between the icy Arctic and the mountains of northern Mexico. A veritable rainbow of life-styles reaches from the chiefdoms of the eastern forests to the tribelets of California, and from the hunters of northern Canada to the Pueblo peoples who tilled their fields in the dry Southwest. Often still observing old traditions, many of these peoples have survived the 500 years since the first involuntary confrontation with Europeans, contact which brought cultural enrichment as well as death and deprivation. This volume presents the day-to-day life, history, and material and spiritual achievements of North America's indigenous people.--Provided by publisher.