Native time
de Lee Francis
Native Time is both a beautifully rendered and brilliantly comprehensive volume that captures the adventures and adversities of the Native People of Turtle Island, the land otherwise known today as North America. Beginning in the year 200,000 B.C., this chronological time line runs to the present day, vividly illuminating along its way not only the rich history but also the literature, art, heroes, legends, wisdom, and philosophy of the Native inhabitants who have lived all across Turtle Island for over two hundred centuries. Casting an entirely new and desperately needed perspective on what many non-Native Americans consider, often mistakenly, to be "American History," Native Time reveals, in its earliest years, the flourishing Native American civilizations that were in existence long before the arrival of Columbus and Coronado to these shores. In more recent times wars and clashes between the Native People and non-Natives are covered, as are treaties, important events, and portraits of Native Americans from the famous to the unsung. Native Time is designed in an easy-to-follow grid format that traces the year-by-year events of the Native People in four categories: History/Law/Politics; Literature/Art/Legends and Stories; Heroes/Leaders/Victims; and Elder Wisdom/Philosophy/Songs. A fifth and very special section known as Ceremony Time is also included. Ceremony Time is a month-by-month calendar of celebrations, events, and festivals that take place annually among the Native Nations across Turtle Island. With specific dates and locations listed for many of the events, such a chronicle of the Native American calendar is not to be found anywhere else. Adorned with approximately one hundred photographs of Native heroes, both ancient and modern, Native Time is at once an essential reference guide and an illuminating tribute to the real, but all too often abandoned, history of Turtle Island. A stunning work that beckons and welcomes all Native people and non-Natives alike to listen once again and hear the beat of the great drum.
