A Braid of Lives: Native American Childhood

by Neil Philip

This moving collection of first-person narratives celebrates the individuality and variety of the Native American experience. Men and women representing many Native American groups speak about childhood and growing up--games and rites of passage, education and learning, tradition and change. This companion volume to Neil Philip's acclaimed IN A SACRED MANNER I LIVE is touching and dramatic, easily accessible to young readers, who will identify with its celebration of universal childhood experiences. Introduction, indexes of speakers/writers and Indian nations, suggestions for further reading, source notes.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 039564528X
• ISBN13: 9780395645284
• Release Date: August 2000
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.9" x 10.4"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Highly recommended, suitable reading for young and old.

A Braid Of Lives is a beautiful collection of photographs and poignant reminiscences of a series of Native American children of various ethnicities. From the terrifying to the mystical, each fragment captures an incomprehensible moment of life, vivid, stark or whimsical; sometimes all three. Part of Black Elk's vision is here, as well as a Paiute woman's memory of being buried alive as a child to avoid death at the hands of her 'white brothers.' All black and white photographs are exquisite in choice and composition, and each relates to the accompanying text, though it may not be the author quoted. At the end of the book is a list of speakers and writers, an index of Indian nations represented, picture sources, and suggestions for further reading. All of the narratives relate childhood experiences or memories. This is a book with a sacred feel about it, stunning quietly with its directness. It is suitable for adolescent readers as well as adults, and should lead the audience to want to learn more about Native Americans.Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer