Letters and Notes of the Manners, Customs, and Conditions of the North American Indians: Written during Eight Years' Travel (1832-1839) amongst the Wildest Tribes of Indians in North America, Volume I

by George Catlin

Crow, Blackfoot, Pawnee, Sioux, Comanche, Mandan, Choctaw, Cheyenne, Winnebago, Creek, Assiniboin; wild prairies teeming with buffalo; the sacred site of Catlinite stone — all were subjects of Catlin's letters and paintings. For eight years (1832–39) George Catlin ventured among the Indians of the North American Plains capturing in verbal and visual pictures every facet of their lives. For the rest of his life, Catlin carried to Eastern America and Europe the true pictures of the North American Indians enjoying their last years of freedom and dignity in their native home.
Catlin's book is an adventure. It is an adventure of the painter who was called "the great white medicine man" for his ability to paint. It is an adventure of a self-taught painter who vowed: "…nothing short of the loss of my life, shall prevent me visiting their country, and of becoming their historian." It is a story of the great mysteries of the many tribes of Indians he visited — the mysteries of costume, posture and myth, the mystery of weapons, hunts, and manly games, the mystery of a life still close in connection with the Great Spirit, with the buffalo and with the traditions of thousands of years, all which would soon be destroyed. "Art may mourn," said Catlin, "when these people are swept from the earth." Most importantly, his book is a book of direct, fresh, and accurate illustrations, illustrations that keep the best in Indian life alive.
Now for the first time Catlin's illustrations are shown as he meant them to be seen. Through a process unknown when his book was first published, photographs of his actual paintings have been used to capture the many layers of depth and accurate depiction that could only be hinted at in the line drawings of the early editions. Two-hundred and fifty-seven photographs of Catlin's original oil paintings are included together with fifty-five of the original book illustrations. As a result this is the definitive edition of Catlin that can never be superseded, far more useful than any earlier edition.
George Catlin's North American Indians is still one of the most readable books about the Indians of the Plains, capturing, as it does, the tribes when they were still in touch with their most important traditions. It has also become an invaluable historic and ethnographic document for study of the American West. The Mandan tribe, which Catlin so carefully set down, disappeared in a small-pox epidemic only five years after his visit. Other tribes changed radically, their traditional mode of life seen only in Catlin's notes and illustrations. As Marjorie Halpin says in her introduction, " ... we can share the feeling of gratitude he expressed when he said, 'I was luckily born in time to see these people in their native dignity, and beauty, and independence …."

Unabridged republication of the fourth (1844) edition. 312 illustrations, including 257 photographic reproductions of the original paintings. New introduction of Marjorie Halpin.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Native Americans, American History, Native American

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1841

About the author

George Catlin (July 26, 1796 – December 23, 1872) was an American painter, author, and traveler, who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the Old West.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...

Reviews

[Clay Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good combination of art making and adventure.

[Pat Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hi everyone. I was lead to read this book by a paragraph in one of those Time Life "western" books titled The Explorers or something like that. The author, George Catlin did a lot of time in the upper Missouri river valley living near and with Native Americans. In his writing it shows his love for the tribes. The book is a bunch of what he calls letters and epistles about his experiences and views of the tribes in the area. I found it excellent since I was interested in a valid account of the Native American in the "Old West". He writes a very clear and believable scene which puts you right there. I would have given the book 5 stars except that the book was a copy of his work and the copy was poor work. One of the most fascinating parts of the book are his illustrations of the writings. Catlin was an artist and the Indians often liked sitting for him to be painted. But this particular book, which is the only volume one of this work that I could find, was a poorly done copy of the illustrations and even the print. Some of the illustrations are so bad that all you can see is a few of what looks like pencil lines, and the print is small and lacks detail enough that there were words I could not make out. Some of the pages actually showed the outline of the border of the page being copied on the page in this book. I have volume two already and it is way above and beyond in quality compared to this book. Enough bitching about the major disappointment of this book. If you have an interest in this subject, I consider this an excellent read. The fact that this publication is the only volume one I could find and was so easy to get means anyone wanting to read it may be stuck with it like me. I do intend to read volume two, and like I said, my copy has wonderful illustrations, some even in color, and appears to be a much better body of work. I would be interested to hear from anyone who knows of a better volume one because I would like to peruse it just to see valid illustrations. So far, the people I have talked to don't even know about this book. Those people have all been Barnes and Noble workers and they just look at me when I complain about the publishing work in this one. Anyway, I enjoyed the iteration of his experiences. Some of them are very wild and wooly, not so much experiencing an Indian attack, but their savage religious rituals, and the buffalo (bison) hunts. This was written before all the bison were wiped out, which he predicted, and the Natives were put on reservations, which he didn't. If you do try to read this book I hope you find a good copy and enjoy it.

[Jim Galford · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a very interesting collection concerning plains tribes. While dated, it is still a fascinating historical record.

[Sandra Houston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended.