The First Americans

The American Indians

by Time-Life Books (Editor)

A history of the first Americans depicts their everyday life, food, shelter, culture, pottery, crafts, and clothing

Genres: History, Native American, Reference, Anthropology, Nonfiction, Prehistory

183 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Shawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vivid photographs of rock paintings, dwellings and abodes, landscapes and some people. But really simple on the actual text (as it should be, it’s like an elementary school library book). Remote history is difficult and explaining it involves the use of words: likely, around the date, probably by this cause, etc. I skimmed through this after reading “History Of Siberia” by James Forsyth. I just meditated in the pictures generously placed throughout this short 4-5 chapter book.

In this the author covers the whale hunting people of the Pacific Northwest coastal area after explaining the migration across the Bering Strait; and the people along the Mississippi River were connected to the mound-like structures; and the Anasazi and Pueblo people of the arid Southwest. It’s a really good introduction or light overview of the first Americans.

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book examines the earliest Human presence in North America as people migrated out of Siberia across the Beringian land-bridge into Alaska, ultimately to disperse throughout the hemisphere. As with all Time-Life books, the photography is amazing. Much of the book focuses on early societies of the American South-West, their complex settlements, and their links to later cultures. The remainder of the book examines the mound-building peoples of the Mississippian culture and the great city of Cahokia, followed by a discussion of the whale-hunting peoples of the Pacific North West.

[Belle Meade School]

970.011

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing testimonial to where the American Indian originated from.
I am very excited to learn about the theory that the bering straight was a frozen marshland that these original peoples of North America traveled via to arrive in what is now the United States. I have a new respect for these people who respected and denied ownership to the land that was rightfully theirs. I also have new found knowledge of how the human spirit can prevail.

[Cws]

AI 970.01

[Terry Trayton · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't imagine why this book didn't follow on from Cro-Magnon Man in the series. Surely the chronological order is incorrect?