An account of life on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana from around 1910 to the 1990s, based on interviews with Crow woman Agnes Yellowtail Deernose, and interwoven with background details about the origins of the Crows and their culture.

The first six years of Helen Martin’s life, living on a Saskatchewan farm in the 1950s, were idyllic. But everything changed when her mother passed away. The sudden and inexplicable cruelty and neglect that Helen endured at the hands of her stepmother—a much younger woman her father married within months of being widowed—are the subject of this distressing, but ultimately triumphant, memoir: Don’t Ever Call Me Mother: Homeless in my Own Home. In a voice that is clear, courageous, guileless, honest, and hopeful, Helen captures the innocence and bewilderment of her childhood. She shares with readers the various ways in which she managed to cope and endure the terrible trauma of her youth. At the same time, Helen uses the pages of this memoir to pay homage to her Ukrainian culture and traditions. She especially highlights the few individuals who offered her kindness and support at a time when she was so often hungry, cold, lonely, bruised, and unwashed: her two older sisters, a couple of neighbours, and an elderly hobo who became her best friend. Such unexpected and enriching relationships make all the difference in a young life and are explored here with feeling. This beautiful memoir serves as both a testament to the author’s resilience and a reminder that childhood abuse of any kind must never be tolerated.

For centuries indigenous communities of North America have used carriers to keep their babies safe. Among the Indians of the Great Plains, rigid cradles are both practical and symbolic, and many of these cradleboards—combining basketry and beadwork—represent some of the finest examples of North American Indian craftsmanship and decorative art. This lavishly illustrated volume is the first full-length reference book to describe baby carriers of the Lakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and many other Great Plains cultures. Author Deanna Tidwell Broughton, a member of the Oklahoma Cherokee Nation and a sculptor of miniature cradles, draws from a wealth of primary sources—including oral histories and interviews with Native artists—to explore the forms, functions, and symbolism of Great Plains cradleboards. As Broughton explains, the cradle was vital to a Native infant’s first months of life, providing warmth, security, and portability, as well as a platform for viewing and interacting with the outside world for the first time. Cradles and cradleboards were not only practical but also symbolic of infancy, and each tribe incorporated special colors, materials, and ornaments into their designs to imbue their baby carriers with sacred meaning. Hide, Wood, and Willow reveals the wide variety of cradles used by thirty-two Plains tribes, including communities often ignored or overlooked, such as the Wichita, Lipan Apache, Tonkawa, and Plains Métis. Each chapter offers information about the tribe’s background, preferred types of cradles, birth customs, and methods for distinguishing the sex of the baby through cradle ornamentation. Despite decades of political and social upheaval among Plains tribes, the significance of the cradle endures. Today, a baby can still be found wrapped up and wide-eyed, supported by a baby board. With its blend of stunning full-color images and detailed information, this book is a fitting tribute to an important and ongoing tradition among indigenous cultures.