CALIFORNIA INDIAN DAYS

This is a potential reference book for school and public libraries in California and the Southwest. It is an entertaining mine of information about California Indian tribes by an authority on early California. Separate chapters are devoted to the clothing, menu, currency, and beliefs of the various tribes. These are backed up by maps, charts, photographs and line drawings. The author anticipates the sorts of questions her readers are likely to ask --what became of the Indians of this region?; what do the symbols in their sand paintings and tattooings stand for?; what did they eat and how did they make it?; what did they believe in?-- and in each case sets forth all the answers that her careful research has provided. One could wish for a bit more on the subject of Indian training for adulthood, but, by and large, Miss Bauer covers her subject adequately. Her chapters on music, games and the uses that the Indians made of certain plants deserve particular merit for clarity. The book has been carefully indexed and a separate pronouncing glossary is provided. The chart listing the California tribes with their locale and major differences is most helpful and a necessity in a book that covers so many and so much.