Indigenous Peoples

From the Foreword: "Each of the many chapters delineates the rich ethnographic characteristics of societies in the indigenous worlds."

"The Encyclopedia of the Peoples of the World allows us to examine the ethnic infrastructure underlying economic, social, and political change. It is essential for assessing the news intelligently and becoming more aware of the cultures that surround us." "Edited and written by a distinguished team of international scholars, the encyclopedia contains more than 2,000 alphabetical entries on all peoples and ethnic groups of the world. Each entry includes the common, indigenous, or self-designated name of the group; geographical location; population; language; religion; and history when relevant or known." "The concise and clearly written entries are supplemented with 250 black-and-white maps and 48 pages of color illustrations. Many of the maps pinpoint little-known peoples and groups located in areas that do not correspond to official state boundaries. The maps are an invaluable tool for comparing neighboring ethnic groups and locating peoples who have been made famous by the evening news. The color illustrations and photographs represent culture, costume, environment, art, architecture, and people, and are spread throughout the book."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This 10-vol. set lists and describes more than 1,500 global cultures. Based on research of social scientists, it is the source for historical, social, political, economic, linguistic, religious, and other information on virtually every existing culture.

Immigration is a topic that is as important among anthropologists as it is the general public. Almost every culture has experienced adaptation and assimilation when immigrating to a new country and culture; usually leaving for what is perceived as a "better life". Not only does this diaspora change the country of adoption, but also the country of origin. Many large nations in the world have absorbed, and continue to absorb, large numbers of immigrants. The foreseeable future will see a continuation of large-scale immigration, as many countries experience civil war and secessionist pressures. Currently, there is no reference work that describes the impact upon the immigrants and the immigrant societies relevant to the world's cultures and provides an overview of important topics in the world's diasporas. The encyclopedia consists of two volumes covering three main sections: Diaspora Overviews covers over 20 ethnic groups that have experienced voluntary or forced immigration. These essays discuss the history behind the social, economic, and political reasons for leaving the original countries, and the cultures in the new places; Topics discusses the impact and assimilation that the immigrant cultures experience in their adopted cultures, including the arts they bring, the struggles they face, and some of the cities that are in the forefront of receiving immigrant cultures; Diaspora Communities include over 60 portraits of specific diaspora communities. Each portrait follows a standard outline to facilitate comparisons. The Encyclopedia of Diasporas can be used both to gain a general understanding of immigration and immigrants, and to find out about particular cultures, topics and communities. It will prove of great value to researchers and students, curriculum developers, teachers, and government officials. It brings together the disciplines of anthropology, social studies, political studies, international studies, and immigrant and immigration studies.

Examining cultural groups in Asia, Europe, the Americas and Africa, these four volumes provide information on history, politics, customs, religion, education, and human rights issues.

From the Preface: "...covers the civilizations and black African societies in all their variety and individuality, but not ...a complete list of tribes and ethnic groups....We have had to select the outstanding and most representative of the great cultural regions, but at the same time we have tried to give an idea of their variety in a number of articles on individual tribes in addition to discussions of general subjects." -Editors.

The Encyclopedia of African Cultural Heritage in North America provides an accessible ready reference on the retention and continuity of African culture within the United States.  Our conceptual framework holds, first, that culture is a form of self-knowledge and knowledge about self in the world as transmitted from one person to another.  Second, that African people continuously create their own cultural history as they move through time and space.  Third, that African descended people living outside of Africa are also contributors to and participate in the creation of African cultural history.  Entries focus on illuminating Africanisms (cultural retentions traceable to an African origin) and cultural continuities (ongoing practices and processes through which African culture continues to be created and formed).  Thus, the focus is more culturally specific and less concerned with the broader transatlantic demographic, political and geographic issues that are the focus of similar recent reference works. We also focus less on biographies of individuals and political and economic ties and more on processes and manifestations of African cultural heritage and continuity. FEATURES: A two-volume A-to-Z work, available in a choice of print or electronic formats 350 signed entries, each concluding with Cross-references and Further Readings 150 figures and photos Front matter consisting of an Introduction and a Reader's Guide organizing entries thematically to more easily guide users to related entries Signed articles concluding with cross-references

These volumes offer a one-stop resource for researching the lives, customs, and cultures of Africa's nations and peoples. * Supplies entries that are more extensive than in most comparable encyclopedic works * Arranges content alphabetically by country, then by topic, with suggestions for further reading following each * Includes contributions from numerous eminent scholars of African history * Provides a clear African voice via entries from scholars from the African continent

From the Preface: "The area included within the present volume...includes some 28 degrees of latitude - from Malaya north to the Nosu country of southern Szechwan. Its westward extension includes the Garo, a Tibeto-Burman-speaking people of Assam; eastward, it includes the peoples of Hainan Island and the middle Hsi Chiang draninage in eastern Kwangsi province of southern China. Ethnologically speaking, northern Southeast Asia does not stop at the china border; centuries of migrations, trade, and political relationships link the peoples of Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam with the southern provinces of China -Yunnan, Kweichow, Kwangsi, and Kwangtung. This entire region, which might be termed greater mainland Southeast Asia, forms an integrated whole for purposes of the study of racial and linguistic history, ethnic distributions, and cultural evolution."

This work examines American Indian history and culture from ancient times through the formation of the US and Canada and into modern society. Topics covered include: personages; tribes; art and architecture; organizations; historical events; cultural traditions; and ceremonial customs.

"Each volume or pair of volumes is made up of a series of essays by specialists on specific aspects of the life, customs, arts and culture, environmental influences, etc., of the various groups of Middle American Indians. Each has its own extensive bibliography and detailed index."
Cited from: Guide to reference books / edited by Robert Balay. Chicago : American Library Association, 1996.

"an encyclopedic summary of what is known about the prehistory, history, and cultures of the aboriginal peoples of North America who live to the north of the urban civilizations of Central Mexico. Each volume comprises essays by specialists on specific aspects of Indian life,with extensive bibliography and detailed index."
Cited from: Guide to reference books / edited by Robert Balay. Chicago : American Library Association, 1996.

"Anthropological descriptions by American specialists of all phases of the life of the tribes considered, with special attention to the tribe's first contact with Europeans. Well illustrated; many ethnographical maps. Extensive bibliographies."
Cited from: Guide to reference books / edited by Robert Balay. Chicago : American Library Association, 1996.