Further Reading

The best general introduction to the Na-Dene is the Handbook of North American Indians. Volume 6, edited by June Helm (Washington, D.C., 1981), covers the subarctic and includes most northern Athabaskans; volume 7, edited by Wayne Suttles (Washington, D.C., 1990), describes the groups of the Northwest Coast including the Tlingit and Haida. The Handbook provides detailed information on the history and traditional culture of the Na-Dene, as well as extensive references for those who wish to pursue any topic in depth.

There are several more contemporary works in which the Na-Dene are featured. These include Michael Asch’s Kinship and the Drum Dance in a Northern Dene Community (Edmonton, 1988); Hugh Brody’s Maps and Dreams: Indians and the British Columbia Frontier (Vancouver, 1981); and Julie Cruikshank with Angela Sidney, Kitty Smith, and Annie Ned, Life Lived Like a Story: Life Stories of Three Yukon Native Elders (Vancouver, 1990). Kerry Abel’s Drum Songs: Glimpses of Dene History (Montreal, 1993) provides a survey of the history of northern Athabaskans, particularly in the Northwest Territories. Frederica de Laguna’s Under Mount Saint Elias: The History and Culture of the Yakutat Tlingit (Washington, 1972) gives a detailed description of the culture and history of the Coastal Tlingit. Sergei Kan’s Symbolic Immortality: The Tlingit Potlatch of the Nineteenth Century (Washington, 1989) also addresses the history and symbolism of Tlingit ceremonies. Mary Lee Stearns’s Haida Culture in Custody: The Masset Band (Seattle, Wash., 1981) studies a Haida community in detail.

Other major works on the Na-Dene include Catherine McClellan et al., Part of the Land, Part of the Water: A History of the Yukon Indians (Vancouver, 1987), Richard Nelson’s Hunters of the Northern Forest: Designs for Survival among the Alaska Kutchin (Chicago, 1973), and Robin Ridington’s Trail to Heaven: Knowledge and Narrative in a Northern Native Community (Iowa City, Iowa, 1988).