From the Foreword
The world s dramatic awakening to the impact of ecology on the quality of human life, and a new awareness of the potential for exploitation of the desert environment in which our particular interest lies give rise to more thoughtful, even sober, attention to the problems faced by those aspiring only to bigger yields from crops and more protein from animals. To these very basic needs of food and fiber, we are, therefore, addressing ourselves further to a consideration of housing, educational programs, and nonagrarian resource evolution, to the end that the...

Grenville Goodwin was one of the leading field anthropologists during a crucial period in American Indian research the 1930s. His letters from the field provide original source material on Western Apache beliefs and customs. They also reveal the attitudes and methods which made him so effective in his work. A dedicated and thorough ethnographer, Goodwin became familiar with every aspect of Western Apache culture.
During this same period, Morris Opler was studying the Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache in New Mexico. In order to exchange information about their studies, Goodwin and...

"The bloodsucking bat, construction of bows and arrows, the punishment for adultery among the Apaches... all was grist that dropped into the industrious mill of Father Pfefferkorn's eyes, ears, and brain." Saturday Review
"To be read for enjoyment; nevertheless, the historian will find in it a wealth of information that has been shrewdly appraised, carefully sifted, and creditably related." Catholic Historical Review
"Of interest not only to the historian but to the geographer and anthropologist." Pacific Historical Review
"

"Provides interesting and thought-provoking reading and is highly recommended to anyone interested in desert ecosystems or community ecology. The book . . . should serve as an inspiration to many for future research."--Journal of Biogeography
"This book is not just about deserts; it is an update of the contributions that research in desert systems is making to community ecology. . . This book will provide a useful reference for desert ecologists, as well as indicate critical directions where progress needs to be made."--Ecology
"This important book fills a significant...

The Sonoran Desert is a distinctive biotic region that fascinates scientist, students, and nature lovers. This book offers an accessible introduction to Sonoran Desert ecology.

Eight original essays by Sonoran Desert specialists such as Paul Martin and Richard Felger provide an overview of the practice of ecology at landscape, community, and organismal scales. The essays explore the rich diversity of plant life in the Sonoran Desert and the ecological patterns and processes that underlie it. They also reveal the history and scientific legacy of the Desert Laboratory in Tucson,...

Health is a major concern to all people. In this volume, four writers examine the medical arts of Yaqui, Anglo, Black and Mexican American communities to further understand the relationship between alternative and scientific medicine.

Edward H. Spicer's informative Introduction sets the stage for comparing "popular" and "scientific" medicine. "Graduates of medical schools have been taught that their body of knowledge is the one true medical tradition. The world has many medicines and thousands of practitioners who do not believe that "Western" medicine is a universal cure-all. These...

This important final report of the War Relocation Authority, written in 1946 and now released in book form with a comprehensive introduction by Edward H. Spicer, describes the growth and changes in the community life and how attitudes of Japanese-American relocatees and WRA administrators evolved, adjusted, and affected one another on political, social, and psychological levels.

Although the age and origin of katsina ceremonialism have long fascinated scholars, the reasons for its development have remained unexplored until now. E. Charles Adams here examines the concept of the katsina and the religion that developed around it, focusing on what makes katsinas unique, why the concept was developed, and what adaptive value it had for prehistoric Pueblo culture.

The University of Arizona Press's Century Collection employs the latest in digital technology to make previously out-of-print books from our notable backlist available once again. Enriching historical and...

Piman shamanism is based on the belief that morality and some forms of sickness are interrelated. The shaman, or medicine man, has a dual role in the Piman Indian culture. He is the guardian of the Pimans' health and their consciousness of cultural identity.

This definitive study of shamanic theory and practice was developed through a four-person collaboration: three Tohono O'odham Indians--a shaman, a translator, and a trained linguist--and a non-Indian explicator. It provides an in-depth examination of the Piman philosophy of sickness as well as an introduction to the world view of an...

The story of Fray Marcos and the Seven Cities of Cibola was a favorite of Adolph Bandelier (1840-1914). Bandelier's combination of methodological sophistication and control of the archival data makes the Marcos de Niza paper important, not only as a landmark in Southwestern ethnohistory, but as a work of scholarship in its own rights, with insights on Cabeza de Vaca, Marcos, and early Southwestern exploration that are still valid today.

The University of Arizona Press's Century Collection employs the latest in digital technology to make previously out-of-print books from our notable...