Word Dance: The Language of Native American Culture

Covers every aspect of Native American culture, providing brief definitions, information about language usage and specific references in Native American history

Award-winning authority Waldman (e.g., Who Was Who in Native American History, LJ 4/15/90) has organized a vast list of terms, ranging from aboriginal to zemi (a spirit), that lay readers and students of Native cultural studies will likely encounter.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This dictionary is a beginning reference point for terms encountered in Native American cultural studies. It covers the social sciences, science, religion, and the arts, focusing on words that relate to the language and culture of the American Indian. Waldman is the author of many books on Native Americans, such as Who Was Who in Native American History.

Word Dance is excellent in its coverage of names of tribes, legendary beings, and common terms that add to the reader's understanding of Native American culture. Terms from anthropology, such as berdache, are defined. Expressions and slang in American English that are related to Native Americans, such as bury the hatchet, happy hunting ground, and Indian giver, are included. About 35 terms from Native American languages that are not used in English are defined. Definitions for such terms as how, white, and resistance give a distinctive perspective into the cultural history of this society. Most entries are one to three sentences in length, but those for culture areas (e.g., Circum-Caribbean Culture Area) are half a page. People, battles, and organizations have been omitted since they can be found elsewhere. Cross-references set off in small capitals allow for further exploration, and see and see also references are abundantly used. A categorical appendix classifies the entries under such headings as Archaeology, Food Production, and Tools, Utensils, and Weapons. An excellent current bibliography completes this work. Line drawings illustrate selected entries.

Indian Terms of the Americas [RBB O 15 94] is very similar to Word Dance, though it contains entries for people. Either book will be useful in public or academic libraries as a supplemental source or as a beginning point of reference. Many of the terms are defined in more depth in other sources, but the basic approach of these books in bringing words from many disciplines together is helpful.