BOOK REVIEWS 609

geographic and chronological development, local variation, and group inter-influ-

ence, I believe the adoption of such criteria as these can not be too strongly urged
among anthropologists and ceramic specialists.
FLORENCE M. HAWLEY

The Changing Culture o j an Indian Tribe. MARGARET

MEAD.(xiv, 313 pp. $4.50.
New York: Columbia University Press, 1932.)
I n this study of the Antlers (transparent disguise for the Omaha) Margaret
Mead has made a signal contribution to our knowledge of the reactions of a typical
Indian tribe to the impact of white civilization. The result of her investigation is
so interesting and far-reaching that her pioneer attempt is bound to be followed by
other such studies, opportunity for which abounds among the North American
Indians.
The field work was conducted during a period of five months in 1930,the author
being at all times careful that the object of her research remain dark to the Indians.
At the present time the reservation is overrun by whites, which. fact does not
result in intimacy or mutual understanding between the races.
I n the old days the concept of property among the Antlers was strictly limited
in its application. Land in particular was never formally owned, nor was it bought
or sold. While in one way or another considerable property other than land may
have accumulated in the hands of individuals, no merit attached to its hoarding.
When subsequently a Congressional bill resulted in a new set of allotments being
granted to individuals, the illusion of vast wealth, of unlimited lands, grew up,
which still remains despite the sad curtailment of the acreage owned by Antlers (p.
52). .4n orgy of reckless expenditure was initiated, surreptitiously induced by white
agents. The easy flow of money proved an irresistible temptation to these inno-
cent Indians.
Similarly in political organization, the prestige surrounding the old chieftain is
gone. Chieftainship itself has fallen into decay. The Antler is not only a citizen of
the United States but also a ward of the government. As such he has a claim upon
the Federal service to the Indian. Privileges the Antler has aplenty; there is much
irritating supervision of his life and activities; but his obligations are nil. From a
member of a self-governing, politicaUy selfconscious unit, the Antler has been de-
graded to a member of a miscellaneous group of people who have hereditary claims
to receive special treatment and to give nothing in return (p. 76).
It is interesting to note how, in the midst of this decay of ancient custom, the
kinship system and its adhering practices have remained relatively intact, largely,
remarks the author, because it is so incomprehensible to the white residents that
they usually do not know that it exists. The mother-in-law taboo, for example,
is still in force.
I n ancient times the part played by grandparents in the education of children
was second only ro that played by the parents, but now that the past is gone the
old people are no longer interested>nd:they do not bother about the children.
610 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N.S., 36, 1934

In the domain of the sexual code the half-digested transition from the old to
the new wrought absolute havoc. The young girl of the past was educated in such
a fashion that her demeanor towards male approaches was characterized by bash-
fulness, fearfulness, and inhibition. Far from taking an active part in the proceed-
ings, she was likely to run off a t the first suggestion of danger. All this was changed
with the introduction of co-educational Indian schools. Here the girls make the
best of their new-fangled freedom. The boys, on the other hand, still cling to the
old attitude that a girl who is not bashful is a t least potentially a bad woman.
The result can easily be imagined.
In religion the forms of Christianity have replaced those of the older faith, but
the spirit of the deeper laid attitudes still hovers above the reservation.
The co-educational schools have substituted the regime of impersonal formality
for the warm intimacy of the old Indian home. In the abnormal setting of the Indian
community with its contrasting ancient background, co-education has become a
curse.
Among the peculiarities of the new situation is that English has been adopted
by the younger generation only as a thin and imperfect veneer. Only a few of the
old people who received their schooling in the East speak a good English, some of
them being very sophisticated linguistically. Otherwise Antler speech has had
greater vitality than English upon the reservation. The author believes that there
are not more than a dozen people in the place who do not always think in Antler
and prefer to speak it whenever possible.
The whole second part of Dr Meads book is devoted to the Indian woman. I
am told, in fact, that the author preferred to call her study by a title implying this
specialization in the womans part of the culture. As in many other similar situa-
tions, the author has found that the changing times have fallen more heavily upon
the men than upon the women. Ancient Antler culture was, in more senses than
one, a mans culture. The duties of war and chase, of political organization and
religion, largely devolved upon the men. 11. is precisely in these domains of culture
that the greatest changes have come, putting the men out of office, as i t were. The
women, on the other hand, who took care of the more private economic and social
concerns, still find something to do in the new order. It is, however, as true of the
women as of the men that with the decay of culture has come a fatal loss of the old
manual skills. Thus the modern woman is unfit to cope with the difficult economic
and domestic conditions.
It is possibly only to record the complete fortuitousness of the process [concludes the
author] by which the primitive culture breaks down and the individual member of the primi-
tive society is left floundering in a heterogeneous welter of meaningless, uncoordinated and
disintegratinginstitutions.
In Part Three of her book the author has gathered some of her raw materials
in tabular and diagrammatic form which may be utilized to verify or control some
of her conclusions.
 BOOK REVIEWS 611

When pondering ones state of mind as the result of the reading of this study,
one is inclined to compare ones self to a spectator of a tragedy and say with Aris-
totle: my emotions were purified even though the tale was sad.
ALEXANDERGOLDENWEISER

Navaho Weaving: Its Technic and History. CHARLESAVERYAMSDEN. (xviii, 261

pp., 12 figs, 123 pls. Santa Ana, California: The Fine Arts Press, 1934.)
Mr Amsdens detailed study of Navaho fabrics is a notable contribution to
the subject of historic textiles. He has organized information from scattered sources
for the ethnologist, and presented much interesting material which will appeal es-
pecially to those readers who think of the Navaho as the outstanding (if not the
only) weavers of the Western hemisphere.
In appearance the book is a beautiful piece of work. Colored plates, to mention
only one feature, reproduced upon bookbinders linen suggest the actual texture of
the weavings. They include as the author says, every specimen of Navaho weav-
ing I have ever seen which had a history acceptable to me dating it prior to the
year 1880,. . .with a few exceptions where photographs were not obtainable or the
tribal origin was doubtful (p. 205).
The book is divided into two approximately equal parts. Chapters under Tecnic
deal with finger weaving (plaiting, looping, and twining), loom development in
America, the Navaho loom, and the types and uses of Navaho textiles. I believe
that those who have struggled with the problems involved in such descriptions will
agree with me that the chapters on weaving devices and fabrics are simply and effec-
tively written. I cite as a particularly good example of clearness the description of
the Two-faced Weave including the drafts and the sketches of a partly completed
reconstruction (pp. 57-62).
The second part of the book, the historical, emphasizes those factors which con-
tributed to Navaho weaving as it developed from its earliest known phases to its
modern aspects. Expeditions, exploratory and punitive, governmental experiments
emanating from old Spanish and American centres, and the voluntary as well as
compulsory movements of the tribe form the background of events. Interpolated
sections break into the chronological presentation of the life of the people to sum-
marize and focus attention upon the growth of the weaving craft and its compara-
tively rapid evolution into tribal industry.
Students of American textiles will be grateful for the full treatment accorded to
the debated subject of bayeta and its successors. This word has been used too loosely
to avoid resultant confusion. Mr Amsden sums up bayetas contribution to weaving
in the following: The bayeta period marked the high point, the Golden Age of
..
Navaho weaving. , Only an expert could wed native wool and bayeta fibre in a
harmonious and happy union (p. 150).
The last fifty pages of the book record the blanket-to-rug transition period, the
arrival of commercial yams and dyes, and the boom times in Navaho weaving