The Spindle Whorl: A Northwest Coast Indian Art Activity Book. Nan McNutt. Illus. by Roger Fernandes and Susan Point. Seattle, WA: Sasquatch Books (dist. in Canada by Raincoast Books), 1997. 44 pp., paper, $14.95. ISBN 1-57061-115-7. Subject Headings: Indian craft-Juvenile literature. Indian art-Northwest Coast of North America-Juvenile literature. Grades 1 - 7 / Ages 6 - 12. Review by Lorraine Douglas. **** /4	The Bentwood Box: A Northwest Coast Indian Art Activity Book. Nan McNutt. Illus. by Yasu Osawa and Nathan Jackson. Seattle, WA: Sasquatch Books (dist. in Canada by Raincoast Books), 1997. 36 pp., paper, $14.95. ISBN 1-57061-116-5. Subject Headings: Indians of North America-Northwest Pacific-Woodcarving-Juvenile literature. Indians of North America-Northwest Pacific-Painting-Juvenile literature. Grades 4 - 7 / Ages 9 - 12. Review by Lorraine Douglas. **** /4
The Button Blanket: A Northwest Coast Indian Art Activity Book. Nan McNutt. Illus. by Yasu Osawa and Barry Scow. Seattle, WA: Sasquatch Books (dist. in Canada by Raincoast Books), 1997. 44 pp., paper, $14.95. ISBN 1-57061-118-1. Subject Headings: Indian craft-Juvenile literature. Indian blankets-Juvenile literature. Kwakiutl Indians. Grades 1 - 5 / Ages 6 - 10. Review by Lorraine Douglas. **** /4	The Cedar Plank Mask: A Northwest Coast Indian Art Activity Book. Nan McNutt. Illus. by Yasu Osawa, George David and Greg Colfax. Seattle, WA: Sasquatch Books (dist. in Canada by Raincoast Books), 1997. 36 pp., paper, $14.95. ISBN 1-57061-117-3. Subject Heading: Indians of North America-Northwest Coast of North America-Masks-Study and teaching (Elementary). Grades 4 - 7 / Ages 9 - 12. Review by Lorraine Douglas. **** /4

This set of four activity-based resource books focuses on the arts and culture of the First Nations peoples of the northwest coast of the United States and Canada. Each book has been reviewed for accuracy and authenticity by tribal members and the drawings and colour cut out section have been created by various Northwest Native artists. The author, Nan McNutt, is an anthropologist and educator who lives in Seattle.

      The Spindle Whorl focuses on the art represented by the carvings on the whorl of a spindle - a tool used in spinning wool. The carved whorl was used specifically by the Central Coast Salish peoples - other tribes did not carve the whorls. The book opens with a fictional story about a woman, Sulsuliya, and it is set before the coming of the Euro-Americans in the 1700's. The stages of a young woman's life, as represented by Sulsuliya, are described in the teaching guide which also includes a map, background information on the craft of spinning wool, a bibliography, and suggestions for designing your own whorl. Activity pages for children follow the story and include designs for creating a whorl, questions on artistic concepts like positive and negative space, and creating animal impressions using printmaking techniques. As in the other books in the series, the instructions, with black-and-white drawings, are clearly laid out and easy to follow and undersatnd. The centre page in each book is an elegant colour cut-out section of the featured art for the child to construct.

      The Bentwood Box focuses on the box making and art of the northern coastal peoples - the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian and Bella Bella. A very short story reveals how a young boy created a cedar box before the coming of the Europeans. The boxes were traditionally decorated with ovoid and "U" forms and instructions are included for creating templates and painting with traditional salmon egg paint. Two interesting parts of the activity section are the maze patterns and the creation of a game with shapes. This book also has a number of places for children to write in answers to questions. As in all the other books in the series, the adult guide contains a map, bibliographies and valuable commentary and explanations.

      The Button Blanket focuses on the button blankets in the art style of the Kwakiutl. All northwest coast people used button blankets. This time the story has a contemporary setting and features a girl who is creating her own button blanket which she will dance in at a Potlatch. The cut-out craft is the creation of a button blanket for a paper doll. This activity is at a younger level than the other projects in the series.

      The Cedar Plank Mask focuses on the art of the Nuu-chah-nulth people of the west coast of Vancouver Island and the Makah people of Washington state. In the fiction story, Michael lives with his grandparents, and he visits a museum with his class. There, he sees the masks of his people, and the class creates a paper mask to take home. When he arrives home, his grandfather gives him a Lightning Serpent Mask. The featured cut-out activity is the creation of this mask.

      This series is a valuable resource for teachers, leaders of youth groups, such as Guides,Cubs and Scouts, artists and art teachers, and library programmers; however, the cut-out and write-in pages make it a difficult series to circulate in public and school libraries. There is so much valuable information included that libraries searching for Ethno-cultural materials will welcome the author's unique approach. The drawings and artwork by various Northwest coast artists are finely executed and visually appealing.

Highly recommended.

Lorraine Douglas is the Youth Services Coordinator of the Winnipeg Public Library.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © 1998 the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - MARCH 27, 1998.

AUTHORS | TITLES | MEDIA REVIEWS | BACK ISSUES | SEARCH | ORDER | CMARCHIVE | HOME