Shawnee! — (1981)

The Ceremonialism of a Native Indian Tribe and Its Cultural Background

By James H. Howard

“Although this volume contains much material on ceremonialism, new and old, among the Shawnee, it is more than a book on Shawnee ceremonialism. It is a well-researched monograph on Shawnee culture…. This is a very find work on a little known but important tribe.”

Ake Hultkrantz — Ethnos

“James H. Howard is one of the most enthusiastic and competent contemporary ethnographers describing the North American Native experience… [Shawnee!] is an enlightening and even exciting picture of a fascinating people.”

The American Indian Quarterly

“James H. Howard provides a welcome descriptive ethnography of contemporary Shawnee ceremonialism… Howard’s knowledge of Shawnee rituals based on ethnographic fieldwork is impressive.”

Mary A. Druke — Ethnohistory

In spite of the important role of the Shawnee tribe of American Indians in the Colonial period and the early years of the American republic, they have been virtually ignored by the scholarly world. Anthropologists have paid little attention to the Shawnees, despite the tribe’s rich culture and pivotal position among the other tribes in eastern North America.

In this first comprehensive account of Shawnee culture, Dr. Howard assembled data concerning the tribe by utilizing published accounts, documents, maps, photographs, and paintings; and by visiting present-day Shawnees and participating in their ceremonies, games and everyday activities. The work is embellished with musical notations of Shawnee songs, maps, heirloom photographs and several photographs taken by the author during his fieldwork. Of particular interest is a remarkable series of paintings of Shawnee life by gifted Shawnee artist, Earnest Spybuck.