Gary Null, health author and radio personality, delves into the anthropology of Native Americans to bring you the legends, the myths, and the history of their sacred healing practices: The Ghost Dance, Vision Quests, Rites of Passage, and Wankan-Tanka (White Buffalo Woman). Emphasizing the unity of all life, body and soul, man and nature, dozens of Native American healers share their beliefs, customs, and traditions. Null (The Complete Encyclopedia of Natural Healing, LJ 6/1/98) outlines various Native American traditional healing and spiritual practices, bringing awareness to their importance as alternatives to "Western" medical science. In the first half of the book, he describes rituals and ceremonies, while later he emphasizes the Native pharmacopoeia?herbs, berries, and other plant materials?and their application in the relief of common maladies. He ends with herbal recipes and instructions on fasting. Although Null cites Native peoples in the text, no credit is given to Native Americans in his Acknowledgments section, and no references cite interviews. His book seems too broad, attempting to describe both herbology and ritual and lacking comprehensiveness in both areas. The authenticity of some of the recipes is questionable: the "Seneca Indian Four-Day Cleansing Diet," for example, encourages the consumption of a healing broth containing sherry and tamari, among other ingredients. Unfortunately, Null promotes the "use" of Native traditions without encouraging support of Native peoples and without the context that is often an integral part of healing. Not recommended.?Andy Wickens, Graduate Student, LIS, Univ. of Washington, Seattle Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. Null, author of popular health books, provides a well-written introduction to Native American cosmology, sacred practices, and traditional remedies. Based largely on interviews with Native Americans rather than firsthand knowledge, the text serves as an introduction to a world-view where nature is divine and humankind lives in intimate harmony with the natural world. In the first third of the book, Null describes the significance and symbolism of three rituals common to many tribes: the pipe ceremony, the sweat lodge, and vision quest. Other aspects of Native American culture and spirituality (dance, chants, storytelling, sacred objects and symbols, astrology, shamanism) are covered in short chapters; a few first-person excerpts from Null's informants expand the topics. The final two-thirds of the text is an A-to-Z encyclopedia of 51 common ailments with their corresponding Native American herbal remedies, followed by another A-to-Z section of nearly 150 American herbs, giving briefly for each its history of use, indications, and recent research findings. A few recipes and herb resources conclude this compact survey of the topic. Penny Spokes Gary Null, Ph.D., one of America's best-known health researchers and advocates, is the author of more than thirty books, including New Vegetarian Cookbook, Good Food, Good Mood, Healing Your Body Naturally and Juicing for Life. His successful "Natural Living" radio program airs in fifteen countries. He lives in New York City. Used Book in Good Condition