Books published by publisher Smithsonian Institute - Scholastic

“The photographs in this book focus on the people—from midway artists to roustabouts, from performers and their families to the audiences who watch them each night—who create the magic of the circus. Rogala’s work presents the highs and lows of circus life with a powerful combination of documentary pragmatism and empathy that conveys day-to-day details with a sense of wonder. Her rich black-and-white images follow light and shadow (and dust) from set up to rehearsal to performance, with color photography underscoring the drama of a red tent against a clear blue sky or the flash of sequins under the spotlight…. Dynamism and a spirit of collaboration are at the heart of circus life, animate Rogala’s archive, and are central to scholarship at the Smithsonian.” (From the introduction) Nearly two decades after Dawn Rogala’s time behind the scenes at America’s circuses, Dawn Rogala donated her photography archive to the National Museum of American History. The Rogala Collection is the basis for Rogala and colleagues David Haberstich and Shannon Perich to combine in one volume their complementary expertise in photography. Rogala’s essay revisits her time as a young photographer, documenting day-to-day struggles and triumphs of the workers who create a world of wonder for the rest of us. Haberstich reviews the history of documentary photography with an emphasis on depictions of people and their work, placing Rogala’s photographs in the context of the history of traveling societies and immigrant groups. Perich explores the changing roles and relationships between photography and the circus, both of which matured amid industrialized economy, and discusses the Rogala Collection’s place in a long history of circus photography.

Describes the prehistory, history, and cultures of the aboriginal people of North America who lived in the Subarctic culture area, defined as extending from the coast of Labrador on the Atlantic Ocean to Cook Inlet and beyond on the Pacific. Contains copyrighted material.This volume is part of the Smithsonian Institution’s Handbook of North American Indians series, the ultimate resource for Native American history across various regions of North America. The set is intended to give an encyclopedic summary of what is know about the prehistory, history, and cultures of the aboriginal peoples of North America north of the urban civilizations of central Mexico.

In Canada alone, the boreal forest (also called the taiga) covers more than 1.5 million square miles, fully one-third of the country and 20 percent of the entire North American continent. Terminating to the north with the treeless tundra, this region is inhabited and utilized by indigenous people and is home to unique populations of plants and animals found nowhere else on the planet. J. David Henry challenges the perception of the boreal forest as an "economic wasteland" by explaining how economically and ecologically valuable it is. He begins by answering some common questions about the region and explains its intricate geology. An in-depth examination follows of three factors that play an enormous role in shaping the complex life of the boreal forest: snow, forest fires, and peatlands. Henry looks at the dynamics of the region's vegetation and the evolution of its animals, and discusses the fascinating ten-year predator-prey cycle of snowshoe hares and Canadian lynx, one of the most famous examples of ecological interconnection. In Canada's boreal forest, loggers have clear cut an area the size of Great Britain. The final portion of the book examines initiatives from Scandinavia and Finland in order to offer alternatives to large-scale logging and mining, suggesting how humans can live and work in the boreal forest in a sustainable and responsible manner.

This is a massive study of the myths and legends of the Tlingit, Native Americans of southern Alaska. These texts include a lengthly cycle of stories about Raven, the trickster figure of the Northwest, the equivalent of the better known Coyote of the Southwest. Another major thread that runs through these stories is the typical Northwestern preoccupation with wealth and status. The land was abundant with marine life, wildlife and other resources. The Tlingit, along with other cultures in the region, had developed a very high level of material wealth, as well as levels of social inequality not found elsewhere in North America. For this reason, many of the stories are parallel to European folklore (without being derivative in the slightest way), in which a low-status person achieves wealth and respect by supernatural intervention or a series of epic trials. On the other hand, the Tlingit were also avid believers in the Potlatch system, by which wealth was distributed by the rich at festivals, in order to reinforce their status. Hence there are also stories in this collection in which altruism and sharing wealth are rewarded. Usually in 19th century ethnographies the texts are presented without any clue as to the cultural context in which they were told. This collection diverges from this sometimes maddening practice. The function of stories is often described in an footnote by the informant, for instance, as fables for young people. In another instance at the end of the book the myth cycle is retold, woven into a grieving ceremony. --J.B. Hare