American Indian Architecture

Labriola Center


The following bibliography lists reference material dealing with American Indian architecture.  These resources include material found in the Labriola National American Indian Data Center in the University Libraries at Arizona State University.  This guide can also be found on the Labriola Center website at
www.asu.edu/lib/archives/labriola.htm

Students from Construction 101 analyze the cultural context of construction, emphasizing its centrality in the evolution and expansion of built environments as expressions of ethical and historical value systems.

Books

American Indian Habitats: How to Make Dwellings and Shelters with Natural Materials, Nancy Simon and Evelyn Wolfson.  David McKay Company, Inc., 1978.  The authors describe the dwellings and shelters of eight Native American culture areas, and provide clear instructions, accompanied by photographs, line drawings, and diagrams for a Plank house, Paiute Wikiup, Navajo summer shelter, tipi, Seminole shelter, and a wigwam.E98.D9 S55

Contemporary Native American Architecture: Cultural Regeneration and Creativity, Carol Herselle Krinsky.  New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. The author writes about a new phenomenon – the culturally sensitive but modern Native American building.  Native American architects and others are creating new structures for housing, gambling halls, and museums throughout the United States. E98.A63K75 1996

Desert Farmers at the River’s Edge: The Hohokam and Pueblo Grande, John P. Andrews and Todd W. Bostwick.  Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park, 2000.  Andrews and Bostwick discuss the prehistory and archaeology of Pueblo Grande platform mound in Phoenix, Arizona.  E99.H68 A59

Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the world: 15,000 years of Inventions and Innovations, Emory Dean Keoke and Kay Marie Porterfield.  Facts on File, 2001.   The encyclopedia covers all culture areas and provides ample information on a variety of aboriginal building techniques and includes information on adobe, igloos , home insulation, quonset huts, pyramids, architects, settlement patterns, cities, road systems, copper tubing, electricity, drill bits, plumbing, stonemasonry techniques, ventilation systems, urban planning, carpentry techniques, and more. See “adobe” for Hohokam and pueblo masonry. Labriola Reference E54.5 K46

Eskimo Architecture: Dwelling and Structure in the Early Historic Period, Molly Lee and Gregory A. Reinhardt. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2003.  The authors detail winter houses, transitional and summer dwellings, and special use structures constructed by the peoples of Greenland, Central Arctic, Northwest Arctic and Bering Strait, Southwest Alaska, Bering Sea, Siberia, and the Gulf of Alaska. Includes illustrations, bibliography and index  E99.E7.4174 2003

Expanding the View of Hohokam Platform Mounds: An Ethnographic Perspective, Mark D. Elson.  The University of Arizona Press, 1998.The authors explore in depth, platform mounds found in the American Southwest, their function and construction.  They also discuss social organization, environment and economy, religious practices and estimate size of population.  E99.H68 E49

Exploring the Hohokam: Prehistoric Desert Peoples of the American Southwest, edited by George J. Gumerman.  University of New Mexico Press, 1991.  Here is a collection of articles by many of the foremost Hohokam specialists, who address the major questions in Hohokam archaeology.  E99.H68 E94

First Houses: Native American Homes and Sacred Structures, Jean G. Monroe and Ray A. Williamson, Houghton Mifflin, 1993.  Presents a variety of North American Indian creation myths and discusses how the “first houses” described in these myths set the pattern used by the tribes for their own homes and ritual structures. E98.D9 W55 1993

Grewe Revealed: Exploring Hohokam Life, Northland Research, 2003. Includes the entire technical report, “The Grewe Archaeological Research Project,” a short video highlighting the excavations, an interactive game and teaching material. F813.G74 2003 CDROM

Handbook of North American Indians, Smithsonian Institution, varied dates.  Volumes are organized by culture area, e.g., Plains, Southwest, Southeast, Arctic, Northeast, California, and Northwest Coast.  Select tribe of interest through index.  Scholar specialists have provided chapters on all tribes.  These cover prehistory, settlement patterns, housing, culture history, world view, and more. Labriola Reference E77.H25

Hogans Navajo Houses and House Songs, translated and arranged by David McAllester. Wesleyan University Press, 1980. Kenneth Funsten of the Los Angeles Times Book Review states,"Hogans contains a sampling of house blessing, songs and prayers identifying the simple,traditional Navajo structures with many-chambered dwellings of tribal gods. Photographs capture sunlight, shadows and silence on the modern reservation, while the translations-keeping vocablesand Navajo word order retain the feeling of their originals better than previous attempts. An excellent tribute to any housewarming."  PM 2009 .Z95 E5 1980

The Hohokam: Ancient People of the Desert, ed. David G. Noble, School and American Research Press, 1991. This book discusses all aspects of Hohokam culture. E99.H68 H635 1991

The Indian Tipi: Its History, Construction, and Use, Regfinald and Gladys Laubin.  University of Oklahoma Press, 1957.  The book contains just about everything one needs to know about building a tipi, including preparation of the hide, the tools, designs, and even a comparison of tribal smoke-flap styles.  E98.D9 L3

Native American Architecture, Peter Nabokov and Robert Easton.  Oxford University Press, 1989.  The volume , is well illustrated with photographs of various Native dwellings found in nine culture areas: Northeast/Great Lakes; Southeast; Plains; Plateau; Arctic and Sub-Arctic; Northwest Coast; California and the Great Basin; Southwest I; and Southwest II.  The building materials came from the environment in which the various groups lived and could be trees, grass, skin, bark, wood, clay, stone, ice, or snow.  In addition, there are architectural drawings, floor plans, and village site plans.  Labriola Reference E98.D9 N33

Native American Architecture [videorecording],  Double Diamond Presents.  Morris Plains, NJ: Lucerne Media, 1996. The program looks at how each tribe adapted their dwellings to their climate and their way of life.  E98.D9 N38 1996 VIDEO

Where Indians Live: American Indian Houses, Nashone.  Sierra Oaks Publishing, 1989.  Here is an illustrated children’s story describing Iroquois long houses, Mandan mud houses, Maidu ceremonial building, Sac-Fox bark house, Miwok woven houses, Navajo hogans, and the Apache wickiup.  E98.D9 N37x

See also: ASUs Online American Indian Index Database, which contains photographs, oral histories dealing with Native Architecture.  An illustration comparing all kinds of architecture can be found in LAB EPH IG-1.62/OV    

                                                                                                    

Joyce Martin, Library Specialist, Sr.

Labriola National American Indian Data Center

University Libraries, Arizona State University

Tempe, Arizona 85287 Fall 2007