Horses and Bridles of the American Indians

2012 winner of a Silver medal in the coffee table category of the Independent Publisher awards. “Native people, artists, scholars, museum curators, and equestrians will certainly welcome this beautiful book, which presents a spectacular selection of historical bridles made by the quintessential "horse nations" - the Native peoples of the Plains and Plateau. Drawing on seldom-seen objects and archival materials from European and American museums as well as private collections, the authors survey regional and tribal bridle styles, noting the interplay between indigenous and Spanish ideas and the pervasive influence of horse gear on all aspects of Native material culture. Using Native sources, material culture, and art, the contributors have crafted a volume that provides new insights into how horses and horse gear helped to shape the political, economic, and social fabric of the west, and why they still matter today.” --excerpt from the Foreword, by Castle McLaughlin, Ph.D., Associate Curator of North American Ethnography at Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology at Harvard University. Hawk Hill Press