Native American arts and crafts are enjoying renewed appreciation and increasing recognition as a vital part of America's cultural heritage. This volume, a magnificent collection of full-color photographs and incisive commentary, presents the richness and celebrates the diversity of this centuries-old tradition and places it within a larger historical and social context. The artistic tradition explored in this book emerged as the snows of the last Ice Age melted, nearly 20,000 years ago. Native American Art displays the astonishing array of both utilitarian and ceremonial objects produced by America's earliest peoples. Native American Art features works from every part of the United States, executed in many different media. Lively descriptions identify elements that characterize the works of each historic period, geographic region, and culture, as well as reveal ideas about art, imagery, and spiritualism embodied in these works.