Dimensions of Native America: The Contact Zone

Dimensions of Native America: The Contact Zone. Museum of Fine Arts, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, February 13-March 31. 1998; Appleton Museum of Art, Ocala, FL, April 14-May 31,1998.
Dimensions of Native America: The Contact Zone. Jehanne Teilhet-Fisk and Robin Franklin Nigh. co-curators. Tallahassee: Museum of Fine Arts, Florida State University, 1998. 144 pp.     

Native American Representations: First Encounters, Distorted Images, and Literary Appropriations.; Native American Literature: Boundaries & Sovereignties.

Native American Representations: First Encounters, Distorted Images, and Literary Appropriations. Gretchen Bataille. ed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001. 252 pp.
Native American Literature: Boundaries & Sovereignties. Kathryn W. Shanley. ed. Vashon Island, WA: Paradoxa, 2002. 312 pp.     

Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia

Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia. Guy Gibbon. ed. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1998.941pp.     

The Languages of Native North America

The Languages of Native North America. Marianne Mithun. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.773 pp.     

Geographic patterns of genome admixture in Latin American Mestizos

The large and diverse population of Latin America is potentially a powerful resource for elucidating the genetic basis of complex traits through admixture mapping. However, no genome-wide characterization of admixture across Latin America has yet been attempted. Here, we report an analysis of admixture in thirteen Mestizo populations (i.e. in regions of mainly European and Native settlement) from seven countries in Latin America based on data for 678 autosomal and 29 X-chromosome microsatellites. We found extensive variation in Native American and European ancestry (and generally low levels of African ancestry) among populations and individuals, and evidence that admixture across Latin America has often involved predominantly European men and both Native and African women. An admixture analysis allowing for Native American population subdivision revealed a differentiation of the Native American ancestry amongst Mestizos. This observation is consistent with the genetic structure of pre-Columbian populations and with admixture having involved Natives from the area where the Mestizo examined are located. Our findings agree with available information on the demographic history of Latin America and have a number of implications for the design of association studies in population from the region.     

Native America Collected: The Culture of an Art World.

Native America Collected: The Culture of an Art World. Margaret Dubin. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2001. 224 pp.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
The Native Races of the British Empire. British North America. I. The Far West, the Home of the Salish and Déné. By C. Hill-Tout.
The Native Races of the British Empire. Natives of Northern India. By W. Crooke     

First Peoples, First Contacts: Tangible Records

First Peoples, First Contacts: Tangible Records. Chase Manhattan Gallery of North America and First Peoples, First Contacts, British Museum, London, permanent installation.
First Peoples, First Contacts: Native Peoples of North America. J. C. H. King. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999.288 pp.     

Playing with Culture: The Serious Side of Humor

Indi'n Humor: Bicultural Play in Native America . Kenneth Lincoln
Keeping Slug Woman Alive: A Holistic Approach to American Indian Texts . Greg Sarris     

Native Religions and Cultures of North America: Anthropology of the Sacred

Native Religions and Cultures of North America: Anthropology of the Sacred. Lawrence E. Sullivan. ed. New York: Continuum, 2000. 249 pp.     

Beyond Black and Red: African–Native Relations in Colonial Latin America

Beyond Black and Red: African–Native Relations in Colonial Latin America . Matthew Restall, ed. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2005. 303 pp.     

Book reviews

Images from the Region of the Pueblo Indians Aby Warburg. Images from the Region of the Pueblo Indians of North America. Trans. and introduced by Michael P. Steinberg. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995. 114 pp., illus., biblio.

Through Navajo Eyes (again) Through Navajo Eyes: An Exploration in Film Communication and Anthropology. Sol Worth and John Adair, with a new foreword, introduction, afterword, and illustrations by Richard Chalfen. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1997. 406 pages, 85 halftones, $24.95 (paperbound).

Cartographic Encounters Lewis, G. Malcolm (ed.). Cartographic Encounters: Perspectives on Native American Mapmaking and Map Use. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998:338 pp., index, 58 illus. $60.00 (hdbd.).

Photojournalism and Foreign Policy Perlmutter, David D., Photojournalism and Foreign Policy: Icons of Outrage in International Crises. Westport, Ct.: Praeger, 1998. xvii + 162 pp., plates, illus., biblio., index. US $55.00 (hdbd.).

Sensuous Scholarship Stoller, Paul. Sensuous Scholarship. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997: xviii+166 pp., illus., filmography, index. US $36.50 (hdbd.), $16.50 (paper).     

Strangers to Relatives: The Adoption and Naming of Anthropologists in Native North America.

Strangers to Relatives: The Adoption and Naming of Anthropologists in Native North America. Sergei Kan. ed. Lincoln; University of Nebraska Press, 2001. 270 pp.     

The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas Vol. 3: South America, part 2

The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas: Vol. 3: South America, part 2. Frank Salomon and Stuart B. Schwartz. eds. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 976 pp.     

Genetic variation and population structure in native Americans

We examined genetic diversity and population structure in the American landmass using 678 autosomal microsatellite markers genotyped in 422 individuals representing 24 Native American populations sampled from North, Central, and South America. These data were analyzed jointly with similar data available in 54 other indigenous populations worldwide, including an additional five Native American groups. The Native American populations have lower genetic diversity and greater differentiation than populations from other continental regions. We observe gradients both of decreasing genetic diversity as a function of geographic distance from the Bering Strait and of decreasing genetic similarity to Siberians--signals of the southward dispersal of human populations from the northwestern tip of the Americas. We also observe evidence of: (1) a higher level of diversity and lower level of population structure in western South America compared to eastern South America, (2) a relative lack of differentiation between Mesoamerican and Andean populations, (3) a scenario in which coastal routes were easier for migrating peoples to traverse in comparison with inland routes, and (4) a partial agreement on a local scale between genetic similarity and the linguistic classification of populations. These findings offer new insights into the process of population dispersal and differentiation during the peopling of the Americas.     

American Indian Languages

American Indian Languages: Cultural and Social Contexts. Shirley Silver and Wick R. Miller. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1997. xix. 433 pp.
American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Lyle Campbell. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. xiv. 512 pp.     

The beta-globin gene cluster distribution revisited-patterns in Native American populations

New frequencies for the beta-globin gene cluster haplotypes are presented for the Aché (N = 82 individuals), Guarani (N = 76), and Kaingang (N = 54), three Native South American populations that live in an area between parallels 20 degrees S and 30 degrees S not covered by previous studies at this locus. The haplotype frequencies obtained for the three populations are within the interval observed for 28 other Native American populations. The Aché show much less haplotypes (five) than the other two populations (9-10), the haplotype prevalences being more similar to those of the Guarani than to the Kaingang. The Native American total heterozygosity was about half (0.41) that obtained for the African populations (0.71), but was not much different from those obtained for other continents. A geographical pattern was disclosed in South America by mapping the frequencies of the most common haplotype (haplotype 2), and by means of spatial correlation analysis. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) and pairwise F(ST) data suggest three distinct sectors for the genetic landscape of Native South America: the Andes, the Center/Southeast region, and the Amazon.     

Y-chromosome evidence for differing ancient demographic histories in the Americas

To scrutinize the male ancestry of extant Native American populations, we examined eight biallelic and six microsatellite polymorphisms from the nonrecombining portion of the Y chromosome, in 438 individuals from 24 Native American populations (1 Na Dené and 23 South Amerinds) and in 404 Mongolians. One of the biallelic markers typed is a recently identified mutation (M242) characterizing a novel founder Native American haplogroup. The distribution, relatedness, and diversity of Y lineages in Native Americans indicate a differentiated male ancestry for populations from North and South America, strongly supporting a diverse demographic history for populations from these areas. These data are consistent with the occurrence of two major male migrations from southern/central Siberia to the Americas (with the second migration being restricted to North America) and a shared ancestry in central Asia for some of the initial migrants to Europe and the Americas. The microsatellite diversity and distribution of a Y lineage specific to South America (Q-M19) indicates that certain Amerind populations have been isolated since the initial colonization of the region, suggesting an early onset for tribalization of Native Americans. Age estimates based on Y-chromosome microsatellite diversity place the initial settlement of the American continent at approximately 14,000 years ago, in relative agreement with the age of well-established archaeological evidence.     

BOOK REVIEWS

AFRICA: Indian Houses of Puget Sound. T. T. Waterman and Ruth Greiner
AFRICA: Native Houses of Western North America. T. T. Waterman and Collaborators
AFRICA: Types of Canoes on Puget Sound. T. T. Waterman and Geraldine Coffin
AFRICA: The Whaling Equipment of the Makah Indians. T. T. Waterman.     

Genetic divergence disclosing a rapid prehistorical dispersion of native americans in central and South america

An accurate estimate of the divergence time between Native Americans is important for understanding the initial entry and early dispersion of human beings in the New World. Current methods for estimating the genetic divergence time of populations could seriously depart from a linear relationship with the true divergence for multiple populations of a different population size and significant population expansion. Here, to address this problem, we propose a novel measure to estimate the genetic divergence time of populations. Computer simulation revealed that the new measure maintained an excellent linear correlation with the population divergence time in complicated multi-population scenarios with population expansion. Utilizing the new measure and microsatellite data of 21 Native American populations, we investigated the genetic divergences of the Native American populations. The results indicated that genetic divergences between North American populations are greater than that between Central and South American populations. None of the divergences, however, were large enough to constitute convincing evidence supporting the two-wave or multi-wave migration model for the initial entry of human beings into America. The genetic affinity of the Native American populations was further explored using Neighbor-Net and the genetic divergences suggested that these populations could be categorized into four genetic groups living in four different ecologic zones. The divergence of the population groups suggests that the early dispersion of human beings in America was a multi-step procedure. Further, the divergences suggest the rapid dispersion of Native Americans in Central and South Americas after a long standstill period in North America.