“In this wonderful book, readers are presented with more than 900 individual pictographs signifying several centuries of tribal knowledge. . . . Taken together, these fascinating images provide an alternative history of the American West as written by those who were there in the beginning and remain there now. Like the Bayeux Tapestry—the embroidered cloth that preserves a visual history of the Battle of Hastings—these images challenge written recollection and revisit history in a way that takes us away from our own age and out into the greater world of ideas and images. In such works we can begin to recover a portion of that which has been obliterated by time.”—The Bloomsbury Review
“The scholarly analysis is very readable. . . . Don’t miss the elegant simplicity of these artist/historian winter counts.”—True West
“Richly illustrated, The Year the Stars Fell is an outstanding contribution to the understanding of the cultures of the Plains Indians.”—American Archaeology
“This volume’s careful introductions and its clear visual and contextual presentation of the counts should serve as a model for future endeavors. . . . Highly recommended.”—CHOICE
“This volume is an unprecedented assemblage of information on the important collection of Lakota winter counts at the Smithsonian, a core resource for the study of Lakota history and culture. . . . A visually stunning book. . . . Serves as an essential reference work for scholars as well as an invaluable historical resource for Native communities.”—Indian Artifact Magazine
“In publishing the Smithsonian's unparalleled collection of winter counts, The Year the Stars Fell provides detailed information on the creators, keepers, and collectors of those evocative documents plus presents over eleven centuries of richly illustrated Lakota events that will prove to be an invaluable reference for studying Lakota history and culture.”—Craig Howe, Oglala Lakota College
“An extraordinary contribution to both scholarly literature and American Indian recovery work, The Year the Stars Fell opens up Lakota history in compelling ways. Lakota winter count keepers—and the editors who frame their work so precisely—ask readers to think hard about memory, recordkeeping, historical consciousness, and narration. A brilliant and exciting work.”—Philip J. Deloria, author of Indians in Unexpected Places
“Winter counts have become icons of American Indian history, visual evidence of the Plains Indians’ concern for preserving records of the past. For the first time, this volume presents the Smithsonian winter counts and all the original documentation associated with them. Candace Greene, Russell Thornton, Christina Burke, and Emil Her Many Horses provide a broad range of background and commentary that make these important Native histories available to all for study and appreciation.”—Raymond J. DeMallie, editor of The Sixth Grandfather