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information on the context of song performance buried in the text. For example, we learn that the Oglala like their songs short (p. 57), that singers may practice for a performance by whistling a song (p. 58), that the sound of the mouth organ is likened to the noise of prairie dogs (p. 67), and that songs are created in the springtime during vision quests (p. 7). There is no overall discussion of performance or context, however, and I was left feeling frustrated that I had no good understanding of how and why the Oglala sing. Folklorists interested in narrative may find some useful information in the essay, Naming the (chapter 6), which includes commentary on images in Lakota emergence myths and offers a discussion of Inktomi, the Lakota spider trickster. Powers presents no myth texts, but refers readers to other published collections. Sacred Language lacks a unifying theme, and the chapters are uneven and include unnecessary repetition. Some of the chapters seem to be incomplete. For example, the essay on sacred numbers (chapter 5) asserts that there are two sacred numbers for the Lakota, 4 and 7. Although we are given many examples of how the number 4 is seen in ritual, dances, and chants, there is no consideration of the number 7. The book includes a number of old photographs of the Oglala of Pine Ridge attributed to Jesuit missionaries. Unfortunately, therre is no reference to these illustrations in the text to indicate their relevance to the material discussed

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• Collecting among the Menomini

  David Beck, David R M Beck et al.•The American Indian Quarterly•2010

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