There’s a lot to appreciate about this single-volume encyclopedia. It’s topical, attractively designed, and loaded with more than 270 quality photographs. Published originally as The British Museum Encyclopaedia of Native North America, this re-titled Canadian edition presents readers with the range of documentation one expects of a British Museum Press reference publication. There are 31 pages of bibliography, acknowledgments, credits, and indexes. Adding to the book’s credibility is the expertise of authors Rayna Green, director of the American Indian program at the Smithsonian Institution, and Melanie Fernandez, acting First Nations officer at the Ontario Arts Council.

It’s important to note this encyclopedia is not a source of comprehensive detail about North American tribes. Rather, it’s a collection of brief, wide-ranging entries with considerable emphasis on historical, political, and cultural events and issues (for example, matrilineality). Green and Fernandez frequently elaborate on and reinforce entries by quoting individuals and excerpting native songs and stories. The result is a resource that successfully features native voices and has the potential to pique young adult interest, prompt discussion, and encourage further research and debate.

The encyclopedia, however, is not without quirks and disappointments. Many of its main entries are esoteric in the sense that young adults are unlikely to know them (for example, Bandolier bag) or consider them likely search terms. The repeated use of the word kivas without reference to its earlier translation suggests an assumption that the book will be read sequentially, which is not likely. Small editorial oversights undermine the encyclopedia’s authority: for example, two Ontario communities (Curve Lake and Six Nations Reserve) are misnamed, and there are several instances of incomplete and inaccurate indexing. All things considered, however, this is a worthwhile if not exemplary reference book.