Brave Hearts and Their Cradles - A Pictorial Presentation of Native American Cradleboards

The title of my book is "Brave Hearts and Their Cradles - A Pictorial Presentation of Native American Cradleboards." It is the first comprehensive book on cradleboards since 1877. The last book written with a comprehensive view of Native American cradleboards was by Otis T. Mason in 1877 for the Smithsonian. I wrote this book because cradleboards are a dying art from in the Native American community and deserve to be remembered. Some are still made for use within a tribe but very few of the traditional cradles are made for public purchase.

Cradleboards are an iconic part of Native American culture. Most all young warriors and madiens were raised the first year or two of their lives in one of these objects of love. They provided saftey for the baby and an easy means of transportaion by the mother.
Many (not all) were carried on their mothers back as she moved from one location to another. Although some appear to be very crude in structure and design, the mothers insured that the infant was as comfortable as possible.

Cradles were not found to be popular as an art object or item of interest until the age of photograpy. At that point, collectors of Native American Artifacts seen the pohotographs of cradles and then they all wanted one. Today many can be found in musuems and in private collections, but very few are used for their intended use as in the past.

This book is not an encyclopedia of cradleboards. There are over 500 designated tribes in North America. I would dare to guess that today one could not find a cradle representing 100 tribes and that numer is shrinking. Thus, I have tried to put together the most comprehensive presentation of individual tribal cradles and after five years of searching I have only found 83.

The book provides 186 pages of information, 176 photographs of cradleboards, (some old and some contemporary), representing 83 different tribes. Vanessa Paukeigope Jennings adorns the front cover. She is a renowned fuill-blood Kiowa beader and cradle maker form Oklahoma. She features one of her many quality museum pieces.

A signed copy by the author can be obtained by sending $30.00 (includes S&H) cash or check to:
Richard Janulewicz
16335 NW 134th Ct.
Platte City, MO 64079

Be sure to include your mailing address.