BECOMING BRAVE: The Path to Native American...

BECOMING BRAVE: The Path to Native American Manhood by Laine Thom and DANCING COLORS: Paths of Native American Women by C. J. Brafford and Laine Thom (Chronicle: $18.95 each; 120 pp . , paperback originals). Thom, a descendant of the Shoshone, Goshiute and Paiute tribes, has compiled two striking introductory books to the indigenous civilizations of North America. His unapologetic descriptions of traditional practices focus on how boys and girls became full citizens of their respective tribes. The discussions of wars, ceremonies, vision quests and healing skills have been compiled from familiar sources, but the striking color photographs of artifacts in the collections of the Colter Bay Indian Arts Museum and the San Diego Museum of Man set these volumes apart from other recent books on Native-American culture. The intricate decorations worked in beads or dyed porcupine quills on Plains garments, the bold, geometric designs woven into the Southwestern blankets and the dramatic feather work in the Cheyenne war bonnets pay eloquent tribute to a vanished way of life.