Until recently a kind of intellectual disdain existed among academicians and art museum curators toward some forms of American Indian art. The older traditions of prehistoric art from the high cultures of Central and South America were more seriously regarded than the historic tribal arts north of Mexico. For example, these prehistoric traditions were taught in art history graduate study programs and exhibited as objets d'art in leading art museums throughout this country. The historic tribal art traditions north of Mexico, however, were generally the province of anthropology graduate study programs and exhibited as "material culture" in natural history or anthropology museums. As a result, the Indian arts of the Northwest Coast, the Great Plains, the Southwest, etc., have been underexposed and often relegated to the "craft" side of an art-craft dichotomy.

"The Arts of the North American Indian" is an important attempt to better define tribal arts of North America, north of the Rio Grande. Although initially conceived as a catalogue to accompany a touring exhibition of Native American art, which never materialized, the book's 14 essays are in my opinion a more important and lasting event than the proposed exhibition. Forsaking the usual organizing principles of tribe or culture area or artifact type, the essays in this book address questions of "Meaning," "Tradition," "Aesthetics," "Quality," "Individuality," "Controversy" and "The Future" of this continent's historic tribal arts.
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