Book excerpt: Featuring 155 color photographs and illustrations, Native American Weapons surveys weapons made and used by American Indians north of present-day Mexico from prehistoric times to the late nineteenth century, when European weapons were in common use. Colin F. Taylor describes the weapons and their roles in tribal culture, economy and political systems. He categorizes the weapons according to their function - from striking, cutting and piercing weapons, to those with defensive and even symbolic properties - and he documents the ingenuity of the people who crafted them.