The Year the Stars Fell

The Year the Stars Fell

Lakota Winter Counts at the Smithsonian. Ed. by Candace R. Greene and Russell Thornton. Hardcover. 347 pgs.

Winter counts are pictorial calendars by which Plains Indians kept track of their past, marking each year with a picture of a memorable event. The Lakota recorded many different events in their winter counts, but all include the spectacular Leonid meteor shower of 1833-34 (the year the stars fell).

This volume is an unprecedented assemblage of information on the important collection of Lakota winter counts at the Smithsonian, a core resource for the study of Lakota history and culture. Fourteen winter counts are presented in detail, with a chapter devoted to the newly discovered Rosebud Winter Count. Together, these counts constitute a visual chronicle of over two hundred years of Lakota experience as recorded by Native historians. (Publisher)

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