Download or read book A Most Indispensable Art written by James B. Petersen and published by Univ. of Tennessee Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of essays chronicles the diversity and richness of one broad category of traditional material culture - fiber industries or textiles - among prehistoric and historic Native Americans in eastern North America. Such industries, which include basketry, fabrics, cordage, and netting, played an important role in the economic, social, and ceremonial life of indigenous cultures. However, because of the extreme age of the artifacts, their fragile nature, and unfavorable preservation conditions, knowledge of these industries has long been incomplete - resulting in a gap in scholarship that this volume does much to address.