The Woodland Indians in the Western Great Lakes. Robert E. Ritzenthaler and Pat Ritzenthaler. Prosper Heights, IL: Waveland Press, Inc. 1993. 154 pages. In each of the ten chapters that make up this book, the authors address important aspects of the Woodland Indian way of life that ensured their survival. They address such important questions as how they manage to find enough food to survive and what exactly they eat to survive; as well as addressing topics such as their religious beliefs, traditional ceremonies, beliefs regarding shamanism and healing techniques, material culture, games, music and folklore that are important to them and influence who they are in as a people. Throughout the book, each of these themes is explored in detail as distinctive aspects attributed to the Woodland region and are defined clearly and in detail as they relate to different periods of human history in North America. Throughout this book, history and life are detailed. of the Woodland Indians, particularly in the western Great Lakes region, the authors provide important facts that identify important attributes of this North American tribe. First of all, these people live in a region that experiences a large environmental subdivision, consisting of both forests and grasslands. To survive, they must lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle involving hunting, fishing and gathering wild foods. They also begin to rely on some basic agriculture and their main food source is corn, beans, and squash. There are specific traditions and beliefs that they practice in terms of lifestyle. From the point of view of their social organization, kinship is very important in this egalitarian classless society, divided into several clans. Although their material culture does not seem very impressive compared to that of other North American Native American groups, the simplicity of their work in areas such as clothing, housing, feather and bead work, weaving, basketry and silverware is remarkable. in fact quite remarkable considering the time and effort required to complete the basic tasks necessary for their survival. Despite this fact, religious and ceremonial life was a very important and unique aspect of the Woodland Indians and constituted an important part of the lives of these people. They held dances such as the Medicine Dance, the Courage Dance, and the Drum Dance, each of which had particular spiritual connotations which they believed had a significant impact on their lives. They also practiced the use of peyote and performed tobacco rituals for religious purposes..