This collection of essays includes seven chapters on widely varying aspects of American Indian culture. Using the Lakota tribe at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, as a case study, the author trades in ideas with implications far broader than the study of American Indians. He hypothesizes that sacred numerical sets such as are found in both Indian and Christian religions should no longer be viewed symbolically but rather seen as "part of a ritual system." He jumps into the debate on Art versus art, his posture linking structuralism to biosocial anthropology, in a sense combining schools of thought that look for similarities rather than differences between people and cultures. Finally, he suggests parallels, connections, and even competitive struggles between Lakota medicine men and modern-day psychiatrists, both of whom he calls "ritual practitioners."