. Scholarship in the best sense of the term—precise without being pedantic, exhaustive without exhausting its readers."—Journal of Arizona History "To read and gaze through this elegantly illustrated book is to be exposed, as if through ...

Shells on a Desert Shore is a fresh, original look at an indigenous culture of North America having a deep and intimate knowledge of the Gulf of California.

Famed ethnobotanist Gary Nabhan learns the deeper meanings of ecology from Amalia Astorga, a Seri Indian.

Although they possess armor, horses, and bullets, Hernando Cortez and his invading Spanish armies are no match for the small Seri tribe of northwestern Mexico, especially thirteen-year-old Stranded Whale and his best friend Stooping Hawk.

Through stories, songs, photographs, illustrations of Comcaac arts, and discussions of Sonoran ecology, Nabhan demonstrates the irreplaceable value of this knowledge for us today.".

"A self-taught scientist in the newly forming field of anthropology, McGee led two expeditions through southern Arizona and northern Sonora for the Bureau of American Ethnology.