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The Journal of San Diego History
Winter 1986, Volume 32, Number 1
Contents of This Issue
Book Notes
Raymond Starr, Book Review Editor
Just Before Sunset.
By Lora L. Cline. Jacumba, Ca: J and L Enterprises. 1984. Illustrations. Maps. Appendices. Bibliography. 146 Pages. $11.95 Paperbound.
Just Before Sunset is a revised edition of Cline's 1979 The Kwaaymii: Reflections on a Lost Culture, which describes life of the Native Americans from the Laguna Mountains. The book is very descriptive of all aspects of life: housing, trade, food gathering and preparation, hunting, social and political customs, tools and many other topics about everyday life. Cline also describes the beliefs of the Kwaaymii and the myths and legends which help perpetuate those beliefs. Maps, illustrations and several appendices add to the information about the culture. The book would appear to give a fairly thorough account of the life of the Laguna mountain Indians, but it must be remembered that the book is based almost entirely on the contribution of one informant, Tom Lucas, the "last" of the Kwaaymii. If that limitation is kept in mind, Just Before Sunset can be a useful book.
The new edition is in a much more attractive format than the original. Like the original, it has lots of photographs, but they are reproduced much more effectively here. There are some changes in the text and some rearrangement of some of the material. On the whole, however, the text is pretty much the same. The bibliography contains some new entries but surprisingly does not include Richard Carrico, editor, "A Brief Glimpse of the Kumeyaay Past: An Interview with Thomas Lucas, Kwaaymii of Laguna Ranch," from the Spring 1983 Journal of San Diego History.
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