Kavasch, E(lizabeth) Barrie 1942-

views updated

KAVASCH, E(lizabeth) Barrie 1942-

PERSONAL: Surname is accented on second syllable; born December 31, 1942, in Springfield, OH; daughter of Herschel M. (a musician) and Vera E. (a nurse; maiden name, Ferguson) McLemore; divorced, 1982; children: Christopher Jon, Kimberlee Beth. Education: "Principally self-taught."

ADDRESSES: Home and office—Bayberry Meadow, R.R. 1, Bridgewater, CT 06752.

CAREER: American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, lecturer in ethnobotany, 1981—. Guest curator at Smithsonian Institution, 1982-86; lecturer at New York Botanical Garden, 1982-83, and New School for Social Research, 1983. Chairman of board of directors of Eagle Wing Press. Secretary of board of trustees of Brookfield Craft Center. Consultant to U.S. National Arboretum.

MEMBER: National Audubon Society (member of local board of trustees), Herb Society of America (member of board of trustees of Connecticut unit), Connecticut Botanical Society (CBS), Connecticut Mycological Association (COMA), Connecticut Valley Mycological Society (CVMS).

WRITINGS:

(And illustrator) Native Harvests: Recipes and Botanicals of the American Indians, Random House (New York, NY), 1979.

(And illustrator) Botanical Tapestry, Gunn Historical Museum, 1979.

(And photographer) Wild Edibles of the Northeast, Hancock House (Blaine, WA), 1981.

(And photographer) Wildflowers of the Northeast, Hancock House (Blaine, WA), 1982.

(And photographer) Guide to Eastern Mushrooms, Hancock House (Blaine, WA), 1982.

(And photographer) Guide to Eastern Roadside Wild-flowers, Hancock House (Blaine, WA), 1983.

Enduring Harvests: Native American Foods and Festivals for Every Season, Globe Pequot Press (Old Saybrook, CT), 1995.

A Student's Guide to Native American Geneology, Oryx Press (Phoenix, AZ), 1996.

(With Karen Barr) American Indian Healing Arts: Herbs, Rituals, and Remedies for Every Season of Life, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Apache Children and Elders Talk Together, Power Kids Press (New York, NY), 1999.

Blackfoot Children and Elders Talk Together, PowerKids Press (New York, NY), 1999.

Crow Children and Elders Talk Together, PowerKids Press (New York, NY), 1999.

Lakota Sioux Children and Elders Talk Together, PowerKids Press (New York, NY), 1999.

Seminole Children and Elders Talk Together, PowerKids Press (New York, NY), 1999.

Zuni Children and Elders Talk Together, PowerKids Press (New York, NY), 1999.

The Seminoles, Raintree Steck-Vaughn (Austin, TX), 2000.

Hands of Time: Select Poetry and Haiku in Five Seasons (self-published), 2000.

The Medicine Wheel Garden: Creating Sacred Space for Healing, Celebration and Tranquility, Random House (New York, NY), 2002.

The Mound Builders of Ancient America, 21st Century Books (Breckenridge, CO), 2003.

Author of "Native Harvests," a column in Eagle Wing Press, and "Herbaria," a column in Artifacts, both self-illustrated. Contributor of articles and photographs to magazines, including National Geographic, Garden, Cook's, and Yankee.

SIDELIGHTS: E. Barrie Kavasch is an authority on Native Americans and their wisdom and traditions. She has penned several books for young people about many different Native American nations, including the Apaches, the Zuni, the Crow, and the Seminoles. For adult audiences, Kavasch has authored titles such as American Indian Healing Arts: Herbs, Rituals, and Remedies for Every Season of Life and The Medicine Wheel Garden: Creating Sacred Space for Healing, Celebration, and Tranquility. She has also authored a self-published volume of poetry, Hands of Time.

Reviewing Kavasch's collaboration with Karen Barr, American Indian Arts, for the New Living Web site, Barbara Sabatino praised the inclusion of Native American ritual ceremonies for healing and peace of mind, natural remedies for wounds and illnesses, and recipes for attracting love. "Rituals of puberty and marriage of various Indian tribes are also discussed in this book," Sabatino noted. "These rites address the passage of becoming an adult and what it means to be a member of the tribe. Children's games had a deeper symbolic meaning to help adolescents understand their roles in life. Marriage ceremonies," the critic continued, "would reflect the road of life, or path, the couple should take." Sabatino concluded that "these philosophies are just as relevant today and this book offers thoughtful spiritual contemplation along with Native American healing arts." Of Kavasch's The Medicine Wheel Garden, Carol Haggas reported in Booklist that it is "a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to how primitive traditions can have modern applications."

Kavasch told CA: "I am principally self-taught, having taken the rich opportunities to study with various scientists, specialists, artists, and photographers in the areas of natural sciences, literature, and anthropology. After traveling in other parts of the world, I've directed the focus of my interest, research, and writing on the primal peoples and native plants of North America. Years of prehistoric research have brought me full circle into historic and contemporary ethnobotany and social development.

"I teach and lecture throughout the northeast and have traveled extensively to different geographical locations, reservations, preserves, and other Amerindian areas. I am also a camera naturalist with an extensive color photograph collection and research library."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Booklist, December 15, 1995, Iva Freeman, review of Enduring Harvests: Native American Foods and Festivals for Every Season, p. 677; January 1, 2000, Dona Helmer, review of A Student's Guide to Native American Geneology, p. 962; June 1, 2002, Carol Haggas, review of The Medicine Wheel Garden: Creating Sacred Space for Healing, Celebration, and Tranquility, p. 1661.

Library Journal, March 15, 1996, Judith C. Sutton, review of Enduring Harvests, p. 92.

Publishers Weekly, October 2, 1995, review of Enduring Harvests, p. 1661.

School Library Journal, April, 2000, Darcy Schild, review of The Seminoles, p. 1661.