INTERNATIONAL

Book Review: Flutes of Fire and California Indian Languages 51
‘to direct researchers to the full range of published and archival materials on California
languages.’ This comprehensive guide diligently identifies the vast collection of linguistic
and ethnographic scholarly works and issues relating to individual sources, scholars, and
languages. Golla’s book serves as a reference for pinpointing the credibility and accuracy
of materials and as a manual for phonetic and phonological interpretations of the various
sources. It convincingly examines the California linguistic area in light of diachronic
developments, which is key for understanding linguistic relationships in a region where
many small languages have been living in close contact for centuries. Golla brilliantly
succeeds in showing what makes California so distinctive as a linguistic area by integrating
historical, linguistic, archaeological, and anthropological accounts. His work is aimed
at ‘linguists, archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, ethnohistorians, and others’ (p. ix).
Thus, while students from different majors will find a large amount of useful and up-todate
information in the book, it also contains technical linguistic terminology difficult to
process and comprehend for some students.
Golla’s book consists of five parts and contains a plethora of tables, illustrations,
and pictures. Part 1 sets the stage for examining California as a linguistic area, while
Part 2 offers a detailed overview of the major figures contributing to past and present
scholarship in the field. The next two sections zero in on the linguistic information about
California Indian languages. Part 3 meticulously outlines the linguistic diversity in genetic
terms, while Part 4 deals with specific structural features, approaching them from a
non-technical perspective. The last section consolidates the work of linguists and archaeologists
revisiting some of the genetic classificatory units examined in Part 3. A particularly
noteworthy feature of the volume are its appendices including brief guides to both
C. Hart Merriam’s vocabularies and the relevant Harrington materials, as well as tables
of the phonetic symbols used by different scholars and basic numerals (up to twenty) for
nineteen genetic units. All in all, the volume undoubtedly represents a remarkable synthesis
of two centuries of scholarship on California Indian languages and can certainly serve
as a reference source for specific languages and topics. Like Flutes of Fire, the book is
not meant as a textbook and, thus, does not contain any discussion questions or activities
for students. However, students may use this comprehensive and thorough guide as a
source for a class paper or a research project, as well as to prepare for in-class presentations
on specific topics.
Comparison and critique: Neither of the two books used for these courses serves
as an ideal textbook, as activities for students and discussion questions are missing.
Hence, the instructor is left to develop his or her own in-class and homework activities.
However, given the lack of a textbook on California Indian Languages and cultures,
the two books nicely complement one another. While the essays in Flutes of Fire can be
assigned as regular readings to be further discussed in class, California Indian languages
can be used as a reference guide on specific languages and topics and nicely serves both
student and faculty research needs. Flutes of Fire would constitute a good starting point if
someone were to develop a textbook on the topic. The structure and style of the book are
well suited for this purpose. A similar volume with accompanying homework and in-class
activities and discussion questions would be a very useful textbook.