THE SIOUX

Beginning with a Dakota creation myth, a bare-bones introduction to the history and culture of the Sioux tribes, unfortunately so compressed as to be unclear without prior knowledge. On pp. 6-7, for example, a reader might conclude that the Europeans who first encountered the Dakotas in what's now Minnesota were Spaniards. The bloody conflict between Sioux and whites is covered in two sentences; Wounded Knee is not mentioned. Himler's misty, sensitive paintings convey a great deal about the traditional lifestyle, but can't compensate for the terseness of the text. Map; list of tribal groups; excerpt from a pipe ceremony; index (including picture captions). A companion volume, The Navajos (ISBN 0-8234-1039-0), has the same subtitle, implying a series (not to be confused with the more detailed Facts On File series, ``The First Americans''). (Nonfiction/Picture book. 7-10)