Handbook of South American Indians

The Handbook of South American Indians is a monographic series of edited scholarly and reference volumes in ethnographic studies, published by the Smithsonian Institution between 1940 and 1947.[1]

In 1932, Baron Erland Nordenskiöld agreed to edit the series for the National Research Council Division of Anthropology and Psychology; however, he died that year. The Smithsonian Institution agreed to sponsor the series but adequate funds were not approved by US Congress until 1940. Julian Steward edited the series. Ultimately, over a hundred scholars from Latin America, the United States, and Europe contributed and provided advice for the series.[1]

This six-volume series, with an additional index volume, documents information about Indigenous peoples of South America, including cultural and physical aspects of the people, language family, history, and prehistory. This is a reference work for historians, anthropologists, other scholars, and the general reader. The series utilizes noted authorities for each topic. The set is illustrated, indexed, and has extensive bibliographies. Volumes may be purchased individually.

Paul Radin reviewed the first four volumes, generally giving a favorable evaluation, but noting that the volumes are a "compromise between a handbook and a textbook."[2] Radin criticizes the relative neglect of religion as a topic, as well as the neglect of functional aspects of indigenous cultures. He highly praises the inclusion of the cultures of the indigenous in the Southern Cone, which is new in the anthropological literature. He also esteems the article on Andean civilizations, while deeming the volume on the circum-Caribbean groups the weakest.[3]