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This volume, part of the Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas, is the first major survey of research on the indigenous peoples of South America from the earliest peopling of the continent to the present since Julian Steward's Handbook of South American Indians was published half a century ago. Although this volume concentrates on continental South America, peoples in the Caribbean and lower Central America who were linguistically or culturally connected are also discussed. This volume is an 'idea-oriented history', emphasizing the development of general themes instead of presenting every group and society. Indigenous peoples' own stories of the past are used as well as the standard accounts written by outsiders. Research is presented following regional and conceptual frameworks; some chapters overlap or present differing interpretations. The volume's emphasis is on self-perceptions of the indigenous peoples of South America at various times and under differing situations.