This monograph is a posthumous publication; the author died in 1907. Sparkman spent years studying the Luiseño people, who resided in the approximate area of Orange County in California. The text mostly covers material culture, but includes descriptions of shamans and healing plants, folklore and mythological creatures, as well as puberty and mourning ceremonies. It appears that Sparkman had a special interest in ethnobotany, and there is an appendix with a listing of the most important plants in the area, with Latin and Luiseño nomenclature, and a description of their use by Native Californians.

This monograph is a posthumous publication; the author died in 1907. Sparkman spent years studying the Luiseño people, who resided in the approximate area of Orange County in California. The text mostly covers material culture, but includes descriptions of shamans and healing plants, folklore and mythological creatures, as well as puberty and mourning ceremonies. It appears that Sparkman had a special interest in ethnobotany, and there is an appendix with a listing of the most important plants in the area, with Latin and Luiseño nomenclature, and a description of their use by Native Californians.

This monograph is a posthumous publication; the author died in 1907. Sparkman spent years studying the Luiseño people, who resided in the approximate area of Orange County in California. The text mostly covers material culture, but includes descriptions of shamans and healing plants, folklore and mythological creatures, as well as puberty and mourning ceremonies. It appears that Sparkman had a special interest in ethnobotany, and there is an appendix with a listing of the most important plants in the area, with Latin and Luiseño nomenclature, and a description of their use by Native Californians.