The Handbook of North American Indians is a 20-volume encyclopedia summarizing knowledge about all Native peoples north of Mesoamerica, including cultures, languages, history, prehistory, and human biology, intended to serve as a standard reference work for anthropologists, historians, students, and the general reader. Each volume contains heavily illustrated chapters by the main authorities on each topic and concludes with an extensive bibliography and index. Volume 6 describes the prehistory, history, and cultures of the aboriginal people of North America who lived in the Subarctic culture area, defined as extending from the coast of Labrador on the Atlantic Ocean to Cook Inlet and beyond on the Pacific.

Contributions by: James S. Gardner, Beryl C. Gillespie, Edward S. Rogers, Jacques Cinq-Mars, Catherine McClellan, Nancy Yaw Davis, James W. VanStone, Richard A. Rhoes, Michael E. Krauss