Product Description
In 1863 the Din began receiving medical care from the federal government during their confinement at Bosque Redondo. Over the next ninety years, a familiar litany of problems surfaced in periodic reports on Navajo health care: inadequate funding, understaffing, and the unrelenting spread of such communicable diseases as tuberculosis. In 1955 Congress transferred medical care from the Indian Bureau to the Public Health Service.

The Din accepted some aspects of Western medicine, but during the nineteenth century most government physicians actively worked to destroy age-old healing practices. Only in the 1930s did doctors begin to work withrather than opposetraditional healers. Medicine men associated illness with the supernatural and the disruption of nature's harmony. Indian service doctors familiar with Navajo culture eventually accepted traditional medicine as a valuable complement to their health care. ... Read more

Product Description
Teacher Kathy Eckles Hooker and photographer Helen Lau Running began this project which documents the traditions of the Navajo people with a question to a student "What did you do this weekend?" The student responded, "I chased prairie dogs, caught them and ate them." Hooker’s curiosity led her to learn about the activities of her students: grandmother made yucca shampoo, we built a corral, we gathered grass for brushes, we ate blood cakes. The authors meet Sam Worker who demonstrates the art of moccasin making. Ella Deal teaches them to prepare the soil for potato planting. Roberta Blackgoat prepares cornmeal patties. ... Read more

Product Description
Curious, headstrong, and impatient, Shundeen is a young girl always in search of adventure.As the only Navajo in her school, and growing up away from the Navajo Reservation, Shundeen faces some difficult issues: she must retain her culture while surrounded by peers who don’t understand it. Every summer, Shundeen leaves her home in the city and lives with her grandparents on the Navajo Reservation.Her days are spent herding sheep, exploring the countryside, and learning more about her culture.With her constant companion Frosty, a black sheep almost as curious as herself, Shundeen wanders a little bit farther from home each day. Near the home of her grandparents are some dangerous, narrow canyons that quickly fill with water during storms.Shundeen’s grandparents have forbidden her to explore those canyons, but Shundeen’s curiosity overcomes her common sense.When a day of adventure culminates in a terrifying accident, Shundeen discovers there is more to herself – and to her clan – than she had ever imagined. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

good but
Iliked this book but the children wiggled and moved a lot when it was read to them.It did not seem to hold their attention. ... Read more

Product Description
In this heartwarming story, an adoring Navajo granddaughter learns the process of making a traditional Navajo rug from her patient grandmother.Step by meticulous step, the young girl learns the time-consuming process, from shearing and cleaning the wool of the sheep, to spinning the wool into yarn, and finally to weaving at the loom.However, the granddaughter learns not only how to physically make the rug, but also the type of patience and positive mental strength which is required to produce something worthy of the Navajo tenet of living, working, and eventually growing up in beauty. ... Read more

Product Description
The diverse and lively crafts of today's Navajo people in the Southwest are investigated through this new all color pictorial presentation. The traditional arts are joined by several newly evolving crafts which all reflect the heritage of Navajo culture. The book presents several hundred all color photographs and explanations of the crafts in sections devoted to weaving, pottery, basketry, jewelry, dolls, sandpainting, wood carving, stone sculpture and fetishes. Overall, this is a celebration of the artistic talents of Navajo craftsmen. ... Read more

Product Description
I. INTRODUCES THE BOYS

II. ATTACKED BY NAVAJOS

III. WARLIKE PUEBLOS

IV. IN A NAVAJO TRAP

V. A SIEGE AND AN AMBUSCADE

VI. CROSSING THE RIVER

VII. A SWOLLEN STREAM AND STOLEN PONY

VIII. OVER THE DIVIDE--A CORPORAL MISSING

IX. THE RESCUING PARTY

X. THE CORPORALS ARE PROMOTED

XI. BOTH PONIES ARE STOLEN

XII. INDIANS ON THE WAR-PATH

XIII. THE BOY SERGEANTS DO GOOD SERVICE

XIV. ON THE DESERT WITHOUT WATER

XV. THE PONIES ARE FOUND

XVI. APACHES IN SKULL VALLEY

XVII. PURSUIT OF THE APACHES

XVIII. ON THE TRAIL OF THE APACHES

XIX. THE ATTACK ON THE APACHE CAMP ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Very Good Adventure Story
I read this book in several sittings, because I was afraid that something would happen to the characters, because I grew to be so fond of them.This book is very descriptive of traveling across the desert areas by horseback and wagon, describing the beauty of the land and the ways the people adapted to it.Did you know that there were wagon odometers?Now you know...The men's personal horses, and of course, Vic, or Victoriana, the author's dog, were just as much as active in the story as were the men and women.There are the english speaking settlers and Army soldiers, the spanish people, the various Indian groups, all speaking some of each other's languages.There are good and bad people of each group, reminiscent of real life.
The dialogue is a bit stilted, that was the style of writing during this time, but you can get used to it.I really liked this book and am looking forward to reading it again.It is a good read, and is informative regarding the history of that time and locale. ... Read more

Product Description
Dzáníbaa’ is alone when U.S. troops swoop down on her family’s Hogan.Before she can run to safety, a soldier grabs her and puts her on his horse.She is taken to Fort Sumner, and from there is forced to walk to Bosque Redondo.For four long years, Dzáníbaa’ and her family endure incredible hardship and sacrifice.Crops wither.Food is scarce or so tainted that it poisons.Illness strikes.At times there seems no hope of a better future.

Nevertheless, this time of trial gives Dzáníbaa’ a profound sense of herself as a Navajo and of the importance of her culture.As never before, Dzáníbaa’ realizes the significance of the clan system, of the prayers and songs of her people, and of exerting herself to help her family.

Hear Dzáníbaa’’s story, and discover why she is the Little Woman Warrior Who Came Home. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The story follows a young Navajo girl who was forced upon the Long Walk that attempted to resettle the Navajos in a barren land
Superbly illustrated by Irving Toddy, Dzani Yazhi Naazbaa': Little Woman Warrior Who Came Home is a bilingual picturebook written in both Navajo and English by Northern Arizona University professor Evangeline Parsons Yazzie. The story follows a young Navajo girl who was forced upon the Long Walk that attempted to resettle the Navajos in a barren land. Illness, famine, and earth that cannot yield healthy crops causes much suffering and death among the people. Yet amid the hardship, the young girl learns the steadfast significance of the clan system, the prayers and songs of her brethren, and the importance of coming together in dark times to help one another. Though many individuals would be lost and mourned, she and her people would survive the ordeal, and through her courage she would earn the name the Little Woman Warrior Who Came Home. The realistic color illustrations make the story come alive, and the text is sufficiently involved to make Dzani Yazhi Naazbaa' ideal for young readers who are just about ready to make the transition from picturebooks to chapter books.

The story follows a young Navajo girl who was forced upon the Long Walk that attempted to resettle the Navajos in a barren land
Superbly illustrated by Irving Toddy, Dzani Yazhi Naazbaa': Little Woman Warrior Who Came Home is a bilingual picturebook written in both Navajo and English by Northern Arizona University professor Evangeline Parsons Yazzie. The story follows a young Navajo girl who was forced upon the Long Walk that attempted to resettle the Navajos in a barren land. Illness, famine, and earth that cannot yield healthy crops causes much suffering and death among the people. Yet amid the hardship, the young girl learns the steadfast significance of the clan system, the prayers and songs of her brethren, and the importance of coming together in dark times to help one another. Though many individuals would be lost and mourned, she and her people would survive the ordeal, and through her courage she would earn the name the Little Woman Warrior Who Came Home. The realistic color illustrations make the story come alive, and the text is sufficiently involved to make Dzani Yazhi Naazbaa' ideal for young readers who are just about ready to make the transition from picturebooks to chapter books.
... Read more

Product Description
Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Navajo Nation, Paiute, Shoshone, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Great Basin Tribes, Water Glyphs, Fremont Culture, Shivwits Band of Paiutes, Goshute, Skull Valley Indian Reservation, Range Creek, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Timpanogs, Piedes. Excerpt:The Fremont culture or Fremont people is a pre-Columbian archaeological culture which received its name from the Fremont River in the U.S. state of Utah where the first Fremont sites were discovered. The Fremont River itself is named for John Charles Frémont , an American explorer. It inhabited sites in what is now Utah and parts of Nevada , Idaho and Colorado from AD 700 to 1300. It was adjacent to, roughly contemporaneous with, but distinctly different from the Anasazi culture .Fremont Indian State Park in the Clear Creek Canyon area in south-central Utah contains the biggest Fremont culture site in Utah. A recent, major discovery of a new site at Range Creek , Utah, has drawn a great deal of interest because it has stayed undisturbed for centuries. Nearby Nine Mile Canyon has long been known for its large collection of Fremont rock art . Other sites are found in Dinosaur National Monument , Zion National Park and Arches National Park .While there is as yet no firm consensus as to the Fremont comprising a single, cohesive group with a common language, ancestry or lifeway, there are several aspects of their material culture that give credence to this notion. First, it is well known by researchers that those referred to as the Fremont lived a lifestyle that revolved largely around hunting and gathering and corn horticulture, in other words a continuum of fairly reliable subsistence strategies that no doubt varied from place to place and time to time. This shows up in the archaeological record at most village sites and long term camps as... ... Read more

Product Description
"Excerpt from the book..."
There is an artless tradition among the Indians, related by Irving,
of a warrior who saw the thunderbolt lying upon the ground, with a
beautifully wrought moccasin on each side of it. Thinking he had
found a prize, he put on the moccasins, but they bore him away to
the land of spirits, whence he never returned
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Journey of Navajo Oshley
A very readable and fun autobiography of one Navajo who lived from the "olden" times of going by foot long distances or using horses for transportation, into the times of automobiles and electric lights.He was born on an Arizona Navajo Reservation in a Hogan in the late 1800's and died a very old man in the city, with a television in his modern home, having sent his children to school and the universities. He mostly tells his own story, with many interesting and enlightening anecdotes. A very good book.Journey Of Navajo Oshley: An Autobiography and Life History

A Great Book about my Great-Grandfather
I just found this book at my library a few days ago. I am the great grandson of Navajo Oshley. I only met him once and I have only been given small pieces of information about him until I found this great book. This book brings me great pleasure because it allows me to get to know Navajo Oshley is ways it hasn't been possible in the past. For anyone interested in a book that tells a great and profound story about a complex person and the people around him, I suggest reading this book. For Natives, I believe our fading of a culture can be connected through reading a well documented and supported book.

A rich contribution to Native American biography & history.
Filled with poignant statements and detailed descriptions of day-to-daylife, The Journey Of Navajo Oshley covers the life story of a respectedNavajo man of the San Juan River Basin area in southeastern Utah from 1879to 1988.The style is simple, immediate and vivid.Many details arecarefully explained in footnotes, such as the significance of the Navajo'sreaction to livestock reduction (p.131).Manyblack and whitephotographs help animate the autobiography.Navajo Oshley was a man wellrespected by both the dominant culture and his own.He was kind, gentle,hard-working, honest, and he always met his responsibilities.He deeplyloved his family.He also was evidently blessed with a gift of a sense ofhumour.This is well described in the final chapters by McPherson on his"Later Life."When Navajo Oshley speaks in his own voicein the narrative, many emotional nuances must be inferred by the reader. It is said that though he never spoke English, he was a gifted comedicsign-language maker.The Journey Of Navajo Oshley is a rich contributionto the genre of Native American autobiography and history of humanexperiences in the southwestern United States area.

Nancy Lorraine,Reviewer ... Read more

Product Description
"Although they are among the most studied people on earth, the Navajo possess a complex philosophy. . . . A valuable source for those deeply interested in the structure of the Navajo universe, its mythology, and its central concept of long life and happiness. —Masterkey

"This is a stimulating book.Essentially, it criticizes previous discussions of Navajo religion and philosophy for greatly underestimating their complexity and sophistication. . . . What the author discovers in Navajo thought is that the key concepts are interrelated in a grand, moral, ethical, philosophic, and cosmic unity." —American Anthropologist

"Discredits dualists, both non-Indian and Indian, who see simplistic oppositions of Good and Evil in Navajo culture and philosophy.The concept of walking in beauty, as related to the proper growth of the corn plant, unifies the book, and Farella does some impressive cross-cultural linguistic analysis to derive practical and ceremonial applications of these central Navajo metaphors. . . . This is one of the better books on Indian religion" —Choice ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Solid discussion of Navajo concepts
I am prompted to write a review by the first reviewer's negative comments. This is, indeed, an academic book. It requires attention and thought of the reader but it is well written and not really very difficult to follow. The world view being discussed, however, is complex and not easily grasped by reading any one book. This is an excellent treatment of the subject which invites and expects the serious reader to work a bit for the rich reward it offers.

A unique, compelling book
This is a wonderful introduction to the fundamental principles of Navajo philosophy. This is not a "New Age" book and it is not light reading, but it is clearly written. Navajo philosophy is quite complex. Imagine trying to explain the core of Aristotle's work to an audience that is completely ignorant of Western philosophy, and you will begin to appreciate the task that faced the author. The author does a fine job introducing the reader to Navajo philosophy and showing that Navajo assumptions about the universe, and our place in it, are compelling.

Goodluck!
If you hold a Ph.D. in anthropology or are looking for disertation material for your thesis, or just want to hold your own at academic cocktail parties, take a try at this book. However, it's NOT for thegeneral reader---or even the above-general reader. I have tried severaltimes to slug through the dry text which was obviously written to impressacademia and the author himself. Even with a reasonbly high I.Q. and anadvanced degree, I had trouble staying interested and understanding thematerial.There is little doubt this author is an expert in this subject;however, he missed a good opportunity to get the rest of us interested andto impart in a readable and understandable way the obviously vast knowledgewhich he holds.I'm very impressed at how well the author "showedoff,"but I would much rather have learned something more about thisfascinating subject...which was the purpose of buying the book. ... Read more

Product Description
Artist, merchant, patriot, and a respected Navajo leader and spokesman, Carl Gorman is one of those rare people whose life encompasses the drama of an entire society. One of the original Navajo Code Talkers in World War II, Gorman would later become president of the Code Talkers Association and help to bring recognition to the Navajos who created the Navajo-language-based combat code that the Japanese could never break. After the war, following a lifelong interest in art, he studied at Otis Institute and became a respected artist and teacher. This biography gives a fascinating account of Gorman's childhood and youth in Navajo country and of the tribals he experienced at different Indian schools. It describes Navajo art, culture, and major events of Navajo history. Gorman's life has embraced success, hardship, and searing personal tragedy and demonstrated a resilience of spirit that has been inspirational to all who know him. Achieving success in the Anglo world on his own terms, he has continually brought respect to the Navajo way of life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The life of a Native American leader
A wonderful book about an incredible man who has done so much to bridge the gulf between different peoples. Please note: there is a website for the book and the man at: http://fishnet.net/~kwbgcg/power.htm

The life of a Native American leader
A wonderful book about an incredible man who has done so much to bridge the gulf between different peoples. Please note: there is a website for the man and the book at: http://www.fishnet.net/~kwbgcg/power.htm ... Read more

Product Description
Baby helps take care of her family's many animals.She feeds the horse, sprinkles grain for the sheep, and trains the sheepdog to sit.A fun story for young readers, this book teaches the names of common farm animals. ... Read more

Product Description
The Navajo people of Canyon de Chelly must negotiate a balance between the old and the new as they struggle to maintain their traditions in the midst of ongoing change. Through text and images, Crossing Between Worlds offers an intimate view of Navajo life in one of the most spectacular corners of the American Southwest. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Walk in beauty
Ze-ee-lo-ee is the Navajo name for a grass that grows in Canyon de Chelly, which I learned along with a few other words from Lupita McClanahan. A former park ranger, Lupita and her husband Jon now lead private tours through the Canyon and are included among those profiled in this fine 109-page documentary of the Navajo way of life.

That way is a slower way, one that stops to greet the sun rising in the east, and puts in the time to paint in detail with grains of sand or threads in a woven blanket. A photograph of one such portrait is included with dozens of images of people and places in the Canyon. The portrait painted in a carpet is indistinguishable from the man portrayed.

The book explains some of the pre-requisites of life within the Navajo Nation, from the border towns of Flagstaff, Arizona and Gallup, New Mexico to the interior. It also details the history of the reservation, establishment of missions and schools in the 1910s, 20s and 30s, and the 1933 livestock reduction program that brought wealth to a few and poverty to many.

But it also delves deeply into the Canyon de Chelly microcosm, which is a community and family unto itself. Readers learn of ceremonies, both serious and light-hearted, as they are performed by the people who live here. The Kinaalda, for example, the puberty ceremony for young women, requires them to rise before the dawn on the second of four days and run into the sunlight. By the last day, the women are ushered into womanhood.

Of course, there are problems in the Canyon, chief among them the lack of employment opportunities. One of these is provided, of course, by the tourist industry. But that alone cannot absorb enough workers to accommodate a population of more than 150,000.

At Tsaile, at the eastern end of the Canyon, Navajo Community College gives young men and women higher education, while promoting them into the world of professionals. But until these youths advance, the book notes, the older generation has been left to "flounder between two worlds."

For those who wish to learn the trials and joys of Navajo life, this book is an excellent place to start. Reading it, one comes away with a sense of what it means to "walk in beauty."

--Alyssa A. Lappen

A beautiful, intimate look at the Navajo of Canyon de Chelly
The navajo are a mysterious and beautiful people that are in the most honest fashion brought to life by Jeanne Simonelli and her photographer Charles Winters.The beautiful pictures taken of the people of Canyon de Chelly mirror and compliment the beautiful stories they tell and the lives revealed in Simonelli's intimate portrayal of Navajo life.This is a joy to read, and an essential companion in the study of the Navajo, or in any visit to the Navajo Reservation. ... Read more

Product Description
Here, in a highly readable style, is a lively chronicle of the Navajo people from prehistory to 1868. It is a sympathetic history of a great people who depended on their tenacity and creative adaptability to survive troubled times. The hardships and rewards of early band life, encounters with the Pueblos that revolutionized Navajo culture, the adversity of Spanish colonization, the expansion of Navajo land, the tragic cycle of peace and war with the Spanish, Mexican, and American forces, the Navajo leaders' long quest to keep their people secure, the disaster of imprisonment at Fort Sumner--all combine to express the relevancy of Navajo history to their people today. This book with its extensive archival illustrations and photographs weaves a complex but understandable story in which Navajos changed the future of the Southwestern United States. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Native Curiosity
Thank you for the product.The book is in good condition as stated.Service was good. ... Read more

Product Description
A chance meeting with a young Navajo Indian propels an English traveler out of his middle-class London life and into the world of the North American Indian Medicine Men, where people genuinely believe that witchcraft can bring ruin and even death. Only the Medicine Men have the knowledge to do battle with witches, lift curses and restore the sick to health.

The larger-than-life Blue Horse is one of a dwindling band of Medicine Men traveling the vast Navajo reservation of New Mexico and Arizona, ministering to the victims of evil spirits. Charles Langley, former London newspaper editor, finds himself serving as Blue Horse's bag carrier and chauffeur, eventually becoming his apprentice. He sees Blue Horse perform incredible feats—predicting the future, uncovering the past, curing the sick and communicating with spirits. At first bemused by what he sees, Langley attributes Blue Horse's successes to chance, luck and fraud. But logical explanations soon fall short.

In Meeting the Medicine Men: An Englishman's Travels Among the Navajo, Langley studies the accumulating evidence that Navajo Medicine Men really can cure the sick, change history and foretell the future. Through the tale of his fascinating journey, Langley explores a culture that has endured since the Ice Age but is now cracking under the overwhelming pressure of the modern world.

"The fascinating and gripping account of a serendipitous turn of events that leads Charles Langley deep into the world of the Navajo. An extraordinary and illuminating book."
—Adventure Travel, August 2008

"Langley penetrates the Indian reservations of New Mexico and Arizona to investigate the mythic power of the Navajo medicine men, taking part in traditional healing ceremonies and rituals. Travel writing with an MBS twist."
—The Bookseller

"Set against the scenic backdrop of the American Southwest, Langley's book is an almost perfect blend of memoir, Navajo culture and travelogue."
—The Tucson Citizen, May 22, 2008

"The fascinating and gripping account of a serendipitous turn of events that lead Charles Langley deep into the world of the Navajo."
—Camden New Journal, August 7, 2008

Charles Langley has spent a large part of the last three years living among the Navajo Indians on their reservation in New Mexico and Arizona, studying traditional healing ceremonies and rituals. Now a student of anthropology at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, Langley is a former night news editor of the Evening Standard newspaper in London. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

fascinating though controversial
Langley, a jaded newspaper editor from London, travels to the American Southwest and gradually is allowed to become an apprentice to Blue Horse, a Navajo Medicine Man. In his book, he recounts Blue Horse's skill at "de-witching" and removing curses from individuals and families.He also describes a session in a sweat lodge, a Beautyway ceremony, and his visions while taking peyote along the San Juan River with a Navajo friend.

One has to be careful with books like this.Marlo Morgan's MUTANT MESSAGE DOWN UNDER, presumably about an American woman's "walkabout" with Australian Aborigines and the ancient wisdom she learned from them, was almost entirely made up.Langley, who has since become a student of anthropology at the University of New Mexico, is sincere, but his outsider's account should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt (no pun intended).That's not to say that a Navajo "insider's" account of wichcraft, healing, and visions shouldn't be taken with a grain of salt either. But some of the book seems padded for atmosphere, and parts of the book have the ring of fiction, such as a scene in which a "death car" pursues Langley in his rental car across a northern Arizona highway.But who's to say?

The other issue is to what extent a white author should divulge information he is privileged to witness in a traditional Native culture. Too often, traditional Native knowledge is coopted by the New age community. The book has the endorsement on the back of Emerson Jackson, Sr., a Navajo elder and former president of the Native American Church of North America, whose members legally take peyote as a kind of sacrament during ceremonies.Langley writes with great respect for Navajo people and traditions.But one wonders if Blue Horse or Langley's Navajo friends who were on the receiving end of witchcraft and curses would have been as likely to welcome him in their ceremonies had they known he would write a book divulging such secrets.Tony Hillerman was criticized by many on the Navajo Nation for incorporating traditional Navajo ceremonial knowledge in his mysteries.

I found Langley's sensational account hard to put down.He writes with skepticism at first, but then credulity when the situation calls for it, and humor, especially in describing how his Navajo friends become gradually more accepting of his being a "bilagaana"/white man.His book, thankfully, attempts to be a factual account and does not have that "New age/shaman wisdom" ring to it, but reminds us that in lower-48-states America, pockets of traditional cultures have preserved beliefs, wisdom, and traditions that go back thousands of years, and may have a lot to say to our crazy contemporary world.

For a better book, though, about a white man's journey across the Navajo Nation, try Douglas Preston's beautiful TALKING TO THE GROUND, about a horseback journey Preston and his wife and daughter took across the northern Navajo Nation, and the landscapes, people, and knowledge they encounter there. ... Read more