eBook downloads, eBook resources & eBook authors
A retelling of a Navajo Indian legend in which Turquoise Boy searches for something that will make the Navajo people's lives easier. Includes a brief history of the Navajo people and their customs.
At the heart of 'The North American Indian' lies a monumental testament to the vast cultures and traditions of Native American peoples, compiled by Edward S. Curtis and Frederick Webb Hodge. This anthology spans a rich mosaic of literary forms, from intricate oral histories to compelling photographic essays, presenting an unparalleled survey of indigenous art, spirituality, and society. Its pages host a diverse array of voices, capturing the depth and complexity of Native American life, and positioning it within both a historical and cultural framework that underscores the resilience and diversity of these communities. Standout pieces, without focusing on single contributions, collectively illuminate the nuanced relationship between people, the land, and their traditions, making this collection a cornerstone of American indigenous studies. The contributing figures, Curtis and Hodge, bring to this anthology their extensive backgrounds in ethnography and anthropology, magnifying the collections authenticity and scholarly significance. Aligned with the early 20th-century movements to document and preserve Native American heritage, their collaborative efforts not only underscore the historical and cultural junctions of various tribes but also reflect a broader commitment to acknowledging and respecting the multifaceted narratives of indigenous peoples. Collectively, their work stands as a vital dialogue among the differing tribal stories, offering readers a comprehensive insight into the rich tapestry of North American indigenous life. The North American Indian is recommended for anyone looking to delve deeply into the heart of America's original cultures. Through its broad spectrum of perspectives, this anthology serves as a bridge between past and present, inviting readers to explore the profound continuity and change within Native American societies. It provides a unique educational opportunity, enriching one's understanding of these resilient communities through a compilation that is as informative as it is aesthetically compelling. This anthology is not just a scholarly endeavor but a journey into understanding, making it an essential addition to the libraries of those wishing to engage with the full narrative of American history.
Shamanism can be defined as the practice of initiated shamans who are distinguished by their mastery of a range of altered states of consciousness. Shamanism arises from the actions the shaman takes in non-ordinary reality and the results of those actions in ordinary reality. It is not a religion, yet it demands spiritual discipline and personal sacrifice from the mature shaman who seeks the highest stages of mystical development.
The Diné, or Navajo, creation story says there were four worlds before this, the Glittering World. For the present-day Diné this is a world of glittering technology and influences from outside the sacred land entrusted to them by the Holy People. From the Glittering World conveys in vivid language how a contemporary Diné writer experiences this world as a mingling of the profoundly traditional with the sometimes jarringly, sometimes alluringly new. "Throughout the book, Morris’s command of a crisp unpretentious prose is most impressive...His style is so low-key that he hardly seems to be trying to be ’artistic,’ yet the cumulative effect of these pieces is quite powerful. For Morris’s beautiful descriptions of the remote Navajo reservation this book deserves to be on the shelf of anyone tracking the literature of the Southwest."-Western American Literature "Beginning with the Navajo creation story and ending with the summation of everything in between, Morris shows an incredible agility in jumping from truth to myth, from now to then, and from what is to what might have been."-The Sunday Oklahoman "In From the Glittering World, Irvin Morris has woven a wondrous and sometimes terrifying weave of stories centered in the Navajo experience. . . . Irvin Morris’ strong style, his vivid imagery, his deft handling of complex structures, and his deep knowledge of Navajo tradition combine to produce a work as powerful and enduring as Leslie Marmon Silko’s Storyteller and N. Scott Momaday’s The Names. With From the Glittering World, Irvin Morris has joined the ranks of great contemporary authors."-Telluride Times-Journal
Jerrold E. Levy's masterly analysis of Navajo creation and origin myths shows what other interpretations often overlook: that the Navajo religion is as complete and nuanced an attempt to answer humanity's big questions as the religions brought to North America by Europeans. Looking first at the historical context of the Navajo narratives, Levy points out that Navajo society has never during its known history been either homogeneous or unchanging, and he goes on to identify in the myths persisting traditions that represent differing points of view within the society. The major transformations of the Navajo people, from a northern hunting and gathering society to a farming, then herding, then wage-earning society in the American Southwest, were accompanied by changes not only in social organization but also in religion. Levy sees evidence of internal historical conflicts in the varying versions of the creation myth and their reflection in the origin myths associated with healing rituals. Levy also compares Navajo answers to the perennial questions about the creation of the cosmos and why people are the way they are with the answers provided by Judaism and Christianity. And, without suggesting that they are equivalent, Levy discusses certain parallels between Navajo religious ideas and contemporary scientific cosmology. The possibility that in the future Navajo religion will be as much altered by changing conditions as it has been in the past makes this fascinating account all the more timely. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1998. Jerrold E. Levy's masterly analysis of Navajo creation and origin myths shows what other interpretations often overlook: that the Navajo religion is as complete and nuanced an attempt to answer humanity's big questions as the religions brought to North Am
The rich curriculum's content is infused with critical thinking skills, and an easy-to-use teacher's guide outlines student objectives with each chapter, providing the answers to the assignments and weekly exercises. The final lesson of the week includes both the exam, covering insights on the week's chapter, as well as essays developed through the course of that week's study, chosen by the educator and student to personalize the coursework for the individual learner.
Use popular fairy tales and fairy-tale characters as springboards for learning, and help students develop problem-solving abilities and creative-writing skills. Adaptable to virtually any fairy tale and to a variety of learning environments and levels, these activities will challenge students to move beyond the simplistic study of tales to develop in-depth writing skills.
Beginning from the First People, through the influx of European settlers and the slave trade from Africa, to the modern era, this book presents and discusses documents that reflect pivotal moments in the LGBT rights movement in North America. While most would think of the modern Gay Rights Movement as beginning in the 1960s, in reality, the issue of nonheterosexual human behavior within society and the campaign to achieve equality and acceptance have existed far earlier. Beginning with the First People in the Americas and their acceptance of tribal members who did not conform to gender and sexual binary roles, to the expansion west and establishment of the United States as a Republic, to the contentious struggles for equality in the 20th and 21st centuries, this reference traces the development of the Gay Rights Movement through the examination of primary source materials related to the incremental changes toward making America safe for all people. These documents enable readers to reflect on pivotal moments in the LGBT rights and sexual equality movement in the past up to the achievement of marriage equality. A modern chronology traces key events in the Gay Rights Movement across the last 70 years, such as those during the World War II era, the formation of the Mattachine Society in Los Angeles in the 1950s, to the Stonewall Riot in New York in the late 1960s, the elimination of the category of homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1973, the judgment in 2003 by the U.S. Supreme Court that laws criminalizing sodomy are unconstitutional, and the legalization of same-sex marriage in all U.S. states in 2015.
This life history of a Navajo leader, recorded in the 1960s and first published in 1977, is a classic work in the study of Navajo history and religious traditions. "A skillful, meticulous, and altogether praiseworthy contribution to Navajo studies. . . . Although the focus of Mitchell's autobiography is upon his role as a Blessingway singer, there is much material here on Navajo history and culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Mitchell attended the government school at Fort Defiance, worked on the railroad in Arizona, served as a handyman and interpreter at several trading posts and the Franciscan missions, and later served as a tribal councilman in the 1930s and as a judge in the 1940s and 1950s. His observations on these experiences are relevant to our understanding of contemporary Navajo life."--Lawrence C. Kelly, Western Historical Quarterly "This book stands easily among the best of the 'native' autobiographies. Narrated by a thoughtful and articulate Navajo leader over a span of eighteen years, this life history is brought into English with none of the selective romanticizing that has spoiled some books. . . . (It is) a superb job of bringing one culture ever closer to another."--Barre Tolken, Western Folklore
Sky Loom offers a dazzling introduction to Native American myths, stories, and songs drawn from previous collections by acclaimed translator and poet Brian Swann. With a general introduction by Swann, Sky Loom is a stunning collection that provides a glimpse into the intricacies and beauties of story and myth, placing them in their cultural, historical, and linguistic contexts. Each of the twenty-six selections is translated and introduced by a well-known expert on Native oral literatures and offers entry into the cultures and traditions of several different tribes and bands, including the Yupiit and the Tlingits of the polar North; the Coast Salish and the Kwakwaka’wakw of the Pacific Northwest; the Navajos, the Pimas, and the Yaquis of the Southwest; the Lakota Sioux and the Plains Crees of the Great Plains; the Ojibwes of the Great Lakes; the Naskapis and the Eastern Crees of the Hudson Bay area in Canada; and the Munsees of the Northeast. Sky Loom takes the reader on a wide-ranging journey through literary traditions older than the “discovery” of the New World.
