Product Description
poems dealing with separation, transition & loss ... Read more

Product Description
This CD contains 53 Rare and Fascinating Historic books detailing Native American Religions and Mythologies.Some of the titles in the CD include: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson [1929]; The Soul of the Indian by Charles Eastman [1911]; Myths and Legends of the Sioux by Marie L. McLaughlin [1916]; Eskimo Folk-tales collected by Knud Rasmussen, translated and edited by W. Worster [1921]; Death and Funeral Customs among the Omahas by Francis La Flesche [1889]; The Iroquois Book of Rites by H.E. Hale [1883]; Haida Songs by John R. Swanton. [1912]; Many Swans: Sun Myth of the North American Indians by Amy Lowell [1920]; Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee by James Mooney [1891]; Origin Myths of the Navaho Indians by Aileen O'Bryan; Truth of a Hopi by Edmund Nequatewa, [1936]; Aw-aw-tam Indian Nights (Myths and Legends of the Pima) by J. William Lloyd [1911] and many others.This CD is a collection of PDF files with a navigation system that utilizes your web browser on your computer. It will run on Windows and Macintosh platforms. ... Read more

Product Description
Kayenta Anasazi built and occupied Betatakin and Keet Seel, the largest cliff dwellings in Arizona, a.d. 1250-1300. Navajo people now reside in the Tsegi Canyon system where these remarkably preserved ruins are located. Photos by George H. H. Huey. ... Read more

Product Description
Culled from nineteenth- and twentieth-century accounts of native American life, customs, and folklore, this collection of stories, written by a New Mexican artist who lived among the Pueblo Indians, was first published in 1929. ... Read more

Product Description
The famed anthropologist pieces together a firsthand account of the frugal, pueblo-dwelling Hopi and the proud Navajos, revealing the deeply human logic of both tribes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

West of the Thirties and the Sixties
I stumbled upon this book quite a number of years ago as I was writing my autobiography.I was impressed so by the book that I began a connection with Mr. Hall via mail.It was a very exciting time and very interesting.He knew little of me but I consider him a great friend, though I never met the man.I was sad when he died as I was hoping for another book, additional insights.I heard from his assistant that his home or office was trashed and much was stolen from him.Too bad the thieves wasted insights that were better than they.

I experienced living on the Hopi/Navajo res in the Sixties.As I read West of the Thirties, I could have retitled the book West of the Sixties with only a few changes.

I would recommend the book as a good read for all budding anthropologists and any one interested in the world of the 4-corners region, and they will come to lover that desolate and isolated land as I did, as Edward Hall did and as many others have.

An excellent memoir
This was a book that I stumbled upon quite by accident, looking at a shelf of books on Southwestern History.It is a treasure.Written in the 1990's, about his time in New Mexico and Arizona during the 1930's, Hall takes you right there with him, transporting you to another time and place.Especially worth reading are the sections describing his friendship with Indian Trader Lorenzo Hubbell--something you don't find many books about.All in all, an excellent book, filled with interesting bits of history, and a very entertaining read.Highly recommended.

Serendipitious memoir by a kind & sage anthropologist
This book is another serendipitious gem that I purchased for a song - one dollar - in a book sale, mistaking the title for a fictional novel about the urban West Thirties of Manhattan, rather than the historical account of life in the desert southwest of the 1930's that it actually is.Call me shallow - somehow the colorful cover art depicting a native American trading post caught my eye without my realizing the true nature, and value, of the book.That is, until I happily read it. I'm thankful to the universe for placing it in my hands.

West of the Thirties is a moving, albeit too brief, memoir of American anthropologist Edward T. Hall's youthful years working with the Navajo and Hopi in the four corners region of Arizona & New Mexico north of Winslow, Arizona during the difficult days of the Great Depression.His recollections are evocative of a past that is now gone, so it's a window into a people, place, culture and time that has been overrun and swallowed up by modernity.What's more, this memoir proves worthy of a slow, meditative read for the compassionate sagacity with which Hall recalls the Navajo & Hopi, as well as the traders and the Federal administrators of New Deal programs that didn't always have wisdom or heart behind their rationales, and the nuggets of common sense with which Hall evidently lived and lives his life.

This is a book that I dog-eared for the sagacious passages that stuck in my heart and mind as subtle rejoinders for how I can be a better person.Some of those nuggets were:

From the Introduction, page xxix: "The Navajo and the Hopis also had stories to tell, their own personal stories...In telling me their stories, people were explaining themselves as products of their past."

From page 54: "...if you worked with, instead of against, nature, things simply went better."

From page 70: "It had been taken for granted not only that our system was the best and the most sensible one in the world, but that we had a right to impose it on anyone in our power. I now know...that it isn't just my own culture, but all cultures that act in these ways."

From page 85: "...white society certainly had failed to use what was there before us, just waiting...to be applied. Identifying the talents of the unusual...has never been the strong point of American culture."

From page 98: "When there is harmony, things go right; in its absence, things go wrong."

From page 103: "For a Navajo, the world is of a piece. Nothing can be seen as unconnected. ...we of European descent...are only dimly edging toward an understanding of our part in the whole. To a Navajo, such an understanding is second nature, and we see it in their approach to the land."

From page 166: "In our journey through life, one of the first pieces of baggage to get rid of is being judgemental of others, to say nothing of putting them down."

From page 173: "...it should be clear that the human species would be well advised to assign only those who are wise and kind to conduct the difficult and sensitive business of intercultural relations, particularly when dealing with people who are less powerful, politically.

I would have liked the book to be longer - I eagerly wanted more of Hall's easy prose and warm recollections.The book also seems to provide more insight into the Navajo than the Hopi, and it seems to finish up in too much of a hurry, tying up stories without a more complete summation. But it's a book that fills in gaps which we don't see in wayside exhibits, popular films, or geotourism destination maps. This is a book that I'll want to return to again and again for reminders that there is dignity in all of us, the greatest of all being treating others with dignity.

A beautiful reminiscence of life in New Mexico
This captivating memoir vividly describes life in Santa Fe and the surrounding territory before all the changes that came with World War II. The author, a well-known anthropologist, had a fascinating childhoodgrowing up on Canyon Road and attending Los Alamos Boys School before itbecame the site of the Manhattan Project. Reading about his adventures onthe Hopi and Navajo reservations made me wish I could turn back the clockand visit those lands when they were still so remote and untouched. Abeautiful, moving book by a man fully engaged with life. ... Read more

Product Description
Photographer and filmmaker Victor Masayesva, Jr., was raised in the Hopi village of Hotevilla and was educated at the Horace Mann School in New York, Princeton University, and the University of Arizona. His immersion in photographic experimentation embraces a projection of stories and symbols, natural objects, and locations both at Hopi and worldwide.His work has been exhibited internationally, and he is perhaps best known for his feature-length film Imagining Indians.For Masayesva, photography is a discipline that he approaches in a manner similar to the way that he was taught about himself and his clan identity. As he navigates his personal associations with Hopi subject matter in varied investigations of biology, ecology, humanity, history, planetary energy, places remembered, and musings on things broken and whole, he has created an extraordinary visual cosmography.In this compilation of his photographic journey, Masayesva presents some of the most important and vibrant images of that visual quest and reflects on them in provocative essays. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Innovative Photography
Victor is a Hopi Indian educated in the fine arts at Princeton.In this volume he has crafted unique and beautiful images that combine landscapes with native imagery, photograpy with some graphic work.It is stunning and inspired work.This man will be famous.

A haunting collection indeed
Victor Masayesva Jr's focus is on Native American life, blending photos and hand paintings to go beyond collections which limit their presentations to one medium or the other. With his background in film as well as photography, Masayesva is well aware of the underlying drama which lies in presentations, and uses them to advantage in a set of powerful images in Husk Of Time. Landscapes blend with portraits and the artist's own discussions of his inspirations to accent both black and white and color shots. A haunting collection indeed.

Native American Life
These photographs are complex and original in their pictures of Native American life ... Read more

Product Description
This exquisitely illustrated and authoritative volume presents a concise account of the history of the Hopi people, including the legends, customs, and ceremonies that form the Hopi "Road of Life," in an illuminating introduction to one of the most intriguing and influential of Native American cultures. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Nice overview in a darling little book
The photographs are beautiful and tell a lot about the culture. The text is a short history of the tribe with some good sources quoted. Overall a really good series. ... Read more

Product Description
Trade Paperback. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

I finally read this classic.
There are moments, especially, in the "plays" section of this book that are moving and insightful beyond any other writer.

The Hopi Bible
This lovely little book is laid out in chronological sequence and tells the Life Story of the Hopi people from the very beginning of time. Comes with great illustrations and diagrams relating to the Hopi Prophesy.

Take a few hours to dive into this book and you'll surface with a whole new perspective
In the beginning Taiowa created his Nephew to lay out the the universes in proper order.And so begins Frank Waters' book of the Hopi.

Fully a third of the book is dedicated to telling the lore of this tribe, and through the saga you learn of a tradition that explains why this small group of people have been living in the same area for a millenia.As Waters moves to discussing recorded history and the shameful exploitation of a people by the American Government, you discover how unique and special it is that they are still there.How they have avoided the attempts to change their religion by those of other faiths.How they have refused the good graces of the American Government's attempts to 'normalize' their society.And here they remain,living what the rest of us on the continent wold consider to be a sustenanceexistence as they have for almost a thousand years.

This is an easy-flowing readable social history, and it's well worth the time.Though Waters' book you'll gain an understanding of how these principled peoplehave continued in this area as they have for centuries. I only wish there was a supplement to cover these last few decades as the book was written in the early 1960's, and I can't figure out why he would not include an index. But ... again, well worth the time.

The Book of Hopi
Well researched piece by Frank Waters. Lots of information condensed into easily read book explaining a unique culture.

Hopi review
I am on page 109 and I have found this book, so far, to be very interesting.For instance, I never knew that the Hopi traversed all of North, Central, and South America. Frank Waters uses information from interviews with the Hopi and actual visits to sites of the Hopi. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Read this first
If you're interested in reading Frank Waters you should read this first. If you're only going to read one book of his this would be the one. It recounts his life on the Hopi mesas while working with Hopi to get the Book of the Hopi into print. His experiences were really a microcosm of the larger problems between the cultures that were here at the time of European immigration and those incoming cultures. His understanding of the spiritual issues involved and the possibilities for integrating different world views into a new coherent whole is phenomenal and worth reading at the source. This is a great book.

A Labor of Love with the Hopi
Frank Waters wrote some of the best books we have about the culture and life of the American Southwest. His "Book of the Hopi" is the classic study of Hopi mythology and history, a labor of love described more personally in "Pumpkin Seed Point," about the three years he spent collecting stories for "Book of the Hopi."

"Pumpkin Seed Point" is both personal and universal. Referring to his research he writes:

"It wa a difficult winter for the two Bears and me. The kachina night dances were being held in the kivas of every village, and indomitably we went to everyone. Gorgeous as they were, each was an ordeal."

Referring to dreams, he writes:

"These 'voices of prophecy' were ancient gods, archetypal symbols and images speaking from the lowest level of unconsciousness."

For Waters, the poetic and mythical shared spacetime with nature and the pragmatic concerns of everyday life. Who would want to deny that the Hopi had insights into something more profound than we usually imagine within our modern materialistic obsessions? Who could deny that the Hopi suffered from modern obsessions?

Although writing in the 1960s, Waters' insights into the disappearance of the Anasazi remain as profound as any research that's followed him. His descriptions of Hopi life mirror what many of us imagine Anasazi life might have been like when we visit the great Anasazi ruins of Chaco, Aztec, Hovenweep, and Mesa Verde. I reread this classic recently at Chaco while working on my own novel,Ophelia's Ghost, about the disappearance of the Anasazi.

A Book of the Hopi companion
Frank Waters' book on the Hopi is perhaps the best account of their rich traditions and history.You would be well served to read that but as equally interesting is this account of his living with the Hopi while working on that book.This is written in a straight forward style so it is an easy read.Water wisely leaves the complication of the Hopi for his more scholarly work.This book explains the characters that he met and the conditions of their lives.This book will break your heart.The Book of Hopi will liberate your soul. ... Read more

Product Description
The diverse people of the Hopi, whose name means “the peaceful ones,” are today united on the Hopi Reservation, which is composed of 12 villages on more than 2,500 square miles in northeastern Arizona. In fact, the village of Orayvi is considered the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the United States, dating back more than a millennium. Often referred to as a “corn culture,” the Hopis have developed dry-farming techniques that have sustained them in the harsh, arid landscape, where annual precipitation is often only 12 inches or less. The Hopi people are hardworking and spiritual, and their lifestyle has survived for centuries, only minimally changed by influences from the outside world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Around Fortescue
Overall, the book has some great information and nice pictures.The downfall is that the book was obviously written by a select couple families so the majority of the information is about those families.When you have a narrow research base your results are, naturally, narrow as well.I did enjoy the read and historical events that the book included.

Interesting local lore
My husband is very into local lore.And even though we live in another area, this is an interesting book to add to our collection.Interesting to read and see the pictures and read stories.

Pleasurable & educational
The picturesare pricelessand theemotionalresponse to friends /relatives was overwhelming and memorable..... Can't wait to buy more copies as gifts...The Hopi People (Images of America)

Full Disclosure
I know the author a many of the people who are photographed or mentioned in the book.One thing Betty & Bunky failed to mention was that the Coast Guard had a seasonal station in Fortescue since 1965.I know both of them because I was stationed there each summer between 1967 & 1971.The book brought back a lot of memories and filled in some gaps in my knowledge of the town.

Chris Cooke ... Read more

Product Description
The sights and sounds of a vital, 1000 year old Native American culture in northern Arizona, rarely seen by outsiders. Intimate scenes of family life, work and colorful seasonal rituals show how the Hopis pass on the communal values and survival skills that have kept their culture alive for centuries. ... Read more

Product Description
Turtle Dream is a collection of stories for readers ofall ages.Author Gerald Hausman experienced these adventures with hisNative American friends in the Southwest. They are a true reflectionof native customs, but more importantly, they reveal that startlingmoment when life causes us to surrender our conscious power, todiscover the nature of who we really are. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Turtle Dream
This is a fabulous book for all ages. The stories are written welland can be read by children or adults. They are very informative stories. ... Read more

Product Description
An absorbing, well-researched story of two 15-year-old Hopi Indian boys, Walker Talayesva and Tag, who travel 800 years back in time to their ancestral home. ALA 1994 Best Books for Young Adults. Young Adult. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Nice way to learn about the history of the cliff dwellers
I picked this book up for a little bit of light reading when I visited the Grand Canyon last week.It is a "teen" reader, but I found it really enjoyable.It's an easy read like a "Harry Potter" novel.It's a definite page turner.

I enjoyed the novel because it explores the questions to why the Native Americans who lived in the cliff dwellings of Walnut Canyon left and where they may have gone.Shortly after finishing this novel, I visited Mesa Verde National Park and explored the Balcony house.The ranger's talk explored many of the same theories that the book's story is based upon.

A reader's choice
I have just read a book called walker of time and it was amazing.
I would recommend it for people aged from 10 to 50.

It is about a Hopi indian boy called Walker who travels back in time 600 years. While he is travelling back in time a young white boy manages to get zapped back as well. Walker knows he's been sent back for a reason, but what??

It is half an adventure and half a sad story.

best book in the world
My dad bought this book for me a few years ago and I didn't think i would like it but i tried it out anyway. it was the best book ever. i lent it out to so many people that i never got it back but everyone who read it loved it.

The best book ever!
A few years ago my mom got me this book for my birthday, and I thought I'd try it out. It turned out to be the best book I have ever read, and I am not exagerating! I have read it every year since I got it, and I strongly suggest you read it, and realize what I'm talking about. The adventure andsuspense is great, as well as the dialogue and strong characters you willwant to meet. Take my word for it, once you pick it up, you'll never wantto put it down!

Walker of Time is a real journey
The book I've read is called the "Walker of Time". The reading level is not too hard and not too easy. I would recommend this book to the people who like reading adventure books. As you read through this book, itgives you a good atmosphere and you will feel like you are in the story.This story is based on time travelling. The main character is called Walkeror Wayma in Hopi language. Walker had to travel and confront dangeroussituation. He had to travel to find out about the time travelling. As hetravels through in the story, he finds new companies. Such as when Walkerwas blackout because of the thunderstorm and when he woke up the firstthing he saw was this white American called Tag. After that he met flutemaiden and more like white rabbit and the eagle. This story is like"Wizard Of Oz" because as he travel he met new friends.This bookis kind of a gentle, flowing of ideas.After all, if you are a realadventure book reader, you should get a copy of "Walker of Time". ... Read more

Product Description
Pueblo Fireside Tales
Tales to be read in one cozy sitting.

Here are seven interconnected stories about making and keeping friends, jewel-like tales originally told to the youngest listeners at Native American firesides in the Hopi country of northern Arizona. In John Bierhorst's authentic re-creation of a Pueblo storytelling session, readers and listeners will find out how Coyote got his short ears, why Mouse walks softly, and how Bee learned to fly.

Snake, Mole, Badger, Beetle, and Dove also have roles clever and foolish, friendly and not so friendly, and all are depicted with humor and finesse by illustrator Wendy Watson.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Tell Me A Story.....
"In the evening the Sun touches the ocean in the west and climbs down the long ladder to the underworld.Then he sets out on his underground journey to the sunrise place in the east.Up above, now that the world is dark, the time has come for people to light fires and tell stories."Join John Bierhorst at the crackling campfire as he retells seven Pueblo fireside tales.These are stories that just beg to be read aloud.Each short and engaging tale centers around the theme of friendship, and is rich in Native American insight, wisdom, and humor.Wendy Watson's charming and expressive cartoon-like artwork, in quiet, subdued desert earth-tones, complement each story beautifully, and bring the endearing cast of animal characters to life.Find out why Coyote has short ears, how Snake lost his only friend, why peaches are sweet, and how Bee learned to fly...Perfect for youngsters 5-10, Is My Friend At Home? is a marvelous collection the entire family can read and share together."The Sun has come to the end of his underground journey.As he climbs up the ladder to the sunrise place, he puts on the skin of a gray fox, and white dawn comes up."Ha!" he cries and he puts on the skin of a yellow fox, and yellow dawn comes up.He steps out of the underworld.It becomes morning.No more storytelling until nightfall."

Beautiful language
We got this book out of the library and ended up buying a copy as the tales are worth many repeat visits.The stores about different kinds of friendship are charming but what really catches our attention is the language.It is clear for young children to understand but is ever so slightly different -- as if spoken by someone translating into English or someone using a different 'flavor' of English.It really adds to the sense that these are Native American tales.

The illustrations are detailed and very attractive with lots of things for listner to explore while letting the words soak in. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

excellent treatment of a life history
Robert Black does something unusual in this book; he edits and annotates the life history of a Hopi/Tewa Indian who was not a traditionalist, nor an especially warm or amusing man.Standing Flower - the traditional name of Irving Pabanale - was a Hopi policeman, judge, and negotiator with the white government early in this century.Black sat with him for many summers, recording his story.In this book, he does an outstanding job of writing comprehensive explanations and history to anchor this man's tale. I've studied many life histories, and always find them to be the best way to learn about other cultures. This book offers both the narrative and a scholarly - but readable - education about the Hopi and Tewa of Arizona.Well done! ... Read more

Product Description
This is the story of the Hopi woman who chose in her early youth to live in the white man�s world. She became known as Elizabeth Q. White. Born at Old Oraibi, Arizona, she was of the first Hopi children to be educated in white schools. Later she was the first Hopi to become a teacher in those schools. Here her biographer records Qoyowayma�s break with the traditions of her people and her struggle to gain acceptance for her radical teaching methods.

Throughout her life this remarkable woman has held to the best in Hopi culture and has fought to maintain it in the lives of her students. Her story, rich in information on Hopi legend and ceremony, is a moving introduction to the Hopi way of life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Indian Autobiography in Novel Form
This book provides the life account of a Hopi woman who chose to privilege the white American way of life over her own Native ancestry and tradition and the struggles--both internal and external--resulting from this choice.Polingaysi Qoyawayma (or Elizabeth Q. White), unlike many other Native Americans, deliberately chose to attend both local schools and boarding schools run by white Christian missionaries.While she does recount atrocities committed by these white missionaries against Native children--one example would be the child who had an eraser shoved into her mouth for disobedience--Qoyawayma tells these incidents with an astonishing detachment.She makes no judgements on the whites who perpetrated such offenses.

Indeed, the whole book is written in a third person, novelistic style.That is, she doesn't say "I did this" or "I said that" but rather, "SHE said this" or "SHE did that."This seems more than a little odd, considering that this book is autobiography--a life story told by the person who lived it.One cannot help but wonder if this odd novelistic style isn't a reflection of Qoyawayma's own ambivalence about the choice she made to follow white Eurowestern education instead of her own Hopi traditional way of life.This is, however, mere speculation.While Qoyawayma was an educated person, she chose to collaborate with a white woman writer, Vada F. Carlson, to produce this book.Perhaps the third person style was chosen by the collaborator and not Qoyawayma herself.Still, one must assume that Qoyawayma had final say over the content and style of the book.

It is interesting to speculate about the thoughts that went into the writing of this text because her own people, the Hopi, did accuse Qoyawayma of wanting to be "white."In an odd way, she did "become white" because she married a white man whose last name was White.

The book is worth reading because it provides another perspective on the lives of those Native peoples who were, as the title of this book states, "In Two Worlds." ... Read more