The Navajo Tribe & Clans

BEYOND THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE WORLD: A Navajo Woman's Journey
by Emily Benedek [The Wind Won't Know Me]. B&W photo section. Condition: UNREAD 1995 Borzoi hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first edition. This is an EX-LIBRARY book never checked out, but does have library markings. Content: This biographical portrait of a Navajo woman and her family holds important lessons for those seeking to restore bonds of family and community. College-educated Ella Bedonie, born on a northern Arizona reservation in 1952, and her husband, Dennis, an elementary school counselor, navigate two worlds - Native American and white, sacred and secular. At the age of six, Ella was forced to attend a government boarding school, where she endured beatings and was punished for speaking Navajo. Then she spent 10 years with a protective Mormon foster family in California, after which she returned to the reservation to confront a longstanding Navajo-Hopi land dispute, which jeopardized her parents' ranch and camp: Ella's future inheritance. In 1989, she and Dennis moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, and built a house, but their teenage son, Kimo, joined a gang and dropped out of school. Diagnosed with breast cancer, Ella moved her family back to the reservation; Kimo straightened out and her cancer went into remission. Benedek evokes Navajo society, customs and a cosmos in which the gods are nearby and life is imbued with purpose. Through Ella's eyes, Benedek presents a vivid portrait of Navajo culture, describing the need for the Navajo people to re-create their beliefs and traditions in order to survive alongside white society. In the book's most striking section, Ella and her family return to the reservation when she is stricken with cancer. There she participates in the traditional ceremonies in an effort to counteract her illness, and she rekindles her faith in Navajo beliefs, which serve as a source of strength and ultimately allow her to live successfully in both worlds. [1 copy available]
$ 6.50 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

THE BOOK OF THE NAVAJO (Fifth Edition)
by Raymond Friday Locke. Bill Skurski (Cover) with B&W Photos. Condition: Very Good + 1992 Mankind Publishing paperback. Very pale spine crease first 1/4 spine - interior as new. Content: Reviewer: "A Splendid Account of Navajo History and Culture. The book is a scholarly, yet highly readable account of the history of this proud and persevering people. There is much for us to learn of Navajo legends, ancestry and customs, as well as the shameful treatment of the Navajo at the hands of the Spanish, Mexicans, other Indian tribes and the U.S. government. The enslavement of Navajo women and children by other cultures was particularly well-documented and shocking in its extent, as was the forced relocation of the People and taking of their homelands." [1 copy available]
$ 5.89 + $ 2.94 media shipping. Priority & International shipping available.

THE ENDURING NAVAHO (Navajo)
by Laura Gilpin. B&W photos by the Author. Condition: Gently pre-read 1980 University of Texas Press large hardcover [11.5 x 9 x 1 (264 pages)], 5th printing. DJ shows some light shelf wear top and bottom spine with a tiny bit bottom book spine. Interior clean & tight. Content: This is a book of superb photographs. Its portraits of individuals and family groups convey a quality of intimacy and serenity; its landscapes spread out the dramatic setting of desert, mountain, and canyon in which these people live; and its scenes of daily activity show many of the details of the way their life has been lived. Among the pictorial records of Navajo country and life, Miss Gilpin's volume deserves a special place. This is not a brand new book, nor a best-seller here today and gone tomorrow. It is record of the Navajo people and their country, a book to keep and to refer to over and over again, always with deep pleasure. Do friends ask you about the Navajos? Send them this book, for it is the heart of the tribe. --The Navajo Times. A contemporary of Mary Austin, Mabel Dodge Luhan, and Willa Cather, Laura Gilpin was unique among women chroniclers of the Southwest because she worked in photography. She perceived the region as an environment for human activity rather than a place for untouched beauty, and her empathy for her subjects is evident in her work. Even in her eighties--ignoring the physical infirmities of age--she would camp overnight to be near a place she wanted to photograph at the break of day. The vast empty stretches of the southwestern desert did not deter her. She thought nothing of driving several hundred miles to make one image of a Navajo ceremony or making a long flight in a small plane to see a particular mountain peak. Gilpin's sixty-year career established her as one of the outstanding photographers of the twentieth century. Here are her pictures of the Navaho people and the stories of their lives in the 1950s and 1960s. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 26.89 + $ 3.59 media shipping.

THE GIFT OF THE GILA MONSTER: Navajo Ceremonial Tales
introduced and retold by Gerald Hausman. Foreword by Tony Hillerman. B&W drawings by Mariah Fox. Condition: UNREAD 1994 Touchstone Trade Paperback, first printing. Content: Hausman once again turns his storytelling to the Navajo people, this time focusing on their principal "Ways"--ritual pathways whose ancient legends are used to heal, give moral instruction and attain inner harmony, or "walking in beauty." Only a few tales survive today; some of the best known are related here. Part of the Navajo creation myth involving four successive worlds, they all help define and order the Navajo's world and accomplish some sort of transformation. Readers will recognize many familiar characters and themes, such as Mother Earth and the trickster Coyote. The Blessingway includes the story of a man who out-tricks Coyote and a tale of resurrection. The Evil-Chasing Way tells of the encounters of Elder Brother and Younger Brother with the powerful Great Snake. Hausman's decision to retell the tales rather than to record them (as an ethnographer might) proves flawed. The collection highlights the richness of Navajo spirituality. Hillerman provides a brief but interesting foreword on Navajo theology; Mariah Fox's line drawings of sand paintings add atmosphere. [1 copy available]
$ 5.79 + $ 3.09 media shipping International shipping available.

NAVAJO COYOTE TALES: The Curly To Aheedliinii Version (American Tribal Religions, Vol. 8)
by Father Berard Haile, O.F.M. Edited, with Introductory Essay, by Karl Luckert. B&W decorations and charts. Condition: NEW 1985 University of Nebraska tade paperback, second printing. Light shelf wear to bottom cover edge. Interior perfect. Content: Coyote is easily the most popular character in the stories of Indian tribes from Canada to Mexico. This volume contains seventeen coyote tales collected and translated by Father Berard Haile, O.F.M., more than half a century ago. The original Navajo transcriptions are included, along with notes. The tales show Coyote as a warrior, a shaman, a trickster; a lecher, a thief; a sacrificial victim, and always as the indomitable force of life. He is the paradoxical hero and scamp whose adventures inspire laughter or awe, depending upon what shape he takes in a given story. In his introduction, Luckert considers Coyote mythology in a theoretical and historical framework. Questions welcome [1 copy available]
$ 6.79 + $ 3.19 media shipping

NAVAJO FOLK ART: The People Speak
by Chuck and Jan Rosenak. B&W portrait photos plus color artwork photos by Lynn Lown. Condition: NEW 1998 Northland soft cover, revised edition, no printing given. Content: Reviewer: "The authors, collectors of American folk art, traveled the Navajo Nation. Beginning in 1983 and for the following ten years, they motored across New Mexico, Arizona and Utah to meet and visit with the 42 self-taught Native American folk artists whose works are featured in this brightly colorful volume. Among the artists represented in 90 full-color photographs are Mamie Deschille whose mixed media creche is crafted of sun-dried clay, cloth and found objects; Leonard Willeto who fashioned flat doll-like figures of Indians clad in imaginary costumes and chicken feather headdresses; Elsie Benally, whose "Rooster Rider" is a study in whimsy; and Ray Growler who creates life-like lambs, goats and sheep with real hides, fur and horns. The contemporary Navajo artists who are recording portions of their surroundings, their visions and experiences in these art forms are making a unique contribution to the galleries of indigenous American art." [1 copy available]
$ 7.29 + $ 3.19 media shipping. Priority & International shipping available.

NAVAJO NATIVE DYES: Their Preparation and Use
by Nonabah G. Bryan and Stella Young. B&W drawings illustrate. Condition: NEW 2002 Dover Trade Paperback, republication of a 1940 document. Content: Simply written text, accompanied by detailed line illustrations of plants, explains how to select and mix natural colors of wool and prepare "recipes" for producing specific colors of dye from desert plants, among them single-flowered actinea for yellow, alder bark for a soft brown, the Rocky Mountain bee plant for a pale greenish yellow, the prickly-pear cactus for rose, and ground lichens for a light orange. A concise guide for weavers, dyers, and craftworkers as well as students and devotees of Native American crafts and culture. Unabridged republication of the classic 1940 edition. B&W drawings of the plants used in dyes - for easy recognition. [1 copy available]
$ 5.49 + $ 3.09 media shipping. Priority & International shipping available.

SOUTHWESTERN INDIAN CEREMONIALS
by Tom Bahti. Revised in 1982 by his son, Mark Bahti. Beautiful color photos and artwork. Condition: NEW 1982 KC Publications large soft cover (stapled wraps), revised edition, no printing given. Content: This is a wonderful book. The ceremonies are described and often accompanied by a drawing or photograph. The ceremonies are divided the Pueblos and by Tribes. There are also many B&W era photos of the rites. Excellent, IMHO. [1 copy available]
$ 7.50 + $ 3.19 media shipping. International shipping available by arrangement - email us

SOUTHWEST INDIANS COLORING BOOK
by Peter F. Copeland. B&W "ready-to-color" drawings illustrate. Condition: UNREAD 1994 Dover soft cover, no printing given. Content: Detailed, carefully researched illustrations depict Native Americans from the 1840s to 1980s: Pima basket maker, Navajo medicine man and braves, Hopi pottery makers, Acoma woman baking bread, Pueblo flute player, modern Yuma woman and child, tribal drum makers of the Taos pueblo, Zuni turquoise driller and more. Descriptive captions included. Excellent for classrooms. [1 copy available]
$ 3.79 + $ 3.19 media shipping. Priority shipping available.

THE UNBREAKABLE CODE
by Sara Hoagland Hunter. Wonderful southwestern colors illustrations by Julia Miner. . Condition: NEW 1996 Rising Moon soft cover, no printing given. First impression. Beautiful, soft color illustrations by Julia Minor - using all of the colors that make the Southwestern landscapes so magical. Content: Setting a solidly intriguing, little-known historical episode within a fictional framework, Hunter (Don't Touch My Stuff) pays warm tribute to the Navajo "code talkers" who served in the Marine Corps during World War II. To comfort a grandson distraught about an upcoming move, an elderly Navajo man tells him about the time that he, too, had to leave their canyon home and, along with hundreds of other Navajo men, came to perform a crucial mission for the U.S. government. The Navajo language, which had never been written down and was virtually unknown to outsiders, became a "secret weapon" in preventing the Japanese from intercepting and decoding American radio messages. Hunter's lengthy but absorbing story, based on interviews with former code talkers, casts a well-deserved spotlight on these skilled soldiers and on a wartime role that is almost guaranteed to interest readers. Miner's (The Shepherd's Song) subtly textured oil paintings realistically depict serene canyon landscapes, tense battle scenes and the affectionate rapport between the narrator and his grandson. Young code-crackers will appreciate the inclusion of the original Navajo code in the endnotes. Ages 6-up. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 5.00 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

NATIVE AMERICAN PONY BOOKPLATES
art by Deviney. Condition: NEW package of 12 bookplates made by pacaritambo books. The peel-off label stock is heavier than most bookplate materials and is matte and not glossy. They are as perfect as possible, and we feel the subject matter is much different than you can get at a big store. 3.0 wide x 4.00 high. Content: Prancing Indian Pony decked out in feathers with his portrait above. We can personalize your bookplate (the font is Enviro D) - just email us the name. Any questions, click here to email us.
$ 4.00 + $ 2.85 first class shipping. International shipping available.

NATIVE AMERICAN SOUTHWESTERN POTTERY BOOKPLATES
art by unknown artist. Condition: NEW package of 12 bookplates made by pacaritambo books. The peel-off label stock is heavier than most bookplate materials and is matte and not glossy. They are as perfect as possible, and we feel the subject matter is much different than you can get at a big store. 3.2 wide x 4.00 high. Content: Assorted Southwestern tribal pottery samples and designs - Anasazi, Zuni, Hopi, etc. We can personalize your bookplate (the font is Binner D) - just email us the name. Any questions, click here to email us.
$ 4.00 + $ 2.85 first class shipping. International shipping available.