I would like to recommend this book to anyone who is curious about the man-made creation we refer to (in English) as language. Though I'm sure that students of Navajo will find the analyses of Navajo etymology contained in these pages invaluable, there is plenty here for the casual reader to enjoy as well. I am not a student of languages, but I can attest to the pleasures of keeping this book around the house where I can open it up at leisure and find myself delighted by the various idioms explored inside. I am also pleased to have at hand a way to begin to gain insight into Navajo culture. Though idioms borrowed from many languages are used to enrich this book, all are compared with a Navajo equivalent. Sometimes cultural notes are included with the Navajo idioms. These serve to deepen the reader's understanding of Navajo perspective and I found them engaging. Perhaps in his next book Mr. Wilson will tell us how the Navajo or Croat or the Javanese might exclaim "nice going!".

This book shows you how colorful and interesting the way people think is. Idioms are so vivid. Beyond the defference of cultures you can enjoy lots of expressions. And this authour, Mr. Alan Wioson's dedication to languages are incredible. I appreciate his deep personality thorough this book.

I was impressed that Mr. Alan Wilson's enthusiasm and ken about the language, especially his dedication to Navaho is incredible. And I bet this book will fascinate you showing interesting people's thoughts beyond the cultural differeces. So colorful, so funny, so exciting. You can see that idioms are deep analysis of people minds. I respect this author's power of understanding languages very much.

This book is a terrific book, not only because it is well written and inspiring, but because it tells about important history.

The book brings to non-Indian children a sense that Native Americans are not just some people who lived in Tipis a long time ago. It also teaches them about the very important contibution made by one Native Nation to this country.

To Indian children, especially Dine, it can help bolster cultural pride and demonstrate the importance of their own people in this country.

I highly recommend this book! What a great way to help children understand the power of communication and true heros.
Bravo!

Author, Sara Hoagland Hunter, tells a beautiful story of a young boy's fears of moving off the reservation and leaving his grandfather. But John's grandfather tells him he will be all right, for he has something very special to take with him: he has the unbreakable code--the code that saved the lives of thousands of American in the Pacific during WWII. The history of the Navajo Codetalkers comes alive in this children's book and provides the code at the end of the book. Something all young readers are fascinated by. This book paired with the new GI Joe Navajo Codetalker action figure makes the perfect gifts for boys (and girls) who are interested in WWII history.

This is THE novel for people to read if they want to know how it really is on the Navajo and Hopi Reservations--I can't understand how the author knows the voices and the feelings of these Indian people so well. This is a great book . . . believe it!

I read Bad Medicine immediately after finishing Tony Hillerman's "Last Eagle"...it was a wonderful week of reading and becoming immersed in Southwestern Indian culture. I can't help but want to compare the two novels, but that would be unfair: they are two entirely different fictional types, and they each must stand alone. Together, though, they are complementary experiences. Of the two, Ron Querry has a more lyric, almost poetic style. The plot is thinner than Hillerman's, and perhaps doesn't even do very well at bringing superstition, medicine, and folk healing together. That criticism (if it is one) is irrelevant to the impact of the book, with it's beautiful prose and sharp characterization. Of particular note is the chapter "Hashke", which takes place in the Short Mountain Cafe, populated by the smoking, vacant eyed waitress and the gum popping cashier in her tight plum-colored jeans and decorated fingernails. Like the rest of the book, it's great prose--evocative, precise, and moving.

A powerful book about a terrible time on the Navajo Reservation when an unknown disease was killing Indian people. Querry clearly knows that country well and makes the reader feel she's right there, too. A MUST READ for anyone who loves or wants to know more about the Four Corners region.

The third installment of Living Voices of the Past is another wonderful history lesson!

Hilda Faunce leaves her comfortable Seattle, Washington, home to journey to the Southwest and the Navajo reservation with her husband in 1914. While one may think that everybody had cars back then, the Faunce's made their way in the manner of the original pioneers: by wagon.

Hilda's journey is not so much a journal of her trip as it is her life on the reservation between 1914 and 1918. Hilda's writings are indeed an historical eye-opener.

First, there is the problem with the language; then the protocol; and the normal daily variances of two races trying to live side-by-side. Cultural diversity may be a late-twentieth-century term, but the fact is that many in America were already experiencing this phenomenon.

The entire journal is mesmerizing; Hilda uses very descriptive language to convey the sights and sounds of the unusual customs and landscapes that she encounters that transfers the listener to reservation life during the second decade of the twentieth century.

Two aspects were particularly telling of a different culture: contending with a white-man initiated illness and the onset of World War I.

The Navajo's were forced to face and contend with small pox, a deadly disease they had never known until the white man arrived. Many of Hilda's new friends died, devastating the young woman.

Newspapers were a rarity and treat on the reservation, so Hilda did not know much of what was going on outside her and her husband's little trading post. While the world was trying to blow itself to smithereens, the Faunce's and the Indians were trying to make a living by mainly trading...especially furs and foods.

Desert Wife is an important historical document that from which we can all learn tolerance and the need to just get along!

Ably narrated by Jane Merrifield-Beecher, Desert Wife is the story of Hilda Faunce and her life as a trader's wife on the Navajo reservation before the outbreak of World War I. Hilda faced challenging experiences as she came from Seattle, Washington to live in the bleakness of the southwest desert, learning the Navajo language, and acclimating to an alien territory and a strange new world. Hilda presents the interaction between Navajos and whites in their trading practices and how the Navajo coped with sicknesses transmitted from the white man. She touches on the sweetness of Navajo singing, the misconception of war when they had to register at For Defiance, and a great deal more. Desert Wife is the product of Hilda's four years of reservation life and learning to appreciate the cultural differences between the Navajo world and her own background. Desert Wife is highly recommended listening for students of Native American studies, the twentieth century American west, and Women's studies.

As an avid reader of first-person accounts of the lives of women in the early West, I would call this one of the finest I've seen. It's an absorbing tale of a woman's adjustment to the bleak and initially terrifying emptiness of the desert Southwest where her husband sets up an Indian trading post at the time of World War I. She comes to love the place and to appreciate the culture and manners of her Indian neighbors, which at first seem so alien to her. Hilda Faunce gives us a fascinating direct view of the interaction of Indians and whites, which is only the more interesting from our current vantage point 85 years later. I was struck by her simple, straightforward, but eloquent writing style as well as by her courage and receptiveness in facing a very challenging experience. I felt as if I'd entered her world, and was sorry to leave when the book was over.

The Coyote Bead, by Gerald Hausman, is a book for Young Adults. It's the story of a young Navajo boy who survived an attack on his people by the "blue coats" (U.S. federal forces sent to relocate them). Not only must he escape from the blue coats, he's also pursued by Two-Face, a Ute Indian bent on destroying him. The boy, Tobachischin, has only the contents of his grandfather's magic pouch with which to defend himself. These include an arrow straightener, a horsehair whip, a porcupine quill comb, some red powder, and a blue bead called the coyote bead. Each item has been invested with powerful magic, and each, in turn, saves Tobachischin from death. The coyote bead must be reunited with a white coyote bead, carried by Two-Face. Tobachischin must therefore meet face-to-face with his powerful enemy. When the meeting takes place, Tobachischin uses his courage and cunning to defeat Two-Face. He then continues on his quest to live in the mountains with the remnants of his people. The story is a retelling of the near-destruction of the Navajo people and their renewal. They practice a coyote beadway ceremony, designed to "balance the opposing energies of peace and violence, harmony and war." The Navajo recovered from the devastating losses imposed upon them by the blue coats and are today a thriving nation. Although Coyote Bead is written for young adults, I think its meant for people of all ages, as I'm in the fifth decade of my life, and the story entranced me. Hausman is a skilled and exceptionally poetic writer. His work can be savored simply for good storytelling, as well for a personal understanding of a tragic event in American history.

The Coyote Bead, by Gerald Hausman, is a book for young adults. It's the story of a Navajo boy who survived an attack on his people by the "blue coats" (U.S. federal forces sent to relocate them). Not only must he escape from the blue coats, he's also pursued by Two-Face, a Ute Indian bent on destroying him. The boy, Tobachischin, has only the contents of his grandfather's magic pouch with which to defend himself. These include an arrow straightener, a horsehair whip, a porcupine quill comb, some red powder, and a blue bead called the coyote bead. Each item has been invested with powerful magic, and each, in turn, saves Tobachischin from death. The coyote bead must be reunited with a white coyote bead, carried by Two-Face. Tobachischin must therefore meet face-to-face with his powerful enemy. When the meeting takes place, Tobachischin uses his courage and cunning to defeat Two-Face. He then continues on his quest to live in the mountains with the remnants of his people. The story is a retelling of the near-destruction of the Navajo people and their renewal. They practice a coyote beadway ceremony, designed to "balance the opposing energies of peace and violence, harmony and war." The Navajo recovered from the devastating losses imposed upon them by the blue coats and are today a thriving nation. Although Coyote Bead is written for young adults, I think its meant for people of all ages, as I'm in the fifth decade of my life, and the story entranced me. Hausman is a skilled and exceptionally poetic writer. His work can be savored simply for good storytelling, as well for a personal understanding of a tragic event in American history.

Sandra I. Smith, Reviewer

A family tale of the Dineh, The Coyote Bead retells a heroic battle between the boy Tobachischin and his lethal enemy, Two-Face, the Ute bounty hunter killer incarnation of Coyote, the trickster god. The factual, sparse graceful prose style underlines the terrifying and bloody conflict of evil and good. Hausman's writing quivers and reverberates with underlying song power magic. The bravery of Tobachischin and his protective shaman Grandfather are contrasted with the evil cowardice of the Blue Coats (eeyoni) and their minions the Utes, who brutally murder and herd the Dineh on a 350 mile forced march to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, from Canyon Del Muerto, Arizona. Many Dineh died. This is a tale of a heroic few who survived and used the sacred land and animal helpers to build a new identity despite their pain and suffering. The Coyote Bead is beautifully written for young adults.

There are several versions of the Navajo Creation Story known but Paul Zolbrod has captured the most plausible and accepted rendition in print. Most Navajos that I know accept this text as adequate and feel that the author's treatment of the subject matter is fair and sensitive to a very vital element of Dine' culture. Many Navajos, especially elders will say that the material printed in this book used to be reserved for the sweat hooghan and special times between family members but understand that now things have changed and accept the publication of very special and sensitive aspects of a great peoples' religion, as long as it is done under the auspices of the Navajo Nation. Perhaps in time others will publish material more to the needs of Navajo scholars but to this day this book is the literary standard of the creation stories.

Paul Zolbrod does a fine job of collating his own transcriptions of Navajo oral traditions with the records of other scholars from decades past to create a seamless narration of the Navajo story of creation. This is a valuable contribution to a deeper understanding of a specific native American culture.

This book is about the creation of life. How human beings evolved in a world that had kaos. This tale includes many different worlds, in which life was discovered. Many gods have created human life to bring forth to what we arrived to today, but the only thing to destroy us is kaos. Hatred among both sexes causes the seperation which leads to longing for one another. Among the humans, anxiety was brought to the world and the gods who created the world, got angey. So the gods took action and destroyed the world by pushing all forms of life out almost killing everyone, but the humans were the smartest and emerged into the next world which is known today

I picked up this book and I could NOT put it down. What a wonderful journey described here....how she interlocks traditional medicine with Navajo, how harmony and positive spirit is such a process in the healing world. You will not be disappointed with this read. I have shared this with all those close to me. Make it part of your list

The story of Dr. Lori Arviso Alvord's courage and determination to bridge the Navajo world with modern medicine is excellently written. For those of us who've had little exposure to the ways of the Navajo world, this book is part history and part culture. As America continues to find new ways to maintain and improve health care, it's refreshing to consider how living a balanced life has the potential to make a huge difference. Alvord's story, artfully told with the assistance of Elizabeth Cohen Van Pelt, a former New York Post reporter, is by turns heartwarming, soulful and inspirational. In the spirit of full disclosure, I should note that Elizabeth is now a co-worker of mine.

This book was outstanding. Once I began reading about Dr. Alvord's journey from Western Medicine to Navajo Medicine and back, I could not put it down. Those of us in the nursing field have often known about this connection to help patients heal faster and better. This excellent book describes a journey combining local medical technigues with western medicine. Highly recommended for all persons in the health care field, especially those of us in the Nurse Practitioner field.

Wonderful book, if you like Hillerman, you will really enjoy this book. Anyone I recommended this book to loved it, and looked for more by this author.

First and foremost, this is a story which is not filled with stereotypes. The cultures of the Navajo, Hopi, and the Apache are well portrayed. I was most surprised at the topic of the book in light of the fact that it is considered taboo to the Navajo. I supposed that's why the author is not of that tribe. Nevertheless, it was thoroughly entertaining, educational, and just plain well written. It deserves all the awards and accolades it has received.

With "The Death of Bernadette Lefthand," Ron Querry demonstrates an amazing accuracy for detail. His understanding of subtle differences between two Nations - the Apache and the Navajo - bring his characters to life. The juxtaposition of these modern indigenous sub-cultures takes place within the confines of an equally contradictory landscape - the brutally beautiful American Southwest. If you are interested in the people, cultures, and landscape of the Southwest, you shouldn't miss this novel.

I work for the publisher of this book. There aren't a lot of our books that I get a chance to read, but this one has been a best-seller for 25 years now. So, of course, I have also read and enjoyed it. I'm pleased to spread the word that this book was a resource for the upcoming MGM movie, WINDTALKERS. Of course, the movie is a story, but the book is a historical account of how the intelligent, fierce-fighting Navajos became an invaluable resource to our military during WWII. Indeed, they helped go a long way toward swinging the tide of the war in the favor of the US.

If the release of the Code Talker-based movie was raised your interest in this subject, look no further than The Navajo Code Talkers by Doris A. Paul. This book was first published in 1973 and was the first, and is still the best, source of information on this subject. Learn the story behind the story. This is a must-read book. Do not accept imitations (or imitators)!

To say that the United States mistreated the Native Americans has already been established. This book shows that regardless of any mistreatment, the Navajo code talkers fulfilled their duties with honor and without question. This book shows the reader clearly how the Navajo language was used to help the United States defeat Japan during WWII. The recollections of their service to the United States are honest as well as very descriptive of the Navajo Indian's experience in WWII. This book is a must read for anyone who is interested in this often neglected chapter of WWII.

When I was little (a long time ago at this point!) I had this book and was utterly fascinated by it. I remember trying to dye yarn myself after reading it... (well, that didn't work out so well as I recall-- since this is NOT a how-to book, just an engaging story-- but it was fun all the same.) Now that I'm an adult, I would definately recommend this book to anyone with "creative" children who love to make things.

I was raised on this book and it has always been a favorite of mine. The pictures are delightful and the story has stayed with me through the years. I love how Geraldine decides to eat all the yummy plants they were going to use to dye the wool. OOPS! Now I find it is on the school reading list and being used in the classroom! I highly recommend this book as a favorite for children and parents alike.

This is a very funny story about a goat that tells the story of how her fur becomes a Navajo rug. If you look close enough at the front cover, you'll notice the book is written by the goat herself. It's a wonderful book for all ages, especially Navajo children.