This is a good book, but it is NOT about Native American Prophecies. The book is actually a collection of eight biographies of native (north) Americans. The lives of these individuals is the key focus. The, rather brief, prophecies they made in thier life is a minor point.

If you are interested in the Myan, Aztec and 6 north american (native american) Indian tribes, then this is a good book. If you are looking for text focused on prophecies, then look elsewhere.

Scott Peterson examines Native American (pan-American) beliefs to determine if and how their belief that human beings are stewards of nature might be relevant to a world threatened by environmental degradation. He traces the primary creation stories and prophesies of the Maya through the Aztec to current Hopi beliefs. The belief to which he refers is that human kind, while a part of nature, is much more. Nature­­all plants, animals, the earth itself, and the sun, moon, and stars­­continue to exist only by thoughtful, mindful actions of humans. That man needs nature is long accepted. The corrolary belief that Nature itself depends on human action for its existence, arises from traditional Native American beliefs. Not only the ancient peoples of the Americas but the most recently arrived Native Americans­­the Navajo­­have creation stories that directly impact their attitudes toward the land. The story of the Navajo is true to their history and to the history of the European-Americans with whom they dealt. The author then identifies how three Indian prophets­­Deganawidah, Wovoka, and Sun Bear­­apply their religious understanding of human interdependence to the maintenance of peace. The story of Deganawidah, the Peacemaker, and the League of Five Nations (Iroquois) introduces the reader to one of the most democratically advanced societies known to Western culture. Meeting with leaders of this League, the young Benjamin Franklin was exposed to structure and safe guards of a federally organized state which he outlined to the colonists prior to the American Revolution. Wovoka, the Paiute Ghost Dancer, is introduced as an American Indian prophet whose attempts to re-assert Indian pride and assure moral choices, while valid goals, were eventually defeated by his own response to recognition and power. And finally, Peterson introduces Sun Bear, a present day prophet who represents integrated Native American beliefs and applies those beliefs to the environmental problems faced today and anticipated in the coming century.For anyone interested in the Native Americans' political, philosophic, and political, and potential environmental impact on current Americans, this is a "must read".

This is a very good book. It depicts R C Gorman as a wonderful artist and a an artist on foods as well.

R.C. wrote that he (in his youth) went hungry. He has made up any pain and now loves to watch Cooking shows and has a wonderful cook, Rose. Sharing all this in the book plus friends favorites then his "gift" of art is really a bonus. Love this book.

This large format atlas is roughly equivalent to the Delorme New Mexico atlas, but isn't nearly as pretty. There are no contour lines or land-use boundaries, just B+W road maps. The base data is different, however, so it could be a useful supplement to Delorme. This one comes from official State of New Mexico maps, so it contains information on the status of dirt roads that Delorme doesn't have (since Delorme comes from USGS sources). If you do a lot of dirt road exploring, this atlas could be very helpful. Outside of big towns, this atlas even shows individual houses and windmills.

This is an excellent backroads atlas to the state of New Mexico. We have used it on several backroads adventures since it was published in 1990 and have found it indespensible. It's similar to the DeLorme atlases, but a little easier to read, I think.

Great pictures! Good arguments, maybe? I hope the Government Printing Office breaks even on this one

A lot of folks will order this book to argue with the USAF's final say on the so-called Roswell UFO Crash, but it's so much more than a "no such things as UFOs" book. McAndrew touches on a number of government projects and people who should be remembered: John Strapp, who rode a rocket sled to 632 MPH; and Joseph Kittinger who still hold the record for the highest parachute jump (102,800 feet). Space program? These men did impossibly brave things when we were still wondering if rockets would work. If you want to read about the real beginning of the space program, check this book out!

I'm from Williamsport, where Hawkes teaches writing at Lycoming College, and so I've long known about his unusual story-telling gifts. This is a finely realized piece about two men who've been living alone for years, mapping the terrain in the American West, and the changes that occur in their relationship when various outsiders -- including a woman who has come to make an independent film -- come into their "terrain." Richly layered with unobtrusive symbols and interrelationships, also well-informed about its subject matter. Recommended.

As with his other novels, G.W. Hawkes offers in Surveyor deeply felt characters, intriguing plot lines, and sharply honed language. Metaphor, mystery, and the best kind of suspense--that which comes from a caring for the characters drawn on the page--keeps the reader turning not just from page to page but chapter to chapter. The relationship between the two desert-bound friends, their history, and the "invasion" of their space by a beautiful woman comingle to create a richly intriguing and well-wrought tale. Hawkes is able to divine the mysteries of the deeper forces of our lives and reveal them--in subtle desert colors, in the rhythm of dialogue, in the stirrings and gaits of character--across the pages of Surveyor with brilliant craft and utmost care.

An enjoyable, light read. Van Gieson describes the New Mexico and Utah landscapes better than the central characters. But they're characters we're comfortable with, so maybe that works. I'd put it on my "Recommended" list, but not at the top.

The archivist assigned to "preserve the papers, the legend, and the memories" of the 1960s rebel Jonathan Vail is Clair Reynier. The Southwest Research of the University of New Mexico employs the fiftyish woman. Recovering from a divorce, Clair enjoys cataloging Vail's works including his letters, a journal, and a book the cult classic "A Blue Eyed Boy."

A student working on a dissertation on Vail excites Clair when he produces another journal from the cult icon. The journal highlights Vail's days in Slickrock Canyon, where he was camping with his girlfriend before vanishing. Clair and a police officer go to meet the graduate student near the cave where Jonathan's duffel bag containing the journal was found. Instead, the duo finds the dead body of the student, who appears to have fallen from a steep cliff. The inquisitive Clair begins making inquiries not realizing that someone close by wants to insure she learns nothing even if it means another death to accomplish that.

Judith VanGieson proves once again that she is a superb storyteller through her ability to vividly depict the Southwest desert so that readers feel they are there. Clair may seem like an ordinary person, but her values insist she fight for what she believes in regardless of the personal cost. The well-plotted mystery combines with realistic characters to turn VANISHING POINT into a pleasant reading affair.

Harriet Klausner

If I could only have four volumes to read for the rest of my life they would be: Death Comes for the Archbishop, Joyce's Ulysses, a Shakespeare folio, and the Bible.

Death Comes for the Archbishop is a novel of striking beauty, profound debth, and deceiving simplicity. The language employed is the most clear and beautiful I have ever read in prose--it's closer to poetry. The philosophy Ms. Cather espouses is simple enough for the peasant to understand, and too complex for the wisest scholar.

This book just baffles me: it's not a novel, per se, nor is it a biography--it's more like an etching of time and place; of ideas and people who travel through the arid, beautiful dreamscape of New Mexico.

Ms. Cather wrote part of this novel in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She got the idea of the novel from seeing a statue of Archbishop Lamy in front of St. Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe, and meditating upon what his life must have been like from her balcony at La Fonda hotel that overlooked the Cathedral.

Ms. Cather spent months in New Mexico and the Southwest, and truly loved this land, which is reflected in her book; she was a woman of faith, which is also reflected in this book, and although not a book about religion, religion nevertheless permeates it. More, this is a book about the beauty of a life lived well, with hard work and faith, and the land which touches all who touch it.

This book is the best description of the near absurd task that European missionaries faced in the American West. Willa Cather gives a sympathetic (and historically accurate) account of two French priests who are given orders to help the secluded diocese of Santa Fe, NM.
The atmosphere of Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Tucson was unique on the american west. These were cities with centuries of Catholic culture resulting from early Spanish influence, but their extreme isolation made them a true oasis of civilization. The two main characters are very lonely on this foreign frontier, and the task they were sent to accomplish (tame renegade priests and rejuvenate the catholic culture) seems impossible due to language, cultural, and ideological differences.
Fortunately, the two priests compliment each other very well, and enjoy some truly interesting adventures. Issues of Indian relations, slavery, lawlessness, heresy, and isolation are expertly dealt with in Willa Cather's narrative. This has been described as stylistically her best book. Willa Cather loved this book and spent years in the southwest researching the terrain and characters. It will not disappoint.
If you find this story interesting, you may also be interested in books about Padre Kino of Tucson.

This wonderful novel from Willa Cather is loosely based on a true story. It is the tale of Father Jean Marie Latour, a Catholic Bishop from France who is sent to be the first Bishop in the newly annexed territory of New Mexico, in the late 1850s. Latour and his companion, Father Vaillant, toil over the course of many years to build and develop the church there, strengthening the faith of Mexican and Indian alike. Latour's labor of love becomes a great cathedral in Santa Fe, completed before his death, while Vaillant is sent to spend the rest of his days working among the miners at Pike's Peak and throughout Colorado.

This is a fairly simple tale of two very faithful men, whose love for their work created a legacy for each. Despite its simplicity, however, this novel approaches epic proportions, as the two men work side by side to, literally, convert the world. Over about thirty years and in an area covering thousands of square miles, these two Fathers fight almost alone to cleanse the church, purify the faith, and propagate their religion to everyone in the Diocese.

This novel is a classic in Western literature, and definitely earns its place as one of the greatest stories of the American West. It belongs in the library of any fan of Western literature, or even American literature in general.

I have just finished reading Bless Me, Ultima in my English class and I can say that it is a good choice.

The book is about a young Mexican boy, Antonio Marez, growing up in New Mexico during the mid 1940s. It begins when he is six years old, and Ultima, a curandera or healing woman, comes to live with his family because she is getting too old to live by herself. Through Ultima's gentle guidance and support, Antonio faces his uncertainties and learns to go on with life.

Antonio's parents are opposites, his father being a Marez, people of the llano (the desert land in New Mexico), and his mother being a Luna, farmers and people of the moon and the earth. His father wants Antonio to grow up free to roam the land and become a vaquero, as he once was. His mother wants Antonio to be a priest, a man of learning. Antonio is torn between them regarding his future.

Throughout the story, Antonio also faces confusion over religion and spirituality. Ultima believes in God, but she also believes and works magic. But there is no evil in Ultima and Antonio is confused over Catholicism. His mother wants him to become a priest, and though he does believe in God, he wants understanding from Him, answers to his many questions.

From a very young age, Antonio witnesses death. Death of a war-crazed man, Lupito. Death of a good family friend, Narcisco. And finally the unjust death of Ultima, killed by an evil man vowing revenge on Ultima for the death of his two daughters who were brujas (witches).

Through the trials he is faced with and the death of his beloved mentor, Ultima, Antonio learns to go on with life and leave the past behind. He realizes the power of good over evil and understands that truth is more powerful than that which is prescribed by custom.

A lot of what goes through Antonio's mind through the story is similar to the questions I have had through growing up. I can relate to him and to the other characters in the book. And I have learned that mankind is no different in spite of age, race, religion, culture, and upbringing.

Kudos to Rudolfo Anaya for his first novel that brings Mexican-American culture to the reader and a genuinely poignant "growing up" story that can be read by all ages.

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, is a story of maturation of a young Hispanic American boy named Antonio, during the 1940's. This story, though it sounds fairly straight forward, is anything but average. Bless Me, Ultima mixes the supernatural world and the traditional Catholic ideals. The young protagonist must choose for himself his fate whether to be a priest/farmer and follow his mother's wishes or to become a man of the flesh like his father's people. The boy is torn by his high morals and sins that are occurring around him. The novel tries to answer many of life's moral questions such as this. The author accomplishes this. His mentor and closest friend, Ultima, uses the spiritual world of herbs and medicine to counteract against the evil that had taken place in the small towns in New Mexico. Ultima represents pure goodness and the character named Tenorio is a representation of pure evil. The last "showdown", is the ultimate battle between goodness and evil, like in the book of Revelations in the New Testament Bible which depicts goodness to ultimately win over evil and the people are saved from the sins of the world. "It is because good is always stronger than evil... The smallest bit of good can stand against all the powers of evil in the world and it will emerge triumphant"(Bless Me, Ultima 98). In many ways, this novel has parallels to the novel The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Much of the novel is spent chasing evil in the form of witches. As in The Crucible, innocent people are accused of witchery because the townspeople were fearful of things they could not understand. Antonio sums up human nature by saying, "I think most of the things we call evil are not evil at all; it is just that we don't understand those things and so we call them evil. And we fear evil only because we do not understand it. When we went to the Téllez ranch I was afraid because I did not understand what was happening, but Ultima was not afraid because she understood-" (248). The accuser who takes revenge against the pure goodness of Ultima takes her life but not her soul. The goodness is left in the form of young Antonio. Evil actions that takes place in the towns of New Mexico included: prostitution, drunkeness, witchcraft, having other gods, and murder. Through maturation Antonio is able to ask himself, must one lose their innocence? "Had I already lost my innocence? How? I had seen Lupito murdered... I had seen Ultima's cure... I had seen the men come to hang her... I had seen the awful fight just now... I had seen and reveled in the beauty of the golden carp! ...How had I sinned?" (165). This is a major theme important to people living in the 20th century. Antonio is witness to all of these sacreligious actions and questions where God is to let these things to happen. He is very unsure of his faith towards God since he sees three deaths, Florence, Narciso, and Lupito. Antonio goes on further on to ask himself, does one gain understanding by losing innocence? His father's answer was simply stated, yet with much truth, "understanding comes with life, as a man grows he sees life and death, he is happy and sad, he works, plays, meets people-sometimes it takes a lifetime to acquire understanding, because in the end understanding simply means having a sympathy for people" (248). How could we make sense of the deaths, though? Three of the towns deaths were beings who were evil: two of the witches who cursed Lucas, and their father Tenorio. As the deaths of the evil were necessary for the end of the witch hunt, the goodness is also believed to die to bring the town back to harmony. According to the Bible, this fight between goodness and evil is predicted to occur at the end of the world. At this time, the believers of the savior will be saved, while the unforgiven go to either Hell or Purgatory. A major question for the working class and Antonio is education help you in life? My answer to how I believe the author would answer this is that school education helps us progress in this world, but only the religion will help you get through the after life. This novel asks the major questions posed in humanity and deals with it in an innocent yet knowledgeable way. Looking through young Antonio's eyes, we can see from the perspective of the innocent what is wrong with our beliefs and in general, our world. Anaya does a fantastic job asking question and answering in his own way some of life's unexplainable happenings. I would recommend this book to everyone, but especially for those looking for answers to why bad things happen and how to overcome them.

The religious and spiritual symbolism in Anaya's book, Bless Me, Ultima blend beautifully with the powerfully described New Mexican setting and culture that surround the novel's main charatcer, Antonio, and place him at the center of a series of thematic struggles including the classic struggle of good vs. evil, the difficult decision of choosing between one's apparent destiny and giving in to one's choices, and the intense discovery and formation of alternate beliefs in a higher being.
Anaya places Antonio in a Catholic household of Mexican descent in the rural setting of Las Pastures, New Mexico; illustrating the natural beauty and land-based lifestyle that Antonio grows up knowing. Tony's mother is a faithful and passionate Catholic, believing in the imporatance of direct prayer to God and the adoration of the Virgin Mary. She sees and feels the holyness that surrounds Tony's being from his birth, and raises him in hopes that he will some day become a priest. The characterization of Tony's father provides a nice contrast that lends an insight into the formation of Tony. His father is a man of the land, using it respectfully and living in symbiance with it to ensure the heathly lifespans of both his family, and his family's land or llano. The contrast in Tony's parental upbringing sets the stage for his future conflicts concerning the true existance of a God, and the reasons for the existance of good and evil that he witnesses in life.
Symbolism is a cetral tool that Anaya uses to artistically convey Tony's journey and his discoveries, amazments, and disappointments along the way. Perhaps most finely crafted is Anaya's creation of the golden carp, used to represent the startling effect of peace and joy that Tony feels after discovering its existance. The golden carp itself is a symbol of an alternate idol of worship besides the Christian God that Tony had grown to believe in through the teachings he recives at home, school, and at church. The fact that Tony is willing to belive in the golden carp's existance, as he is both amazed and mystified by its beauty, is made to appear especially surprising through the description is the things that Tony is denying in order give into the peace and happines he feels in the golden carp.
At one point, Tony is at sunday school at church, and the priest is describing to the students the concept of an eternity. An eternity, he proceeds to explain, is the amount of time it would take a bird to pick up every grain of sand on a beach, one by one, and fly it across the pacific ocean to deposit on a shore in Japan. And then, when the entire beach has been transported, he does it again, and brings every grain to the other side, a million times. That's how long an eternity is, and that's how long you will stay in heaven or in hell. This concept frightened me like a week ago, I can imagine how it might affect an eleven year old boy. Yet, the beauty of the golden carp, and the balance that it's existance creates within Tony is more than enough to allow him to betray the doctrine he has been taught to believe in and risk finding out the hard way exactly how long an eternity is.
The book's symbolism is far deeper than what I can describe in this review, and it includes themes like free will vs. destiny that I have not mentioned. Overall I can say it is a beautifully written book, with easy to recognize parallels to the inner-turnmoil of the reader, and I recommend reading it at least twice to truly appreciate the ideas and messages conveyed in Anaya's novel.

The late Col. Philip J. Corso outlines how extraterrestrial technology, secured from the site of the Roswell, New Mexico, crash of 1947, was literally spoon-fed almost insidiouly to U.S. industries at no cost over a carefully planned course of time. According to the book, many of the products and much of the technology we use today are a direct result of the reverse-engineering of materials found at the site of the crash. There has been some skepticism regarding Col. Corso's story, but consider the fact that he spends very little time in this book discussing the actual sequence of events stemming from the crash (although his account of the crash scene itself will leave the reader with vivid images of what happened). Instead, he focuses on the red tape and bureaucracy that he and his colleagues faced in the planning and transfer of information to industries. Not as fast-moving and/or action-packed as the title suggests, but generally very interesting. Col. Corso died suddenly and mysteriously of a second heart attack in 1998.

Corso has been on the inside, worked with reverse engineering of Alien artafacts while with the DoD. He submitted a sworn deposition in court attesting to the facts in this book for a lawsuit against government secrecy. Brad Steiger writes in Alien Rapture an almost identical history of alien contact, and is the only one who has described in detail the newest advanced technology developed from reverse engineering of alien artifacts that Corso only hints of. Only Corso, Steiger, and Dr. Paul Hill seem to really have inside information and astounding facts of the MJ-12 coverup. Hill's Unconvential Flying Objects was written from his 30+ years as the NASA UFO investigator. Steiger's Alien Rapture was written with an ex-black program's expert and Area 51 employee. Steiger also included astounding new MJ-12 documents, including the Reagan Charter, and Autopsy report from Roswell. Corso speaks of removable alien lens, as also seen in the government's remake, for disinformation, of the Roswell autopsy film. Steiger's autopsy report was copyrighted before the autopsy film and before Corso started his book. Also the geo organ seen in the alien cadiver is described by Steiger before the film was released. Corso, as does Steiger and his co-author tell that the 'alien autopsy' was made in Lancaster Texas by the government. Knowing that the best lie is the one closest to the truth. Add six fingers to the cadiver and then no-one would believe it. Subtle changes to throw the whole field into confusion. Only these three authors have taken a stand at their own risk. None of these three books are like the myriad of UFO/Alien Contact books out there that ask more questions than they answer. If you want the whole truth and exacting details, then buy all three books. These books will be the new standard for those seeking the truth. Col. Corso has been reassigned to the here-after after an unfortunate and untimely demise. God Bless him and his family.

I've been reading some of the above reviews and I'm suprised at many of the elementary questions and suspicions you have of Colonel Corso. IF YOU PEOPLE WOULD WAKE UP AND LISTEN TO ART BELL'S (www.artbell.com) INTERVIEWS WITH CORSO THAT OCCURED THIS JULY YOUR QUESTIONS WOULD BE ANSWERED! The interviews were excellent! And you can listen to them in their entirety over the internet. I'm suprised that more people aren't aware of these incredible interviews. IF YOU READ THE BOOK, LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEWS AND STOP ASKING THESE SIMPLE QUESTIONS THAT WERE ANSWERED IN THE 3 HOUR AND 5 HOUR INTERVIEWS. In fact, in the second interview an investigator (I forget his name) confirms on air that Corso did in fact take part in all of the military operations that he claims in his book. This investigator spent a month in Washinton D.C. investigating Corso and found him to be telling the entire truth. You won't be dissapointed with these interviews, trust me. They will answer so many questions that went unanswered in the book. Thanks