Book Description
From bestselling Native American writer Joseph M. Marshall III (The Lakota Way, The Journey of Crazy Horse) comes an inspirational guide deeply rooted in Lakota spirituality.
Grandfather says this: “In life there is sadness as well as joy, losing as well as winning, falling as well as standing, hunger as well as plenty, bad as well as good. I do not say this to make you despair, but to teach you…that life is a journey sometimes walked in light and sometimes in shadow.”
Grandfather says this: “Keep going.”
When a young man’s father dies, he turns to his sagacious grandfather for comfort. Together they sit underneath the family’s cottonwood tree, and the grandfather shares his perspective on life, the perseverance it requires, and the pleasure and pain of the journey. Filled with dialogue, stories, and recollections, each section focuses on a portion of the prose poem “Keep Going” and provides commentary on the text.
Readers will draw comfort, knowledge, and strength from the Grandfather’s wise words—just as Marshall himself did.
Customer Reviews:
art of perserverance review.......2007-07-26
this is nice fast read book of truths so simple we forget or complicate to much...........enjoyed ...............it is on my coffee table
A very real look at life.......2007-06-11
A gentle book with such a strong message about faith in life. I can read it over and over and gain more and more inspiration, depending on how I'm feeling that day.
"Why is life so difficult?".......2007-04-21
XXXXX
"[This book] began as a simple one-page text. That text was a consequence of my family enduring difficult times. During those days and months of difficulty, I recalled the advice given to me by my grandparents...I recalled my childhood with my maternal grandparents, and their influence on me--which is considerable. I recalled most often the conversations I had with my maternal grandfather...This [book] is based on their insights, their experiences, their love, and their wisdom."
The above is found in this slim but inspirational book by Joseph M. Marshall III, a Sicangu Lakota. He is an author, historian, educator, motivational speaker, and Lakota craftsman.
The entire book is in the form of a conversation between young Jeremy and his grandfather (named "Old Hawk"). The conversation occurs because Jeremy's father dies and so he turns to his grandfather asking him the complex question that titles this review. Old Hawk answers this question by sharing his perspective on life, "the art of perseverance" it requires, and the pleasure and pain of life's journey.
At the beginning of the book are two untitled pages. Initially, I was confused by this until I started reading the book. These two pages (where each paragraph begins with "Grandfather says this") are keyed to each chapter and have the MAIN bits of wisdom that Old Hawk passes on to Jeremy. These two untitled pages are repeated again at the end of the book.
Don't think that you can read only these two untitled pages and get full value from this book! Each chapter is actually packed with wisdom and advice. In fact, one chapter has "the secret of life" from Old Hawk's perspective!
Finally, each chapter is simply but powerfully written containing dialogue, stories, and recollections. After reading this book, I have to agree with what it says on its inside front jacket flap:
"Everyone who encounters this stirring guide will draw comfort, knowledge, and strength from Grandfather's wise words."
In conclusion, Shakespeare states "brevity is the soul of wit." The author has proven this by writing a slim but powerfully thought-provoking book filled with life-altering wisdom!!!
(first published 2006; "Grandfather says this" pages (untitled); prologue; 6 chapters; closing; main narrative 120 pages; repeat of "Grandfather says this" pages; appendix: the Keep Going prose poem; acknowledgements; about the author)
XXXXX
The Best.......2007-03-13
Such simple and easy advise given that it makes one realy think about how to make it work today. Not tomorrow but today. Loved it!!!!
Life's Path.......2007-01-12
This is a great book. The lessons are real and true. If it really talks to you, maybe you should share it with you kids.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent chapter on Carter's EDUCATION OF LITTLE TREE.......2005-03-06
The journal reviewer (above) didn't note the excellent chapter on Forrest Carter's THE EDUCATION OF LITTLE TREE. Teachers who use EDUCATION as authentic should know the backstory of Carter and this book. Hundorf's work is informative and can help teachers interested in teaching children to look critically at literature.
Average customer rating:
- highly recommended
- an honest and straightforward story
- a book about hunting
- Going Native
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Going Native
Tom Harmer
Manufacturer: University of New Mexico Press
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What I've Always Known: Living in Full Awareness of the Earth
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ASIN: 0826323170 |
Book Description
“This is a great book, for Tom Harmer really is one who knows, as shamans say. I strongly recommend it to those interested in shamanism or Native American spirituality.”—Michael Harner, Ph.D., author of The Way of the Shaman
In a spiritual autobiography shaped by years of living with a band of Salish Indian people after the Vietnam War, Tom Harmer shares his hard-won knowledge of their world and the nature spirits that govern it.
Leaving behind college, military service, and years of living off the land as he drifted aimlessly and smuggled draft dodgers and deserters into Canada, Harmer came to the isolated Okanogan region of Washington state in the company of an Indian man hitchhiking home after Wounded Knee. Harmer was desperate to make something of his life. He settled down for nearly ten years close to his Indian neighbors, adopted their view of the world, and participated in their traditional sweatlodge and spirit contact practices.
From his first sight of Chopaka, a mountain sacred to the Okanogan people, Harmer felt at home in this place. He formed close relationships with members of the Okanogan band living on allotments amidst white ranches and orchards, finding work as they did, feeding cattle, irrigating alfalfa, picking apples, and eventually becoming an outreach worker for a rural social services agency. Gradually absorbing the language, traditions, and practical spirit lore as one of the family, he was guided by an elderly uncle through arduous purification rites and fasts to the realization that his life had been influenced and enhanced by a shumíx, or spirit partner, acquired in childhood.
“This compelling work provides a glimpse of the powers of the world and their interpenetration with dream reality, leading us into an understanding of relationships of spirituality with nature and community. It shows us a world in which family bonds run deeper than blood. It is a personal quest for integration that opens us to a perception of the powers of nature that lay hidden by the illusions of our rational mind. Powerful enough to bring out a longing for one's own spiritual awakening and development.”—Michael Winkelman, Arizona State University, author of Shamanism: The Neural Ecology of Consciousness and Healing
“The zone between Indian people and non-Indians is populated with many honest people and a stunning array of phonies—from both sides. Tom Harmer's Going Native is an honest book about a real white guy amid real Indians. Accounts of reality in that zone are rare. And guys like Harmer who can really write are rare. What more do you need?”—Jake Page, author of Hopi
Customer Reviews:
highly recommended.......2007-07-05
"I wonder sometimes why you help me like this, when we're not related.", said Tom Harmer to his Salish mentor Clayton Woods. "I like you", replied Clayton. "You like they say, down to earth. Love our mother. Why not you instead of them `apples' runing around the tribal center, think they're in charge?" The contempt in Clayton' voice was not disguised.
A new breed of Indian activists has arisen lately - fiercely promoting Indianesness through academia, internet and politics. These people are counting drops of Indian blood while running casinos and the Indian/Chicano `authenticity' racket, a lucrative business based on helping assuage white guilt over the injustices perpetrated over the years. But in reality, they are just pretend-Indians.
Old style medicine people have no patience with these pretenders. Clayton despised the acculturated tribal office workers who aproached him with tobacco, calling on distant kinship ties to solicit his support, while flaunting their Native identity. These Indians behaved like White men, with brassyy, garrulous voices promoting the new plan to develop a huge molybdenum mine on Colville land. "They come out here [in the wilderness] and pretend", said Clayton. "Then they go back, wear it like a big reputation. They just showing off. They want to be the boss."
"Being an Indian not about the color of your skin or how much Indian blood you got. It about what in your heart. That old-time way, we say, en'hwl'tils, want to live. To have that want to be here. I see you walk over the earth. You want this thing you are. You want to live."
This is an absolutely wonderful book. Together with the sequel "Living in Full Awareness of the Earth" it is one of the few books that are an essential reading for anyone who isn't interested in theory, or philosophy, or religion of Native Americans, but in learning about the reverence, practicalness, and the unyielding sense of truth with which people who have never been apart from their natural environment, approach life., This are no pretend-Indians here that one meets in Castaneda's books, nor self-interested political activism of a Vine Deloria. Ultimately, Harmer writes about re-learning what is real, about what really maters. About awaraness that does not recognize the artificial boundary of Indians vs non-Indians promulgated by pseudo-Indian pretenders in NAFSP. Harmer was fortunate in being able to meet a real traditional medicine person, just as we are fortunate today to be able to participate in their meeting through his books.
Harmer writes about the land, animals, spirits, traditional ceremonies, the beauty and mystery of nature, about living with dignity and humor. Cannot recommend his books highly enough.
an honest and straightforward story.......2002-02-12
If you are looking for Native American hype this book is not for you. It is an honest portrayal of one person's experience in honoring and learning about spirit. The passages in the book that discuss hunting are more easily understood if viewed in that context.
I felt the author was generous in his willingness to share the knowledge he developed during his time with the Salish people. I felt that the descriptions of his experiences were given in a way that allow the reader to understand the pacing and etherial qualities of connecting with nature spirit.
While the author does contrast the "white" way of living with the "indian" way of living, I felt this was not white bashing but a view of the conflict between a spiritual or capitalist way of life. I believe he makes this distinction in his writing.
I felt that this book was full of insights. It deepened my understanding of the natural world. I recommend it without reservation.
a book about hunting.......2001-09-06
This book is a loner `white' character who searches outside his culture for answers that he can't seem to find and appears missing in his own past. As a fugitive and hunter, he stumbles into native traditions that send him directly to nature. Sweat lodges, a lack of sleep, food, and water provide the grounds for a vision quest. The intentional deprivation is to seek a purified state so that nature will come in and grant something. It alters his perceptions (deprivation can put the body into drug like states) but we don't seem to get much information of how native traditions would interpret these visions.
I was disappointed with long descriptions of experiences with almost no conclusions or insights. While I can appreciate the journey as reward and not everything needs explanation I felt this story floundered and that I didn't feel the author revealed his conclusions in regard to his situation. Though I never felt sure what the vision quest was for, I frequently felt the author held back in stating what his real issues were and how they were changed. That could have helped me connect more with the story. An example is the mentioning of the Vietnam war through out the book. I felt like I never found out what was his real issue with the war?
The book spends time relating the `good` aspects of native culture with `bad' aspects of white culture. Though I don't believe this story is intended to be disrespectful, the hostile view of whites left me feeling more disconnected. While I don't believe that 'whites' have always done the best I wouldn't dismiss them as all disconnected from nature. The same way I wouldn't dismiss the native culture for just wanting gambling casinos.
The author could have explored John Muir, Druid, Celtic, Kabbalah, or Basque culture and found similar answers. Even Machaelle Small Wright (a white girl) writes in her book, "Behaving as if the God in All Life Mattered" about the power and sacredness of nature. Reading Joseph Campbell reveals that all cultures have struggled in their relationship to nature. Including `white.'
This book does NOT seem similar to the Carlos Castaneda books. Tom is not a student set to inherit and receive shamanic knowledge that can deliver him the power to cheat death, create a dreaming double, or jump to alternate realities by shifting the assemblage point. Castaneda spends little, if no time in being involved in the natural world around him. Carlos heads straight for alternate realities and a description of how the universe is constructed that is beyond common perception.
Though there doesn't seem to be a formal apprenticeship with native culture, some knowledge is delivered. Most of the Native American spirituality is thinly sprinkled through out the book and not much beyond what is covered better in other sources. I often feel the Indians (his term used in the book) are taking pity rather then imparting their views to the author. The author excuses himself frequently that native culture doesn't talk about the mystery. If these things aren't spoken, why write about it? I'd at least like to hear the author's view on what impact it had to him.
I think the main character does a good job of describing intense hunting and vision quest experiences in detail but not sure there is much revelation beyond the experience. If one already sees nature as a living force and the mystery as boundless exploration then this book may not hold your attention. For those of you into the hearing a detailed description of someone's personal story into nature then this may be the book for you.
Going Native.......2001-05-25
Tom Harmer catches the 'Spirit' of writing as well as that of a White "Going Native". This book inspired me on a very deep level, I came out of dreaming and into a whole new world. He writes with a clear and concise voice with descriptions of the wilderness of the Okanogan people and the familiarity of 'the wild man of timber'. The sweatlodge experiences and conversations with the elder, Tommy Clayton, are deep philosophical explorations that lead us back to ourselves and we say, "Aaaa". I was listening Tom Harmer and I have heard what you said. This book sets well among those of Carlos Casteneda and describes the Indian Way magnificently. One of my favorite books! Read it.
Book Description
Since 1954, John F. Blair, Publisher, has been specializing in nonfiction books about the Southeast, and specifically about North Carolina. Over the years, Blair has published numerous travel guides. So to say that the Blair staff knows something about travel in its home state is no small assertion.
This is the third edition of this comprehensive guide to the entire Tar Heel State. In this volume, you will find information about historic places, gardens, tours, museums, science centers, cultural offerings, special shopping, recreation, and seasonal events.
The guide also includes annotated entries about unique places to eat and stay. Since the authors accepted no advertising fees when selecting what to include in the book, you can be assured their suggestions are solid recommendations from longtime residents.
Customer Reviews:
An essential planning guide.......2007-05-12
Now in an completely updated and significantly expanded third edition, "Travel North Carolina: Going Native in the Old North State" is a comprehensive guide written by Carolyn Sakowski, Sunny Smith Nelson, Anne Holcomb Waters, Angela Harwood, John Tarleton, and Sue Clark, a team of longtime residents of the Tar Heel State. Black-and-white photographs illustrate this compendium with sections organized by geography, listing seasonal events, places to eat, historical sites, museums and science centers, inns and bed-and-breakfasts, and much more. Enthusiastically recommended for business and pleasure travelers alike, "Travel North Carolina" is an essential planning guide to get the most out of a trip to this diverse and fascinating state from an afternoon's outing, to a weekend getaway, to an extended vacation.
Average customer rating:
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Going Native (Brooklyn Botanic Garden All-Region Guide)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Manufacturer: Brooklyn Botanic Garden
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ASIN: 0945352859 |
Amazon.com
So many hyperbolic statements have been made about this novel--from Don DeLillo calling it a "slasher classic," to The Village Voice calling it a "mescaline Slurpee," to The New Yorker comparing it to Orson Welles's "deliciously sleazy" Touch of Evil--that it can be hard to sort out the truth from the hype. The bottom line is that this is a postmodern road novel about mass media, with multiple allusions to horror movies. As the rave review in the premiere horror critique rag, Necrofile, puts it, Going Native is about the "round-the-clock bombardment of inanity and violence that has so thoroughly invaded mundane existence as to render it cartoon-like." If you care about how horror imagery affects modern culture, and you want to have a great time thinking about it, then read this book.
Book Description
Going Native is Stephen Wright’s darkly comic take on the road novel, in which one man’s headlong escape from the American Dream becomes everybody’s worst nightmare. Wylie Jones is set: lovely wife, beautiful kids, barbecues in the backyard of his tastefully decorated suburban Chicago house with good friends. Set, but not satisfied. So one night he just walks out, gets behind the wheel of a neighbor’s emerald-green Galaxy 500, and drives off into some other life, his name changed, his personality malleable. In Wright’s inimitable narrative, we’re taken on a joy ride to hell, a rollercoaster of sex and violence and the peculiar mix of the two that is our society today.
Customer Reviews:
A Diabolic Picaresque, A Pilgrim's Progress, A Dance of Death.......2006-05-14
"So I think that under this kind of vast superstructure of civilization is all this other stuff. And I suppose looking at it biologically there is that reptilian brain that the whole cortex sits on top of. It's just there. And it's part of our heritage and its inescapable and the fact that it is inescapable leads to some disturbing conclusions about what it is we're made of. I think that question is what the book's about. In that sense I think that Going Native means having these more primal desires and impulses just rise up and seize hold of you." so says Stephen Wright..
Stephen Wright believes that everyone is capable of murder. He doesn't have any doubt about it. Everybody. He guesses people don't want to be told this. He truly believes this, and as we start this magnificent novel; we learn early on that this is his truth. We are introduced to Wylie, who is unable to digest the killing he has seen, and who moves on; and who appears in every chapter in one form or another- the dark eyes, the gun, the glint, and/or the suggestion. The inverted structure form of storytelling introduces us to the people who are touched by these impulses of violence. The real consequences, it lessens the voyeuristic view, and we learn what really matters from the people intimately involved.
In a dark green '69 Ford Galaxie, Wylie Jones drives across America and into the heart of darkness. We meet Wylie, and his wife Rho, and their children and two friends who come for dinner. The All-American family until Wylie goes missing.
Mr. CD and Latisha , the burned out, doped up couple living from one fix to the next. The hitchhiker and the various and sundry people who pick him up. The dangerous and the deranged. Emory Chace, the motel owner and his crazed family, all of them unhinged just a little, and is that Wylie who has absconded with the daughter? Perry Foyle who resides in a "Fuck House", and videotapes the smut for sale. He sideswiped a dark green Ford as he tried to force his way into his parking place, a BIG mistake. Nikki and Jessie who work in an all -night wedding chapel in Las Vegas. The chapel somehow keeps losing some of their for-sale wedding bands. Amanda and Drake, my favorite couple, who go on a search for truth and reality in Borneo. Amanda, who, above everyone else, has the ability to reach redemption and to understand the truth. And then to the Babylon Gardens, the nursery to the stars, and to the woman who owns the business and the man who lives with her.
Finally, to the last scene, where we really don't see anything. It is all in our head. It is all dialogue, no action and simple prose. It is all our impression, and really isn't that what the road to life is,BK?
Stephen Wright is a magician with his pen. As he says "I think, when your sense of self becomes more and more fragile and more and more tenuated and there's less control then. What lies in the wake is a life of just sheer impulse and living for the moment, etcetera. This is where a lot of people going up to prison live. That's why they have problems. They don't know how to channel all this or even how to successfully repress it. This is what learning to be civilized is all about, learning how to deal with your anger, your rage that everyone has." And Stephen Wright has the right idea, we are all but a moment away from our next impulse. Scares the Hell out of you, doesn't it?
Highly, Highly recommended. Terrific book. prisrob 5-13-06
Brilliant........2005-01-24
I read this novel when it came out, and have waited
impatiently ever since for a follow-up. Occasionally I
come to Amazon.com and check in to see if
S. Wright has anything on the horizon, but so far,
no go.
I remember starting this book, and I felt as every word,
every scene was lighted by kleiglights. If you are a true
reader, you will love this book. If not, buy a Robert Ludlum
or a John Grisham.
(I do want to disagree with one reader, who felt that
Annie Proulx's "Accordian Dreams" didn't add up to a
real novel. Novels, like houses or churches or human
beings, can be shaped in innumerable designs. Do
yourself a favor. Read both).
The Real Thing.......2004-03-25
I have been getting very disillusioned with most of the male writers in this country whose perspective is invariably that of an adolescent male (no matter what their ages) but this writer is the real thing. He gets deeply into his characters in the most economical way and he knows them inside out. I haven't even finished this novel but already feel moved to write a testimonial. This book is about everything American. Its structure is a road book-cum-linked stories. Each one is a perfect, complete cameo of whatever life he is depicting, whether the loner hitchhiker harassed by cops on a freeway who is picked up by a trucker, his cab papered in glossy pictures of naked pin ups, or a debauch at a sex ranch whose reigning queen decides to film a sexually-oriented version of Christ's passion (her summation of the effort: "Blasphemy, I don't know, should be more droll") or a suburban couple entertaining another suburban couple or a couple spinning in a world conjured by crack cocaine, Wright is pitch perfect on details, on dialogue, on feelings, moods, atmosphere. This is a GREAT writer. He does what everybody is doing and yet he notches it up to the highest level. I don't understand why he isn't justly celebrated. In a hundred years when people want to feel what it was like to be alive in our time, this is the writer they will go to.
A Work of Genius.......2003-11-14
This experimental novel crackles and sizzles with intelligence and sardonic wit. As others here have pointed out, each chapter is a self-contained or modular unit, a complete short story. The shadowy figure of Wylie aka Tom Hanna flickers in and out of these chapters. You're never sure what lies or mayhem will follow. The prose style is hallucinatory. As someone else said, it torques up reality to an intensity that renders even the most banal act in poetic terms, while the sporadic violence is mind-numbingly intense and intimate.
I can't understand why this book is currently out of print. It is a towering literary achievement, one of the greatest novels of modern times. If you're ready for a blizzard of dizzying language, a breakneck narrative drive and the intricacies of a kaliedoscopic novelistic form, then you too will love this book.
Going Nowhere.......2002-11-17
I can't believe the laudatory reviews this novel as received. Extremely long-winded with no discernible plot, direction or characterization. This is one of those novels that doesn't make any sense at all but receives positive reviews because people think "well, I didn't understand it, so it must be good." Sorry, I don't give any writer that much credit. Don't waste your time or money on this one.
Book Description
Tell Them We Are Going Home details the courageous journey of the Northern Cheyennes, under the leadership of Little Wolf and Dull Knife, from Indian Territory northward to their homelands in the Powder River Country. Incorporating the perspectives of the Cheyennes, the U.S. military, the Indian Bureau, and the Kansas settlers who encountered the traveling Indians, this book provides a complete account of the odyssey, along with source material never before presented in print.The conflict between the Northern Cheyennes and the military began with the destruction of Dull Knife's winter village by cavalry troops in late 1876, at the close of the Great Sioux War. The survivors among Dull Knife's people, along with other Northern Cheyenne bands, were ordered to report to Fort Reno and the Darlington Agency in Indian Territory during the summer of 1877. Monnett describes the group's difficult seventy-day march to the agency, where the northern group began to sicken shortly after their arrival. Medical supplies were slow to arrive, and the food allotments were insufficient. By the spring of 1878, many of the Northern Cheyennes found life in Indian Territory intolerable. They formally asked to be taken back to the higher, dry country of Montana. When their request was refused, a group of about three hundred men, women, and children slipped away from the Darlington Agency during the early morning hours of September 10, 1878, led by Little Wolf and Dull Knife. Immediately the army marshaled the technological resources of a modern nation against them. Monnett chronicles the Cheyennes dramatic fifteen-hundred-mile trek through Kansas, Nebraska, and portions of Wyoming and Montana, which became one of the most important episodes in American history and in Cheyenne memory. Only when their plight was brought to national attention were the Northern Cheyennes officially allowed to return to their homelands and a new reservation established there for them.
Customer Reviews:
a great part of history finally told.......2006-11-05
This book cronicles the northern cheyenne tribe on their travels back to their ancestrial home land during the last remaining years of westward domination by whites. The book is well written and from an objective historical point of view, only focusing on facts and records. I am currently enroled in the authors (Dr. Monnett) class, Native Americans in American History, at Metropolitian State College of Denver. He provides the information from his years of research on the whole of the native american community as well as american history. I recommend this book to those interested in the Native American contributions to the american culture and those who feel the history of native americans has been written from a biased perspectivefor to long.
Don't Miss "Holding Stone Hands".......2003-04-24
Monnet's book is fine, as is Stan Hoig's, which is also mentioned below. But it's especially good to see Mari Sandoz treated with respect by the other reviewers. Although not an academic researcher, her work will be read for the next century and beyond for its beauty and honesty. She was among the first to consider Native Americans as fully formed human beings, and she was doing so in the 1930s-1950s; we're all in her debt.
Another fine book on the Cheyenne walk home is Alan Boye's fine memoir, "Holding Stone Hands." Boye walked the length of the Cheyenne trail, or as close to it as anyone could in 1998. He was accompanied much of the way by an alternating group of descendants of the survivors. His book is so good that when he arrives in Fort Robinson, you will be with him when he is greeted by Cheyenne men, women and children who have been waiting for him. Later, you'll go with him to the massacre site where the current owners, local ranchers, leave him to walk alone.
Don't miss "Holding Stone Hands."
A Comprehensive and Much Needed History.......2002-11-13
To my knowledge this is the first comprehensive work on the Cheyennes trek north since Mari Sandoz's often controversial "Cheyenne Autumn." In acknowledging this in his introduction, John H. Monnett, in line with some other historians, terms Sandoz's work a novel. While I would characterize her work more as, what is now known as, creative non-fiction, I agree with Monnett when he states that "[s]uch passion often evokes intense dedication to a specific viewpoint at the dismissal of others..." (xvi)
In this book, Monnett has provided a more 'well-rounded" but only slightly less moving depiction of the Cheyennes struggle to return to their homeland. And to his credit, unlike many modern historians, he does not dismiss Sandoz's work out of hand. Indeed, anyone handling this subject would be foolish to overlook her extensive and meticulous research, much of which is based on records and oral histories no longer available. However, also included in his many sources are researchers like George Bird Grinnell (who is famous for his interviews of the Cheyennes and preserving their oral history), and more recent work by John D. McDermott who apparently turned over all of the research he was originally planning to use for a work of his own on the subject. Also, enjoyable for those of us who like following up on sources, Monnett is one of the few who are now beginning to list Internet sites in their bibliographies.
While presenting all facts in a straight forward manor, it would be difficult to call this work even handed. Indeed, I defy anyone to research this subject in depth and not come away with a strong sympathy for the Cheyennes and their cause. However, Monnett also is careful to include extensive information on the attacks by the young Cheyennes men on Kansas settlers.
If I have one criticism of this work however, it would be Monetts 'in-depth" analasys of these "depredations", and the need to somehow justify them to modern readers. This was the way American Indians fought. It was part of their culture, and, as such, it requires no justification. They did not keep standing armies who were considered the only fair game in battle, and, to the young men, at least, who faced diminishing opportunities to prove themselves as warriors, anyone encroaching on their old hunting grounds was an enemy, who had no right to be there. It is actually more amazing, as Monnett clearly points out, that the leaders, Little Wolf and Dull Knife, had the political savvy to try to discourage such raids, knowing that it would turn popular opinion against them--as it sometimes did.
This,however, is only a minor point in a work that deserves much praise. Anyone interested in Native American history, or indeed, American history in general should read this. However, I would still recommend "Cheyenne Autumn," in that it complements Monnett's work by presenting more in the way of Native culture, and being one of the first books to "humanize" the subject.
A solid history of tragic events.......2002-10-30
"Tell Them We Are Going Home: The Odyssey of the Northern Cheyennes" is a solid account of the 1878 attempted exodus of about 300 Northern Cheyenne men, women and children from a reservation in the Indian Territory (Oklahoma) to their traditional homeland in the Northern Plains. The Government ordered the US Army to stop the refugees. Although author John Monnett's sympathies are openly with the Indians, he presents a balanced picture of events, recognizing that the soldiers sent in pursuit were basically men doing their duty to the best of their ability, not stereotypical villains as too often portrayed in popular media in the past few decades. Monnett also does not ignore the killing of civilian ranchers and farmers nor the rape of white women carried out by some of the young Cheyenne warriors during their trek across Kansas. In attempting to understand the motivation behind such acts, Monnett explores the traditional explanation that it was largely revenge for the killing of a group of Southern Cheyennes in the same area a few years before (this view was stressed by Mari Sandoz in her "Cheyenne Autumn" book) and casts considerable doubt on the notion. At times, Monnett veers into academic jargon (we are told that "Little Wolf died in his beloved Tongue River country, albeit reimagined according to the Euro-American vision of geographical borders") and he perhaps tries too hard to give the events great symbolic significance ("The Indians who fell in the terrible pit on Antelope Creek symbolize displaced peoples everywhere whose sense of home and desire for independence transcends the love of life"), but his book nonetheless is a readable, quite detailed narrative which ultimately remains true to the author's intent of being fair to all involved.
Inevitably, Monnet's "Tell Them We Are Going Home" must be compared to Stan Hoig's recently published "Perilous Pursuit: The U.S. Cavalry and the Northern Cheyennes" about these same events. If asked to recommend one over the other, my inclination would be to say, "Read both." Monnett and Hoig's views of the Cheyennes and their Army pursuers are much the same. Monnett's narrative perhaps contains more small details of individual experiences for a vivid story, but Hoig's book probably provides a somewhat more comprehensive picture of military operations. Neither book, unfortunately, has sufficient maps to fully follow events easily, but both contain numerous photographs of participants and locations of interest. Comparison might also be made to Mari Sandoz's "Cheyenne Autumn." However lyrically written Sandoz's book is, it cannot stand along Monnett's work (nor that of Hoig) as a reliable account of events. "Cheyenne Autumn" so closely identifies with the Indians that the white side of the story is not only inadequately presented but also distorted into almost cartoon villainy at times. "Cheyenne Autumn" is a pleasure to read, but it should not be mistaken for real history. Interestingly, in his text Monnett refers to Sandoz's book as a "novel".
Great book!.......2002-06-22
In a country that holds the notion of freedom in such high regard, it's surprising the story of the Northern Cheyenne's desperate 1500-mile exodus to their homeland has hardly registered on America's popular history radar. The resolve, determination and sheer courage of the Cheyenne people's attempt at freedom and dignity warrant recognition on par with any display of courage exhibited through out human history.
I read this book as a follow up to 'Cheyenne Autumn' by Mari Sandoz. For those unfamiliar with the event, I would recommend reading Sandoz book first to fully appreciate the human drama, then read Monnett's excellent work for the non-fiction angle. Monnett's book is a concise, well written, fact filled account of the journey. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in western history or humanity in general. It's very readable and well researched account.
Book Description
On any list of the world's most pressing problems, water scarcity and water quality inevitably rank high. These issues and their related concerns often emerge in the major topics of the day, including Walkerton, free trade and globalization debates and drought.
Despite all the pessimism surrounding the future of the world's drinking water, many predicaments can be remedied with simple conservation methods. Home-based water conservation starts with How to Get Your Lawn Off Grass, the only North America-wide guide on how to convert your yard from a water-sucking source of pollution runoff to a flourishing, productive showcase of natural vegetation. While 1.3 billion people on the planet don't have access to safe drinking water, 60% of ours goes into conventional turf-grass lawns and ornamental, exotic gardens.
Runoff from chemical treatment of lawns and gardens has seriously compromised groundwater supplies everywhere in the United States and Canada. We have put garden cosmetics ahead of our health.
How to Get Your Lawn Off Grass teaches how to conserve water and prevent the pollution of groundwater. It covers how to cut, roll up and compost turf-grass lawn (and water-sucking, ornamental "exotic" garden plants) and how to replace them with gorgeous native ground covers: flowers, shrubs, trees and grasses that will need no fertilizers, no chemical controls for pests, no mowing and, after the first year, no watering. This is a vital publication for all North Americans who are concerned about water scarcity and water quality.
Customer Reviews:
promising title.......2002-12-24
Upon seeing the title of this book, I automatically picked it up and bought it. Being a chemical free gardener in the midst of a drought, I ran home elated at my good fortune in finding the very book I was hoping for. I have to say that my heart sank when I realized this was not a book exclusively about lawns(that space in the landscape used for family play,visual respite and contrast, and in design, for "negative space"), and how to manage them through use of different grasses and ground covers, and xeriscaping etc. This book has some good information in it and I would recommend it to the homeowner wanting some good tips for their garden. I myself learned a new thing or maybe two. It is in no way the comprehensive treatise on the subject its enticing title suggests. I would recommend any of the Rodale books out there first, but feel that there can never be too many books dedicated to the promotion of Gardening in an environmentally responsible fashion, And this a fine addition to someone building their collection . Finally it has to be said that the gardens featured in this book are not beautifully designed master pieces, a pity really.
Average customer rating:
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Going Indian
James F. Hamill
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Native American
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
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Cultural
| Anthropology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Anthropology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Native American Studies
| Special Groups
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Oklahoma
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0252072790 |
Customer Reviews:
Great book!.......2006-04-24
This is an excellent book about Indian identity. I had the opportunity to work with Jim Hamill at Miami University. He writes with experience and passion. Congratuations, Jim! I loved the book.
Average customer rating:
- A Deep Pool of the Unexpected
- I loved this book!
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Walking Without Footprints: Going Native in America
Connie Delaney
Manufacturer: Writers Advantage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
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Women
| Specific Groups
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
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General
| Humor
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0595246605 |
Book Description
Sit back in your chair and drop out of society at the same time. This book takes you on the journey of one young American as she shuns the world of commerce and escapes into the wilderness to learn from the rivers and trees.
Walking Without Footprints is the compelling story of the author in the early 1970Â's as she grabs a backpack and heads into the mountainous wilderness of central Colorado. ConnieÂ's story intertwines with wisdom and tales from Zen, Buddhist and Sufi traditions as she learns to escape from her own mind and conditionings. Add to this mix the past instigation of Catholic school nuns and the free-thinking mentality of the baby-boomer generation and you have a rebel who wonÂ't quit until she has reached the deepest core of what it means to be a human being, alive on our planet today.
Follow Connie on her adventure as she pitches a tipi and gets snowed into a mining claim cabin. Discover how to listen with your elbows, overcome fear of death, track a cougar, and walk through the world leaving no footprints behind. YouÂ'll never see your day-to-day life the same again.
Customer Reviews:
A Deep Pool of the Unexpected.......2003-07-07
I, too, loved this book! Connie describes herself as "the kind of a person who can sit down and read a whole book in a day." That's exactly what I did with her book. I couldn't put it down.
It's a great adventure story, a courageous survival tale, a native-to-America biographical account in an authentic voice. It's a stages of life journey with a packet of profound insights which occurred to the author in the context of daily life. She didn't go sit on a mountain top--well, yes she did--but she didn't go to get away from it all--well, yes she did--but she didn't have an agenda in mind, no pre-determined dogma to live by, just the desire "to find the free, natural way to live." What she found, beyond the events of the story, were deep spiritual realizations, consonant with those from the world's great mystical traditions. I found it awe-some and amazing. Truth reveals itself in all circumstances. As she says, "We are deep pools of the unexpected."
I loved this book!.......2002-12-10
I loved this book! I would encourage every person who has ever reflected back on thier life, anyone who has ever asked why?, anybody who has ever tried to make sense of this crazy world we live in, to read Connie Delaney's Walking Without Footprints. Walk along with Connie as she explores the world with her unabashed humanity exposed at every turn. There is great adventure here, and love, and wisdom, and folly. All of this spiced with her unique brand of humor, and interpretation of life's mysteries from Zen, Sufi, and Buddhist traditions. I laughed out loud at Connie's attempts to erect a tipi for the first time, puzzled over her fascination with a grasshopper incident, and grieved with her over the loss of a child. This is truly a manual for wayward adventurers, filled with stories and advice only Connie could dream up. I was fascinated by her journey of self-discovery, and all the appealing, mysterious, and appalling experiences which life brought to her... and now are shared with us. I hope there will be a sequel to Walking Without Footprints - I'd like to find out what happens next! For now, I wish I could send a copy to every forty-something friend I know. As we all reflect back on our own journey through this world, we can at least see how one person did it! (And lived to tell about it!) Thanks, Connie, for a great read!
Books:
- Lady in Waiting: Developing Your Love Relationships
- Lonely Planet Fast Talk Spanish: Essential Language for Short Trips; Sightseeing, Business, Shopping, Sleeping, Transport (Fast Talk Guide)
- Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs
- More Natural Cures Revealed: Previously Censored Brand Name Products That Cure Disease
- My Secret: A PostSecret Book (Postsecret)
- My Sister's Keeper: A Novel
- Night Watch
- Northern Flight of Dreams: Flying Adventures in British Columbia, Yukon, Nw Territories, and Alaska
- Once Upon a Day: A Novel
- Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season
Books Index
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- 1998 Miller Gaap for Not-For-Profit Organizations: Plus Tax and Regulatory Reporting
- Public Finance and Public Choice: Two Contrasting Visions of the State
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Walking With Grandfather: The Wisdom of Lakota Elders
The Day the World Ended at Little Bighorn: A Lakota History
The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living
The Journey Of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History
Standing in the Light: A Lakota Way of Seeing (American Indian Lives Series)
