Navajo: Visions and Voices across the Mesa

Citation: Begay, Shonto. 1995. Navajo: Visions and Voices Across the Mesa. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

Plot Summary: Navajo: Visions and Voices Across the Mesas is a beautiful poetry book written and illustrated by Shonto Begay. The poems/narratives create a realistic view of his life as a Navajo on the Mesa and the struggles between two cultures, the differences of Native Americans and the rest of the world.

Critical Analysis: Shonto Begay has created a chronological book of poetry/free verse. It begins with life as a child growing up on the mesa and progresses to life as an adult. The purpose of the book is to relay the life of the Navajo through pictures and words. Begay does an exceptional job capturing the reader's attention with beautiful illustrations and captivating writing. The honoring of the earth mother and all the beautiful things she creates is an underlying tone. The beautiful descriptions of women and their due respect are sprinkled throughout. In the poem "Grandmother" those attributes are very evident. "The lines in her face were marks of honor, countless winters gazing into the blizzard, many summers in the hot cornfield… the whiteness of her windblown hair a halo against the setting sun…she lived 113 years." To think of the beauty of a woman and to be able to communicate that into words is amazing. Begay maintains the simplicity of Native Americans. The word combination flows as the wind through the mountains, just smooth. Again in the poem "In My Mother Kitchen" the strength and beauty of the woman is evident. "My mother's gentle movements light up dark corners, Her gentle smiles recall childhood dreams still so alive, My mother moves in and out of light, Like clouds on days of promising rain." Shonto Begay has created an excellent book of the lives of Navajo's on the mesa.

Reviews Accessed: Booklist (December 15, 2004 (Vol. 101, No. 8) Black Elk, a member of the Lakota Sioux, had a dream as a boy that showed the world as a sacred hoop, sheltering all living things. The dream also revealed his purpose in life: to protect his people and to spread the message that people should share love and respect with all living things. This compact book chronicles Black Elk's life, which was filled with both peace and war, including fighting with Crazy Horse at Little Bighorn. There is also much about John Neihardt, the author who sought out Black Elk and gathered his stories in Black Elk Speaks. There is probably more here about the relationship between Neihardt and Black Elk than there is clarification of Black Elk's philosophy, but this is a credible overview and an interesting addition to the Spiritual Biographies series. From Publishers Weekly With these heartfelt paintings, poems and memoirs, the noted Navajo artist fulfills his stated goal of taking the reader "into the corners of my world, the Navajo world." Similar in conception to George Little child's This Land Is My Land, this book places more emphasis on the traditional and spiritual, its contemporary setting notwithstanding. The sacred intertwines with the everyday; topics here range from storytelling, a solar eclipse and a healing ritual to riding in a truck and attending a tribal fair. Begay also explores the "constant struggle for balance" between his two worlds, as in "Storm Pattern," where he recalls his mother gently refusing to introduce images he saw in magazines into her rug weaving, images he now recognizes as corporate logos. Some of the paintings are dappled watercolors like those in Ma'ii and Cousin Horned Toad, others acrylics with thick, dynamic brushstrokes. Whatever the style, each reveals an intimate knowledge of a people in harmony with the land. Accessed www.titlewave.com 7/11/07

Connections: Shaw, Maura D. Black Elk : Native American man of spirit. ISBN: 1-59473-043-1.

Bruchac, Joseph. The earth under Sky Bear's feet : Native American poems of the land. ISBN: 0-698-11647-X.

Walker, Niki. Native North American wisdom and gifts. ISBN: 0-778-70384-3