Miracle Hill: The Story Of A Navajo Boy

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Summary: Recommended reading for students of Native American Studies
Review: First begun in 1962 as a 12th grade classroom assignment to pen the author's life story, Miracle Hill: The Story Of A Navajo Boy is the memoir of growing up and earning his passage into manhood. Author Blackhorse Mitchell recounts learning Navajo ways, herding sheep, living at a boarding school, the first time he encountered white people, and eventually, earning a place in the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, where his creative talent was encouraged and given ample opportunity to grow. Relating daily life in plain terms that transcent cultural barriers, Miracle Hill offers a unique and unforgettable picture of the Southwest. Highly recommended reading for students of Native American Studies as well as the non-specialist general reader with an interest in contemporary Native American culture.



Rating:
Summary: Autobiography Catche Feeling of Talking to Navajo
Review: MIRACLE HILL is Blackhorse Mitchell's autobiography. He began the book at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe as a writing student. It tells the story of his growing up on the Navajo Reservation in the Four Corners. Much of what he talks about is familiar to me, because I live near the reservation, on the New Mexico side of the Four Corners. I've read about Navajo children going to boarding school, the role of grandparents in Navajo culture, the importance of visions and dreams to the Navajo, and the work of herding sheep in other Navajo biographies. What is special about MIRACLE HILL, however, is Mitchell's use of language. Navajo is a very un-European language in terms of syntax, tense and pronunciation. It's hard for us to learn, if we don't start as babies. It's also hard for Navajos to learn English, if they don't start very young. When anybody tranlates from one language to another, they end up with their own idioms--something they put together that wouldn't nornally quite go that way in the language they're trying to speak, but actually comes from their own language. We all know the old Pennsylvania Dutch expression The milk is out -- meaning the milk is all gone. This is a direct translation of German, but not totally "correct" in English. We must say "all gone", or "we're out of milk." A German can simply say "Alles", all or "Aus", out and it's perfectly gramatically correct. Blackhorse Mitchell has caught this sense of working between two languages in MIRACLE HILL. We get a sense of our language through his eyes, and that is a touching and humbling experience. It is what makes the book good. It makes me realize how many ways we can use grammer and construct sentences to make ourselves understood. It reassures me that all human languages are very rich. We would all do well to learn a couple that are not our own. Unfortunately, the rhythm of Mitchell's words and his mixing of tenses sometimes makes MIRACLE HILL hard to follow. This isn't a book to read on the beach. You need a quiet place to think about MIRACLE HILL. Once you find that spot and get into the language, it's a good read.