The Book of the Navajo

Rating:
Summary: A Splendid Account of Navajo History and Culture
Review: As a layperson with an interest in Native Americans of the Four Corners region, I was captivated by this comprehensive history of the Dineh. The book is a scholarly, yet highly readable account of the history of this proud and persevering people. There is much for us to learn of Navajo legends, ancestry and customs, as well as the shameful treatment of the Navajo at the hands of the Spanish, Mexicans, other Indian tribes and the U.S. government. The enslavement of Navajo women and children by other cultures was particularly well-documented and shocking in its extent, as was the forced relocation of the People and taking of their homelands.

This work provides any interested party with a much deeper appreciation of the strength of the People. Mr. Locke is an eloquent advocate, and evokes in the reader an overwhelming shame at our government's role in fostering the appalling conditions among which many Navajo live to this day.

The book would be enhanced by addition of maps denoting the changing tribal boundaries of the Navajo and surrounding tribes, as well as a timeline of major events in the history of the People.

Rating:
Summary: Historically Accurate and Dynamic
Review: This book is very dynamic in its broad spectrum of education. For the student of the Navajo culture or th historian wanting to know the insides and motivation of the Native Americans known as Navajos, this book is the best.

Detailed, historical and filled with details on the "white mans" conquest. Their habits, traditions, dreams, beliefs, goals, society and place in the history of the New Americas.

A must read for anyone wanting to learn about a society that has been opposed, oppressed and often forgotten. They are a brilliant culture.

Get this book. Read it well. (I read it three times!)