Acknowledgements and Essential Reading

I wish to acknowledge the following sources of material used in this document. Without the talents and visions of the people cited below, this work would not have been possible. All work quoted directly is used with the permission of the copyright holders. I will be forever grateful to all those whose work is used here.

In addition to those works quoted here, I have added books whose reading I consider essential for even a beginning understanding of the region and its cultures. Books will be added to this list from time to time. While most books on this list may be ordered directly from Amazon.com by selecting the book title (clicking on it), a few books are no longer in print. They are still worth seeking out and reading, even if the publisher no longer finds them profitable!


Abbey, Edward, Abbey's Road, E. P. Dutton

Abbey, Edward, Beyond the Wall, Holt, Rinehart and Winston

Abbey, Edward, Desert Solitaire, Ballentine Books (Mass market paperback). (Reissue Hardcover, Univ. AZ, Paperback Reissue, illustrated by Peter Parnell, Touchstone Books)

Baars, Donald, L., The Colorado Plateau: A Geologic History, University of New Mexico Press.

Beck, Peggy V., Walters, Anna Lee, and Francisco, Nia, The Sacred, Ways of Knowledge, Sources of Life, Navajo Community College Press.

Bierhorst, John, Four Masterworks of American Indian Literature, University of Arizona Press.

Bradley, George, Of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Alfred A. Knopf

Bradley, George, Terms to be Met, Yale Series of Younger Poets, Yale University Press.

Bruchac, Joseph, Survival This Way, University of Arizona Press.

Bruchac, Joseph, Songs From This Earth On Turtle's Back, Contemporary American Indian Poetry, Greenfield Review Press.

Chronic, Halka, Roadside Geology of Arizona, Mountain Press Publishing.

Chronic, Halka, Roadside Geology of New Mexico, Mountain Press Publishing.

Coleman, Jane Candia, No Roof But Sky, High Plains Press.

Farella, John R., The Main Stalk: A Synthesis of Navajo Philosophy, University of Arizona Press.

Francisco, Nia, Blue Horses for Navajo Women, The Greefield Review Press

Frank, Della and Joe, Roberta D., STORM PATTERN: Poems From Two Navajo Women, Navajo Community College Press.

Griffin-Pierce, Trudy, Earth is my Mother, Sky is my Father, Space, Time, and Astronomy in Navajo Sandpainting, University of New Mexico Press.

Hall, Edward T., West of the Thirties: Discoveries Among the Navajo and Hopi, Anchor Books.

Harjo, Joy, In Mad Love and War, Wesleyan University Press.

Harjo, Joy, She Had Some Horses, Thunder's Mouth Press.

Harjo, Joy and Strom, Stephen E., Secrets from the Center of the World, Vol. 17 in Sun Tracks, an American Indian Literary Series, University of Arizona Press.

Levering, Donald, OUTCROPPINGs from Navajoland, Navajo Community College Press.

McCarthy, James, A Papago Traveler : The Memories of James McCarthy, University of Arizona Press.

McNamee, Gregory, Named in Stone and Sky, An Arizona Anthology, University of Arizona Press.

McNeley, James Kale, Holy Wind in Navajo Philosophy, University of Arizona Press.

Mitchell, Emerson Blackhorse, Miracle Hill the Story of a Navaho Boy, University of Oklahoma Press.

Momaday, N. Scott, The Gourd Dancer, Harper & Row.

Momaday, N. Scott, House Made of Dawn, Harper Collins. (Hardcover Reissue, Univ. AZ Press.)

Momaday, N. Scott, The Man Made of Words : Essays, Stories, Passages, Griffin. (Hardcover)

Momaday, N. Scott, The Names,Vol. 16,in Sun Tracks, an American Indian Literary Series, University of Arizona Press. (Hardcover)

Mora, Pat, Chants, Arte Publico Press.

Mora, Pat, Communion, Arte Publico Press.

Naranjo-Morse, Nora, Mud Woman, Poems from the Clay, Vol. 20 in Sun Tracks, an American Indian Literary Series, University of Arizona Press. (Hardcover)

Ortiz, Simon, Woven Stone, Vol. 21 in Sun Tracks, an American Indian Literary Series, University of Arizona Press.

Preston, Douglas, Talking to the Ground : One Family's Journey on Horseback Across the Sacred Land of the Navajo, University of New Mexico Press.

Qoyawayma, Polingaysi, No Turning Back : A Hopi Indian Woman's Struggle to Live in Two Worlds, University of New Mexico Press.

Querry, Ron, Bad Medicine, Bantam Doubleday.

Querry, Ron, The Death of Bernadette Lefthand, Ballentine Books.

Rittenhouse, Jack D., A Guide Book to Highway 66, University of New Mexico Press.

Rose, Wendy, The Halfbreed Chronicles and Other Poems, West End Press

Rosen, Kenneth, The Man to Send Rain Clouds, Contemporary Stories by American Indians, Penguin USA.

Shelton, Richard, Selected poems, 1969 - 1981, Pitt Poetry Series, University of Pittsburgh Press.

Shelton, Richard, Going Back to Bisbee, University of Arizona Press. (Hardcover)

Silko, Leslie Marmon, Almanac of the Dead, Penguin USA.

Silko, Leslie Marmon, Gardens in the Dunes, Touchstone Books. (Hardcover)

Silko, Leslie Marmon, Ceremony, Penguin USA.

Silko, Leslie Marmon, Storyteller, Arcade Books.

Spanbauer, Tom, The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon, Harper Perennial.

Tapahonso, Luci, A Breeze Swept Through, West End Press.

Tapahonso, Luci, Saanii Dahataal: The Women are Singing, Vol 23 in Sun Tracks, an American Indian Literary Series, University of Arizona Press.

Tapahonso, Luci, Seasonal Woman, Tooth of Time Books.

Walters, Anna Lee, Neon Pow-wow, Northland Publishing.

Weatherford, Jack, Indian Givers : How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World, Fawcett Books.

Weatherford, Jack, Native Roots : How the Indians Enriched America, Fawcett Books.

Williams, Terry Tempest, An Unspoken Hunger, Pantheon

Wilson, Garth A., Conversational Navajo Dictionary, Conversational Navajo Publications.
There are also materials available for learning the Navajo language.

Zepeda, Ofelia, editor, When It Rains: Papago and Pima Poetry, Vol. 7 in Sun Tracks, an American Indian Literary Series, University of Arizona Press.

Zolbrod, Paul, Dine Bahane : The Navajo Creation Story, University of New Mexico Press.


TOC Back to the Table of Contents