Pieces of White Shell

by Terry Tempest Williams

Book Overview

This unusual book is an introduction to Navajo culture by a storyteller. Steeped in the lore of the Navajo reservation, where she worked as a teacher, the author came to see Navajo legend and ritual as touchstones for evaluating her own experience. She presents them here as a means for all people to locate their own history, traditions, and sense of how to live well.

"To know the oral tradition of Native American people is to feel the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826309690
• ISBN13: 9780826309693
• Release Date: May 1987
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Meditation on the Navajo

Terry Tempest Williams' thoughtful and poetic meditation on Navajo life and culture was published in 1984, about the same time as her children's book, "The Secret Language of Snow." Both books vibrate with the sense of wonder and attention that characterizes all her work. Her prose is light, precise, yet provocative, as if each consideration could become a prayer: "A bouquet of feathers bound by yarn. If I offer them to Sun and push off with my mind, can I then know flight?" Einstein wrote that the most beautiful and most profound emotions are derived from our sensation of the mystical. "Pieces of White Shell" shimmers with that sensation while remaining anchored to nature, people, and the essentialness of everyday life. Referring to Navajo children, she writes: "I could feel their thoughts stirring the room. But the room was closed to me. The children were doubled up in secrets." Although Terry Tempest Williams has written more complex books, this beautifully illustrated (by Clifford Brycelea) short book about her time among the Navajo remains my favorite, and I kept it nearby while writing Ophelia's Ghost. "Pieces of White Shell" is both traditional and speculative, providing hope for all of us.

A must read

Books by Terry Tempest Williams are great additions to any home library. Encourage your children to read them. Her books are easy to understand, comfortable to read, and informative.

Full of Earth Wisdom

Williams has that all-too-rare ability to shed her own shoes and don the footwear of the Dine as she guides us on her journey through Navajoland. We learn about Navajo mythology and ritual. We see how the people respond to their environment, creating themselves in the process.One of my favorite passages deals with a young woman's coming-of-age ceremony, Kinaalda. A young woman's ability to give life is celebrated through a ceremony that can last up to five days. Blessings are heaped upon her, her jewelry is washed along with her hair while the community sings "Songs of Dawn" and prepares a special cake. How different from American culture. We do not have a cultural celebration, acknowledging the life-giving potential of young women. Adolescent girls may get a clinical explanation of mesntruation during gym class at school. No party here! And more often than not, a girl feels this is something that must remain hidden from the community. If she's lucky, she has a best friend in whom she can confide. Navajo people celebrate the life-giving potential of a young woman. What an empowering message this must send to Navajo girls as they celebrate this ritual communally.Pieces of White Shell is full of earth wisdom. Landscape--especially the mountains. They come alive through the story of their origins. Yucca. So many different uses for this desert plant. Soap, sandals, baskets, games, food. Stories of animals. Coyote--that border figure on the edge of the profane and sacred. Deer--Deer Gods giving instruction on how they should be hunted and used. Pieces of White Shell is a book that I savor again and again. And it always satisfies.