Thunder Rides a Black Horse: Mescalero Apaches and the Mythic Present - Softcover

Claire R. Farrer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1577666992 ISBN 13: 9781577666998

Publisher: Waveland Pr Inc, 2010

Synopsis

Thunder's focus on the ways in which old myths and legends inform actions and beliefs on a contemporary Indian reservation in the American Southwest has established it as an ideal supplement for introductory classes in Native American studies, anthropology, cross-cultural religion, folklore, and discourse analysis. After nearly two-dozen printings in two editions and the garnering of hundreds of undergraduate classroom adoptions, the latest edition of Thunder includes valuable updates of reservation life and the author s fictive family members at Mescalero.

The compelling four-day and four-night Mescalero Apache girls puberty ceremonial remains the backdrop of Farrer s interpretive, introductory discussion of time and the mythic present. The oral traditions and instructions given to Farrer by the late Bernard Second, her longtime Apache teacher, provide insight into the importance of narrative not just in ceremonials but also in daily life.

Farrer neither romanticizes nor patronizes the Apachean people, who are presented as people with foibles as well as possessing much worthy of admiration. The Third Edition incorporates a fully developed concluding chapter Returning and furnishes thoughtful, end-of-chapter questions to prompt readers to explore their own reactions to the text.

Title of related interest from Waveland Press: Basso, The Cibecue Apache (ISBN 9780881332148).

Visit waveland.com for a complete list of modern and classic ethnographies on Apache, Comanche, Crow, Navajo, Papago, Pueblo, Shoshone, Sioux, and other American Indian cultures.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"Farrer's latest book crystallizes her previous work into its most powerful form to date. . . . It comes as a surprise to recognize, after finishing it, how much deep knowledge it has imparted and how cleverly it is constructed. It creates the ambience for the reader to enter the Apache mythic present." -- Anthropology and Humanism

"Foremost among the volume's many strengths is its engaging, highly readable, reflexive writing style. Descriptions of sights, smells, sounds, and colors are vivid, and the people come alive." -- American Anthropologist

"Thunder Rides a Black Horse is an excellent ethnography that makes the Mescalero Apache come to life and the author, Claire R. Farrer, a real person. The final chapter when she returns to a people she has worked with for 40 years not only brings the reader up to date but also introduces a new set of problems that confront their tribe. There is no sense of being `stuck in the past,' only a historical depth that takes the people into the future. Highly recommended for cultural anthropology classes and Native American courses." -- Robert McPherson, College of Eastern Utah

Edition details

• Publisher: Waveland Pr Inc
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1577666992
• ISBN 13: 9781577666998
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 136