Left Handed, Son of Old Man Hat: A Navajo Autobiography

Left Handed;Dyk, Walter

ISBN 10: 0803279582 / ISBN 13: 9780803279582

Published by Bison Books, Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.A., 1995

About this Item

8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Three initials written on flyleaf, light bumps and shelf wear.

Seller Inventory # 031267

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Left Handed, Son of Old Man Hat: A Navajo Autobiography
• Publisher: Bison Books, Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.A.
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0803279582
• ISBN 13: 9780803279582
• Binding: Trade Paperback
• Edition: First Thus
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Biography
  • Native American

About this title

Synopsis

With a simplicity as disarming as it is frank, Left Handed tells of his birth in the spring "when the cottonwood leaves were about the size of my thumbnail," of family chores such as guarding the sheep near the hogan, and of his sexual awakening. As he grows older, his account turns to life in the open: nomadic cattle-raising, farming, trading, communal enterprises, tribal dances and ceremonies, lovemaking, and marriage.

 

As Left Handed grows in understanding and stature, the accumulated wisdom of his people is made known to him. He learns the Navajo life founded upon principles: the necessity of honesty, foresightedness, self-discipline. The style of the narrative is almost biblical in its rhythms; but biblical, too, in many respects, is the traditional way of life it recounts.

About the Author

Introducing this new edition is Luci Tapahonso, a professor of English at the University of Kansas. She is the author of A Breeze Swept Through and Saanii Dahataal—The Women Are Singing: Poems and Stories.