"Dazzling. . . . In glittering prose, Momaday recalls stories passed
down through generations, illuminating the earth as a sacrosanct place
of wonder and abundance. At once a celebration and a warning, Earth
Keeper is an impassioned defense of all that our endangered planet
stands to lose." -- Esquire
A magnificent testament to the earth, from Pulitzer Prize-winning
novelist and poet N. Scott Momaday.
One of the most distinguished voices in American letters, N. Scott
Momaday has devoted much of his life to celebrating and preserving
Native American culture, especially its oral tradition. A member of the
Kiowa tribe, Momaday was born in Lawton, Oklahoma and grew up on Navajo,
Apache, and Peublo reservations throughout the Southwest. It is a part
of the earth he knows well and loves deeply.
In Earth Keeper, he reflects on his native ground and its influence on
his people. "When I think about my life and the lives of my ancestors,"
he writes, "I am inevitably led to the conviction that I, and they,
belong to the American land. This is a declaration of belonging. And
it is an offering to the earth."
In this wise and wonderous work, Momaday shares stories and memories
throughout his life, stories that have been passed down through
generations, stories that reveal a profound spiritual connection to the
American landscape and reverence for the natural world. He offers an
homage and a warning. He shows us that the earth is a sacred place of
wonder and beauty, a source of strength and healing that must be honored
and protected before it's too late. As he so eloquently and simply
reminds us, we must all be keepers of the earth.
