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ponch22's review against another edition
4.0
Picked this up off my library's National American Indian Heritage Month awareness endcap AND to complete part of the Reading Glasses Reading Challenge—Read a book by a Native/First Nations author.
[a:N Scott Momaday|64204|N. Scott Momaday|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1275045664p2/64204.jpg]'s [b:Earth Keeper|50997645|Earth Keeper Reflections on the American Land|N. Scott Momaday|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1586827982l/50997645._SX50_.jpg|73874520] is a short collection of essays that read like poems all about his experience and the traditions of the Kiowa tribe. It is a quick read (only ~60 pages) that I split up over Thanksgiving and National Native American Heritage Day. The first half (Dawn) focuses mostly on the Earth and our connections to it while the second half (Dusk) adds in th0ughts about our current abuses against nature.
One of my favorite passages was this early story in Dusk:
While National American Indian Heritage Month is nearly over, I don't think there'd ever be a bad time to pick this up, read some passages, and meditate on how the indigenous people had a much stronger connection to the earth & how we've severed that connection.
[a:N Scott Momaday|64204|N. Scott Momaday|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1275045664p2/64204.jpg]'s [b:Earth Keeper|50997645|Earth Keeper Reflections on the American Land|N. Scott Momaday|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1586827982l/50997645._SX50_.jpg|73874520] is a short collection of essays that read like poems all about his experience and the traditions of the Kiowa tribe. It is a quick read (only ~60 pages) that I split up over Thanksgiving and National Native American Heritage Day. The first half (Dawn) focuses mostly on the Earth and our connections to it while the second half (Dusk) adds in th0ughts about our current abuses against nature.
One of my favorite passages was this early story in Dusk:
In winter on the northern prairie I came upon a scene of ineffable beauty. There were vast sloping snowfields, and everywhere there were shrubs crusted with ice. In the January light they shone with a crystalline brilliance that glittered like shards broken from the sun. On a blue-white hillside there appeared a bull elk moving diagonally down to a dense wood and out of sight. The elk and the wilderness belonged to each other, I thought, and in the spectrum of evolution I was estranged from both. The next morning I heard the whine of chainsaws in the distance. (45)
While National American Indian Heritage Month is nearly over, I don't think there'd ever be a bad time to pick this up, read some passages, and meditate on how the indigenous people had a much stronger connection to the earth & how we've severed that connection.
calliope421109's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
towering_tbr's review against another edition
2.0
I'm not going to rate this because I read this for the Read Harder challenge knowing I didn't like poetry. The message is good but felt scattered. If I did rate it, I'd probably give it 2 stars but I don't want to drag down the average.