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A review by emmaito
Earth Keeper: Reflections on the American Land by N. Scott Momaday
4.0
“A teacher once said to me, write little & write well. He was a poet & a man who took literature seriously. He wrote this: ‘Unless we understand the history that produced us, we are determined by that history. We may be determined in any event, but the understanding gives us a chance.’ What is the critical force of that understanding, I wonder? Are we to witness the eclipse of our civilization? Or are we to take the chance? The teacher raised Airedales for show & tended an orchard in his backyard. Had he not taken literature seriously, he told me, he would have been a farmer.”
Short but incredibly thought provoking passages like this fill Earth Keeper, by N. Scott Momaday, a member of the Kiowa tribe. Poetic & lyrical, Momaday reflects on the earth through shared stories, memories, thoughts, & drawings. Although Earth Keeper is short, it is a book well worth revisiting & has me thinking too of Dina Gilio-Whitaker’s As Long As Grass Grows & environmental justice. As the book flap mentions so perfectly; “He shows us that the earth is a sacred place of wonder & beauty, a source of strength & healing that must be honored & protected before it’s too late.”
Short but incredibly thought provoking passages like this fill Earth Keeper, by N. Scott Momaday, a member of the Kiowa tribe. Poetic & lyrical, Momaday reflects on the earth through shared stories, memories, thoughts, & drawings. Although Earth Keeper is short, it is a book well worth revisiting & has me thinking too of Dina Gilio-Whitaker’s As Long As Grass Grows & environmental justice. As the book flap mentions so perfectly; “He shows us that the earth is a sacred place of wonder & beauty, a source of strength & healing that must be honored & protected before it’s too late.”