i can see why i had such trouble with house made of dawn when i read it ages ago, but found much more to connect with in this one. it helped me that it was small bits and a very short book, and i know that if it were long i probably would have had trouble with this one as well. breaking it up into small tastes like he did, made this much more digestible for me, and enabled me, i think, to better focus on what he wanted me to. his poetic language also worked better generally, for me, in these tiny vignettes, than in long chapters.

the idea here, of protecting the earth, and being someone who chooses to do that, is a powerful one. he writes with such beauty. sometimes it's not a long detailed lecture with all the statistics and information that can be most impactful, but a few sentences of story or of remembrance.

"The grasses glistened with dew, and a bird sang from the dawn. This happened a long time ago. I was not there. My father was there when he was a boy. He told me of it. And I was there."

"We measure time by the flow of water as it passes us by. But in truth it is we who pass through time."

"Will I give my children an inheritance of the earth? Or will I give them less than I was given?"

"At night, he said, we could hear the howls of prairie wolves. They are gone now. I would like to have seen them. Your grandfather told me that they were handsome, with long legs and beautiful yellow eyes, wild and searching. I try to see the wolves in my mind's eye, but I can only imagine them. I wish I could describe them to you. My father's voice had trailed off. Will I tell my grandchildren, I wonder, of animals they will never see?"

"The forests are diminished and waste piles upon us. Thousands of species have been destroyed. Our own is an imminent risk. The earth and its inhabitants are in crisis, and at the center it is a moral crisis. Man stands to repudiate his humanity."

"It is appropriate that we lay our words upon the earth. And so: Great Mystery, you who dwell in the endless beyond, you who spoke the first word and made of your breath the mountains and the waters, the trees and the grasses, the man and the woman and the child, hear me in my small voice. I am your thankful creature. My people and all the birds and animals are your thankful creatures. Hold us! Hold us in your hands, and make us worthy of your blessing. Tell us the old stories of your greatness, that our minds and our hearts may be nourished with wonder and delight. Let us see your likeness in the stars, and let us hear your voice in rolling thunder and in the wind and rain. Be with us forever in the sacred smoke of your being. These are my words, my offering to you, Great Mystery." ( )

Beautiful, highly recommend the audiobook version. ( )

Who would know and wonderfully convey the specialness of our Earth, more than a native. A member of the Kiowa tribe, Momaday reflects on the many ways we are connected to all things that inhabit with us, this amazing world. In short vignettes his musings contains thoughts on grasshoppers, horses, dogs, eagles, among others. Their oral tradition in how they first appeared on this earth and other creation stories. A special read.

"All things are taken back by the earth, for all things belong to it. And all things can be container in a story."

ARC from Netgalley. ( )