Death at Rainy Mountain

Death at Rainy Mountain
Author: Mardi Oakley Medawar 
Publisher: Speaking Volumes
Total Pages: 261
Release:
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1645401383

“Another great storyteller is emerging.”—Tony Hillerman Award-winning author Mardi Oakley Medawar On a scalding summer day in 1866, the Kiowa Nation gathered at Rainy Mountain to witness the magnificent Cheyenne Robber standing before them—charged with murdering a fellow tribesman. It was a day Tay-bodal would never forget. A day that threatened to tear the unity of the entire Kiowa Nation... Known as a wanderer and eccentric healer, Tay-bodal was always on the outside of the clan. Now, for the first time in his life, Tay-bodal's unconventional ways will prove invaluable to the survival of the Kiowa Nation. He has just five days to find the truth behind the murder. But Tay-bodal will discover more than truth. He will embark on a journey so spiritual, so important, that he will finally know what it is to be a Kiowa Indian... "Medawar, a Cherokee, reveals legendary Native Americans as believable people and offers her readers a comprehensive look at historical Kiowa life and values."—Publishers Weekly "Her characters, white or Indian, are people...This is our history."—Don Coldsmith, award-winning author of Runestone "More than a mystery, Medawar's novel is a beautifully written, life-affirming, heartwarming story full of adventure, humor, and tears...a cunningly plotted story that is as devilishly funny as it is charmingly told."—ALA Booklist

The Way to Rainy Mountain

The Way to Rainy Mountain
Author: N. Scott Momaday
Publisher: UNM Press
Total Pages: 104
Release: 1976-09-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 082632696X

First published in paperback by UNM Press in 1976, The Way to Rainy Mountain has sold over 200,000 copies. "The paperback edition of The Way to Rainy Mountain was first published twenty-five years ago. One should not be surprised, I suppose, that it has remained vital, and immediate, for that is the nature of story. And this is particularly true of the oral tradition, which exists in a dimension of timelessness. I was first told these stories by my father when I was a child. I do not know how long they had existed before I heard them. They seem to proceed from a place of origin as old as the earth. "The stories in The Way to Rainy Mountain are told in three voices. The first voice is the voice of my father, the ancestral voice, and the voice of the Kiowa oral tradition. The second is the voice of historical commentary. And the third is that of personal reminiscence, my own voice. There is a turning and returning of myth, history, and memoir throughout, a narrative wheel that is as sacred as language itself."--from the new Preface

The Ft. Larned Incident

The Ft. Larned Incident
Author: Mardi Oakley Medawar
Publisher: Speaking Volumes
Total Pages: 244
Release:
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1645406164

Mardi Oakley Medawar does for the Kiowa what Tony Hillerman has done for the Navaho.” —Don Goldsmith Award-winning author Mardi Oakley Medawar In 1868, following the signing of the Medicine Lodge Treaty, things are not going well for the Kiowa. When the Indian agent once again fails to live up to his promises, he is run off by the Kiowa. Tay-bodal—a healer and member of the Rattle Band—is enduring a personal crisis, and is therefore not in the best frame of mind when he is called to investigate a murder among the bands. The son of another chief, has been murdered. The one accused of killing him is the same man who has stolen Tay-bodal's wife. Unless Tay-bodal can put aside his own dislike and prove the accused innocent—and quickly—there will be war, tearing apart the Kiowa Nation. “In her debut novel, Death at Rainy Mountain, Mardi Oakley Medawar proved a Cherokee can bring the Kiowa of another epoch alive for us.” —Tony Hillerman “Recommended for its setting . . . strong mystery. . .and a moving ending that captures the passing of friendships and Kiowa society.” —Booklist “Native American traditions, culture, and intelligence lend the whole a meaty authenticity, tempered by Tay-bodal’s pragmatism and overweening compassion. A fine work; strongly recommended.” —Library Journal Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers—Writer of the Year Award

The Journey of Tai-me

The Journey of Tai-me
Author: N. Scott Momaday
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Total Pages: 96
Release: 2009
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0826348211

This precursor to The Way to Rainy Mountain was originally published in a handmade edition in 1967 and has never before been commercially available.

House Made of Dawn [50th Anniversary Ed]

House Made of Dawn [50th Anniversary Ed]
Author: N. Scott Momaday
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2018-12-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0062911066

“Both a masterpiece about the universal human condition and a masterpiece of Native American literature. . . . A book everyone should read for the joy and emotion of the language it contains.” — The Paris Review A special 50th anniversary edition of the magnificent Pulitzer Prize-winning novel from renowned Kiowa writer and poet N. Scott Momaday, with a new preface by the author A young Native American, Abel has come home from war to find himself caught between two worlds. The first is the world of his father’s, wedding him to the rhythm of the seasons, the harsh beauty of the land, and the ancient rites and traditions of his people. But the other world—modern, industrial America—pulls at Abel, demanding his loyalty, trying to claim his soul, and goading him into a destructive, compulsive cycle of depravity and disgust. An American classic, House Made of Dawn is at once a tragic tale about the disabling effects of war and cultural separation, and a hopeful story of a stranger in his native land, finding his way back to all that is familiar and sacred.

Again the Far Morning

Again the Far Morning
Author: N. Scott Momaday
Publisher: UNM Press
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2011-04-16
Genre: Poetry
ISBN: 0826348440

Although highly regarded as a writer of fiction, nonfiction, and drama, N. Scott Momaday considers himself primarily a poet. This first book of his poems to be published in over a decade, Again the Far Morning comprises a varied selection of new work along with the best from his four earlier books of poems: Angle of Geese (1974), The Gourd Dancer (1976), In the Presence of the Sun (1992), and In the Bear’s House (1999). To read Momaday’s poems from the last forty years is to understand that his focus on Kiowa traditions and other American Indian myths is further evidence of his spectacular formal accomplishments. His early syllabic verse, his sonnets, and his mastery of iambic pentameter are echoed in more recent work, and prose poetry has been part of his oeuvre from the beginning. The new work includes the elegies and meditations on mortality that we expect from a writer whose career has been as long as Momaday’s, but it also includes light verse and sprightly translations of Kiowa songs.

The Death of Sitting Bear

The Death of Sitting Bear
Author: N. Scott Momaday
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2020-03-10
Genre: Poetry
ISBN: 0062961179

“These are the poems of a master poet. . . . When you read these poems, you will learn to hear deeply the sound a soul makes as it sings about the mystery of dreaming and becoming.” — Joy Harjo, Mvskoke Nation, U.S. Poet Laureate Pulitzer Prize winner and celebrated American master N. Scott Momaday returns with a radiant collection of more than 200 new and selected poems rooted in Native American oral tradition. One of the most important and unique voices in American letters, distinguished poet, novelist, artist, teacher, and storyteller N. Scott Momaday was born into the Kiowa tribe and grew up on Indian reservations in the Southwest. The customs and traditions that influenced his upbringing—most notably the Native American oral tradition—are the centerpiece of his work. This luminous collection demonstrates Momaday’s mastery and love of language and the matters closest to his heart. To Momaday, words are sacred; language is power. Spanning nearly fifty years, the poems gathered here illuminate the human condition, Momaday’s connection to his Kiowa roots, and his spiritual relationship to the American landscape. The title poem, “The Death of Sitting Bear” is a celebration of heritage and a memorial to the great Kiowa warrior and chief. “I feel his presence close by in my blood and imagination,” Momaday writes, “and I sing him an honor song.” Here, too, are meditations on mortality, love, and loss, as well as reflections on the incomparable and holy landscape of the Southwest. The Death of Sitting Bear evokes the essence of human experience and speaks to us all.

Circle of Wonder

Circle of Wonder
Author: N. Scott Momaday
Publisher: UNM Press
Total Pages: 52
Release: 1999
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780826321497

A touching Christmas tale from Jemez Pueblo, illustrated in color by the author.

Tropical Nature

Tropical Nature
Author: Adrian Forsyth
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2011-05-24
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1439144745

Seventeen marvelous essays introducing the habitats, ecology, plants, and animals of the Central and South American rainforest. A lively, lucid portrait of the tropics as seen by two uncommonly observant and thoughtful field biologists. Its seventeen marvelous essays introduce the habitats, ecology, plants, and animals of the Central and South American rainforest. Includes a lengthy appendix of practical advice for the tropical traveler.

Earth Keeper

Earth Keeper
Author: N. Scott Momaday
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 80
Release: 2020-11-03
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 006300934X

"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.