Left Handed, Son of Old Man Hat

A Navajo Autobiography

Left Handed, Walter Dyk

• Publisher: Bison Books
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781496206213
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Native American Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

With a simplicity as disarming as it is frank, Left Handed tells of his birth in the spring of 1868 "when the cottonwood leaves were about the size of [his] thumbnail, " of family chores such as guarding the sheep near the hogan, and of his sexual awakening. As he grows older, his account turns to life in the open: nomadic cattle-raising, farming, trading, communal enterprises, tribal dances and ceremonies, lovemaking, and marriage. As Left Handed grows in understanding and stature, the accumulated wisdom of his people is revealed to him. He learns the Navajo lifeway, which is founded on the principles of honesty, foresightedness, and self-discipline. The style of the narrative is almost biblical in its rhythms, but biblical, too, in many respects, is the traditional way of life it recounts.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Foreword
• Preface
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 19
• About Left Handed
• About Walter Dyk
• About Jennifer Denetdale