“We Walk the Earth in Beauty: Traditional Navajo Lifeways”

AVAILABLE NOW

“A straightforward and richly atmospheric illustrated look at traditional Navajo customs.” ~Kirkus

Experience the time-honored practices of the Navajo as shared by wisdom-keepers who live close to the land and follow ancestral ways. In We Walk the Earth in Beauty, readers will learn much that is of practical value for living in harmony with our environment. The book was created by Kathy Eckles Hooker in partnership with the extraordinary Trinidadian photographer Helen Lau Running. Read more about these creative women here.

Watch and listen as Mary Joe Yazzie fires a clay pot, Hazel Nez weaves a rug, and Sam Worker stitches a pair of moccasins for his wife. Each of the book’s 19 chapters invites readers into a Navajo family to learn traditional methods for doing everything from making yucca shampoo to building a hogan.

The book was published November 12, 2024. Buy it from your local bookstore, online retailers, or from Soulstice by clicking “ADD TO CART” above! We donate a portion of profits to the nonprofit Adopt-A-Native-Elder, which “serves to help reduce extreme poverty and hardship facing traditional Elders living on the Navajo Reservation.”

Media and retailers: To request a review copy, fill out this form or send us an email: connect@soulsticepublishing.com.

Read the full review from Kirkus.

***

“Infused with cultural knowledge and ways to live in beauty, this wise book carries our Diné elder stories.” ~Lolita Paddock, M.Ed., Principal, Leupp Schools, Inc.

Author Kathy Eckles Hooker and photographer Helen Lau Running collected these detailed descriptions and respectful images in the 1980s. The first edition of this book was published in 1991 as Time Among the Navajo. Now renamed We Walk the Earth in Beauty, this book remains a singular and important reference to traditional Navajo lifeways.

In this third edition, we replaced the earlier preface and foreword. The author updated the acknowledgments and added introductory text to each of the five parts, along with notes and a tribute to Helen Lau Running. However, to reflect the original material’s timeless nature, the descriptions in chapters one through nineteen remain unchanged except to correct typographical errors.

By republishing this book in 2024 under its new title, we intend to show our respect for the enduring, practical wisdom of the traditional Navajo way of life. We Walk the Earth in Beauty is like a time capsule, holding Navajo wisdom for everyone to appreciate.

The book is a cousin to Hooker’s other book from Soulstice, Voices of Navajo Mothers and Daughters: Portraits of Beauty (with photographer David Young-Wolff). Learn about Voices of Navajo Mothers and Daughters here.

“With the sky above, we Navajos are the walkers of the earth, and we know we are one with it.”
~Danny Blackgoat

“Seasons come and seasons go, but the Diné know how to adapt. We carry within us a deep understanding, connection, and respect for our land.” ~Lisa Puente Siyuja

For anyone who wants to learn about the traditional lifeways of the resilient Navajo people, this book opens the door. Order yours today!