Summarizing a content-rich trilogy about the complex worldview of the Navajo is no simple task. More books have been written about this Native American tribe than perhaps any other, a trend that started in the 1890s and continues to the present. One might ask, why three more books, and what makes them different? The answers lie in the approach. While many studies attempt to interpret this culture's inner workings, most are written by white men who miss the insider perspective, while Navajo informants, who may understand why something is done, concentrate on what is more easily explainable. This often results in a detailed accounting of what transpired, but misses the feelings and reasoning of the practitioners. This is not to criticize the previous work of some of the “deans” of Navajo studies—Washington Matthews, Father Berard Haile, Gladys Reichard, Leland Wyman, and others—but only to recognize that there is a far...

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