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In a small town in northern New Mexico a father's untimely death
leads to mayhem and murder. Families find their lives threatened
once the father's will is read for unlike his wife, he did not
believe in primogeniture. Truth reveals that the father did not
believe in his son Granger at all and herein begins the conflict.
The father's death was to be Granger's salvation but Granger must
now find a way to gain wealth in order to maintain a family male
heir. The father's doctor and nurse know without a doubt that the
father's death was not a natural one, but can they get the daughter
Sophia to see the obvious as she suffers in her grief? Soon Granger
is shown not to be as clever as he believes himself to be when
someone else-someone who wants Granger's money and is equally as
dangerous-comes on the scene and Granger soon becomes a victim.
Sinister and clever machinations now outweigh truth and honesty.
Sophia is not willing to let her home and her loved ones be
separated from her without a fight as her relatives threaten to
remove her from all she holds dear, including life itself. Can she
survive and solve the mystery of her father's death? The body count
piles up as the story unfolds. What appears obvious may not be easy
to prove as the prodigal son falls. Includes Readers Guide. TERESA
PIJOAN was born in Espanola, New Mexico, and grew up in Indian
communities where she learned the ways and legends of the Native
People. Her father was a public health doctor from Barcelona and
her mother was a school teacher from New York. Her grandfather was
the famous Spanish author, Jose Pijoan. Teresa Pijoan is a
lecturer, storyteller, research writer, and teacher and has shared
her storytelling throughout Central Europe, Mexico, and the United
States. To storyteller Pijoan, myths are "magic lenses" through
which cultures can be viewed, understood, and deeply appreciated.
Other books by Teresa Pijoan are "Dead Kachina Man," "American
Indian Creation Myths," "Healers on the Mountain," "Pueblo Indian
Wisdom," "Native American Creation Stories of Family and
Friendship" and "Ways of Indian Magic," all from Sunstone Press.
Recorded by the author from personal interviews with Native
American storytellers, these stories hold the conflicts and
compliments of family and/or situations that test relationships.
The work is a reminder of how fragile everyone is during the
struggles to survive youth, middle age, and older years.
A unique characteristic of Native American medicine is the belief
that each patient holds a different spirit, and that the healing
can only work when it affects the individual spirit. Mythology is
essential to this healing process. The belief stories within these
pages reflect a culture that holds both poignant and alarming
lessons. Readers of this book will discover the intriguing past and
knowledge of Native American history and beliefs which are more
enlightening than they may have previously realized. Teresa Pijoan
was raised as a young child on San Juan Pueblo Reservation in New
Mexico by her Barcelona born father and her New York born mother.
When Teresa was twelve years old, her family moved to Nambe Indian
Reservation. She also spent several summers with her adopted aunt
at Hopi. As a University of New Mexico at Valencia history
professor, Teresa Pijoan, PhD, is an internationally acclaimed
author, storyteller, and lecturer. She has won many awards for her
teaching and her publications. Her other books from Sunstone Press
are "American Indian Creation Myths," "Pueblo Indian Wisdom," "Ways
of Indian Magic," and "Dead Kachina Man."
Myths tell us much about a people. And all cultures have creation
myths. The myths collected by the author in this book tell us about
the rich and varied lives and imagination of the first Americans.
They vary from simple to complex and all attempt to answer the
question of human origin. Native Americans are of profound
beginnings. Each Tribe, Group or Pueblo hold their beginning to be
truths, unique from one another. The beliefs in this book are only
a sampling of the many that still exist today. "In collecting these
tales," the author says, "no tape recorder was used and no notes
were taken during the telling. Immediately after the session
copious notes were taken and later expanded into a recreation of
the myth. Subjects were located through word of mouth and after a
short time people started coming forward and volunteering their
stories. The people hold the stories. May they continue to tell and
share with their families, communities, and the outsiders. We have
much to learn from Creation, from each other, and from the holders
of the stories." TERESA PIJOAN was raised on the San Juan Pueblo
Indian Reservation in New Mexico and later her family moved to the
Nambe Indian Reservation. She is a national lecturer, storyteller,
research writer, college professor, and teacher. She has lectured
throughout Central Europe, Mexico, and the United States.
Anyone interested in mythology and legends will enjoy these stories
which have been passed down orally for generations by the Pueblo
Indians of the American Southwest. They reveal Pueblo customs and
traditions as well as the ceremonial aspects of Pueblo religion. A
character called Grandfather, the fictional narrator of these
stories, embodies the collective wisdom of the Pueblo Indians, the
attitudes about universal dilemmas and conflicts in human life that
developed through many generations.
Some of the stories are realistic; others involve the
supernatural. Some evoke the initial contact between the pueblos
and the Spanish conquistadors. There are also tales of the joy and
bitterness of interactions between parents and children, husbands
and wives, and humans and spirits. Rites of passage and "vision
quests" often enter into the characters' attempts to live in
harmony with nature, other humans, and spirits. Lessons on how to
live, of growing up, marrying, parenting, and growing old sometimes
emerge straightforwardly in these stories, but more often, readers
are left to draw their own conclusions.
These stories, collected by the Teresa Pijoan since she was
eight years old, actually came from many different storytellers,
some of them childhood friends of the author. She had heard several
versions of each story before writing it down and she often used
elements from one version to fill in the parts missing from other
versions. She then showed her drafts of each story to members of
several different pueblos and weighed their comments before putting
each story in its present form. Ms. Pijoan grew up on the San Juan
Pueblo reservation and the Nambe Indian reservation in New Mexico,
even though she herself is not Native American. But her early
experiences and bicultural background instilled in her a deep
respect for and an understanding of pueblo life.
Stories come from the soul; the soul of the land, the souls of the
people, the soul of the earth and the soul of the Great Spirits.
Included in this book are stories which can scare you, make you
laugh, bring joy and give the reader much to think about.
In every religion, culture and language, the spirits of the dark
side are as real as the spirits of the light. The simple sorrow of
everyday life can trigger a visit from an evil spirit. Just as the
good spirits come to our aid in time of trouble, these evil ones
come to drive us further into the darkness of our despair. These
are stories of the foreboding beings and presences who exist just
outside our consciousness.
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