Between Earth & Sky: Legends of Native American Sacred Places

I have worked as a storyteller in schools. Kids of all backgrounds love native stories! All of Joseph Bruchac's books are high quality, museum pieces, just really good, the apotheosis [ideal] of what a storybook could be like.  Journey to the Ancestral Self: The Native Lifeway Guide to Living in Harmony with the Earth Mother (Bk.1)  gives a very good description of the native lifeways around stories, and  Whispers of the Ancients: Native Tales for Teaching and Healing in Our Time  gives another view of native storytelling.  The Original Instructions: Reflections of an Elder on the Teachings of the Elders, Adapting Ancient Wisdom to the Twenty-First Century  is another book that gives you native context, by an author who also has native storybooks in print, including  The Children of the Morning Light: Wampanoag Tales as Told By Manitonquat . Entering into native lifeways is not necessarily judgeable by white man culture, as  House of Shattering Light: Life as an American Indian Mystic  shows. One thing one notices in native cultures is that they ask new questions, something like one sees in  Quantum Power Questions . I find native metaphysics to be similar to Quantum Mechanics. While not a native book,  Matrix Energetics: The Science and Art of Transformation  gives some ideas on how life would work, from that perspective.  The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin / The Subtleties of the Inimitable Mulla Nasrudin  has stories about tricksters, which are not dissimilar to native stories. teachingdrum.org used to have a list of books of native stories, which is the most comprehensive I've seen. That is a nonprofit, and I have no connection with them, this cites the info resource only. All storytelling is fascinating.  Renard the Fox  is one example of European stories about animals, which are not totally dissimilar. Stories are fascinating. If you want to entrance, train, entertain, educate, and improve children, nothing is faster or easier than storytelling. This book is useful.

I bought this book as part of a collaborative lesson plan on how the Native Americans honor the Earth as sacred. I learned things I never knew, especially about what they believe about the Cardinal directions. Beautiful and well written for students to understand.

I originally bought this with the idea of supplementing our Native American unit at home, but this is just a beautiful book all on its own, which helps in solidifying the idea how the sacred and the divine aren't always found in buildings.

preface to the book is as important as the rest. Beautiful

Bought for my grandson, he loves it.

I purchased this book for my grandsons to learn about the culture and religions of Native Americans. At first they were so-so about this. Now, when I visit, they can't wait to tell me what they have learned. I don't know the historical accuracy of the book, all i know is it has generated a respect for and an interest in the children to learn more about our Native Americans. Mission accomplished!

Take away the romanticism, the idea of the noble savage, the cultural buy in to having done enough to right the wrongs of the past toward our Indian kin. We are left with the stark reality of what real life Indians face today, often drifting in waters unanchored by force from their cultural past.

Beautiful illustrations. Just received the book yesterday. I needed it for a multicultural literature class. Looking forward to sharing with my students.

Beautiful

Anyone interested in the history of Native Americans on Turtle Island should have this book! JB mentions places that you have never heard of before!! What a beautiful world is depicted in this book - stretching from sea to sea.....you will learn about sacred places and what they mean....

This was a present so cannot say what it was like.