Page 5 - winter 2020

Friends oF red rock canyon 5

By Sharon Schaaf

Sharon’s Slant

eautifully illustrated by Arizona profes- The stories about Rattlesnake, Bear and Fox
Bsional painter Jan Taylor and wonderfully teach us lessons about human nature. Owl, Dol-
written by California Professor of Mythology Rae phin, Hawk, Crow and Duck explain the changes
Ann Kumelos, “Wild Wisdom: Animal Stories our planet makes in order to meet the needs of
of the Southwest” is a collection of fifteen Na- humans. Nature and its beauty is reflected in the
tive American stories of Butterfly, Bat, Raven, Cougar, Wolf,
stories from Fox, Bobcat, Buffalo and Turkey.
the Navajo/
Dine, Yokut of “The Gift of Wonder” is a picture book for
Central Cali- young children
fornia, Tohono and is also about
O’Odham, the animal-hu-
Sioux, Chumash man connection.
of California, It is the second
Zuni, Oneida, book about Bud-
Apache, Sho- dy the Donkey
shone, Ban- written by Lisa
nock, Kiowa Bear Goldman
and Lakota and illustrated by
Sioux Peoples. From Owl to Turkey, Coyote to Patrice Schooley.
Bobcat, Butterfly to Hummingbird, many of our Both women live
favorite animals appear in the stories. in New Mexico
and Buddy,
The author gathered her stories from three whose real name
sources: ethnographers of the 19th and 20th cen- is Burrito, lives
turies, modern day Native storytellers, and schol- with the author.
ars who study Native stories. In her retellings,
Rae Ann remained true to the original stories, Every year one animal from Buddy’s ranch
only adding a few modern touches. is chosen to deliver a message to humans that
is very important to the animals’ survival. This
My personal favorite is from the Navajo and it year Raven chooses Buddy to deliver the mes-
is about Coyote. “A Dazzling Display of Cosmic sage that all animals are precious. The young girl
Disarray” explains why the stars, except for the who Raven has chosen to receive the message
constellations, are not arranged in identifiable will forever care about all animals as a result of
patterns. It was Coyote’s idea to add light to the her encounter with Buddy. The illustrations do a
night sky and First Man realized that rock-star beautiful job helping tell the story.
mica would work. First Man spent a lot of time
placing the rocks in an orderly fashion into the Both books are available in the Elements Book
night sky. Unfortunately, Coyote grew impatient and Gift Store in the Red Rock Canyon National
with First Man, grabbing and throwing the rocks Conservation Area Visitor Center and on Ama-
into the sky, making the constellations difficult to zon. They would make ideal gifts for both the
find in the disorder. young and older readers in your family.

Winter 2020