"For almost ninety years, Navajo medicine man John Holiday has watched the sun rise over the rock formations of his home in Monument Valley. Author and scholar Robert S. McPherson interviewed Holiday extensively and in A Navajo Legacy records his full and fascinating life." "In the first part of this book, Holiday describes how, at an early age, he began an apprenticeship with his grandfather to learn the Blessingway ceremony. Holiday's life in the high country desert of the Colorado Plateau was rooted in the livestock industry and sometimes provided only a hand-to-mouth existence. Nonetheless, he found strength through a worldview centered on the Holy Beings and their teachings." "As a youth, Holiday began performing rainmaking ceremonies. He traveled over the desert with family members to find forage for the animals and plants for healing practices. He experienced the invasion of Monument Valley by whites and later participated in the early filmmaking industry, working with director John Ford and actor John Wayne. Holiday was employed in the 1930s with the Civilian Conservation Corps and then served a brief stint in the military. During the 1950s he mined in one of the two largest uranium deposits on the Navajo Reservation. He also worked on the railroad in Utah but always returned to eke out a living with his livestock and agriculture." "In the second part of the book, Holiday details the family and tribal teachings he has acquired over a long life. He tells his grandparents' stories of the Long Walk era, discusses local attitudes about the land, relates Navajo religious stories, and recounts his training as a medicine man. All of Holiday's experiences and teachings reflect the thoughts of a traditional practitioner who has found in life both beauty and lessons for future generations."--BOOK JACKET.

Includes bibliographical references and index.