Life on the Rez March 2016
A man living on the rez finds more that he bargained for when the spirits of his tribe take issue with his lack of balance.
I am not Native American and I do not live on a reservation, but I was blessed to be asked to contribute to this anthology. I was in Arizona visiting my cousin, who has worked with both the Navajo and the Hopi. My husband and I went into a gallery and I was mesmerized by a painting of a yei, which is a sacred spirit for the Navajo (Dine) mythology. You can find images of them in sand paintings, blankets, sculpture, and paintings. The spirits are benevolent, but they are very stylized, having altered facial features, like an absence of a nose, and a protruding mouth. It can be off-putting to people who want to see a full face on their humanoid figures. I loved the painting; my husband was creeped out by it. Sad to say, the painting did not come home with us. Tim would have moved out if it did.