Book Description

Spider Woman Walks This Land is a lively and accessible introduction to issues of traditional cultural properties and cultural resource management among native peoples in the United States. Describing her work with the Navajo Nation, Carmean shows how specific geographical locations contain significant cultural and religious meaning to the Navajo people. With historical and contemporary examples, Carmean demonstrates that cultural value of the sacred geography can be in direct opposition to the need to modernize, including building roads, power lines, housing, and a variety of natural resource extraction activities that can earn much-needed money for the tribe. She evaluates the dilemma of 'sustainability' common to many traditional societies as well as to the Navajo Nation, as they undergo the tremendous cultural changes that accompany industrialization and seek a balance between continuity and change. Spider Woman Walks this Land is a useful introduction for undergraduates and an interested general public.