Yellow Woman and A Beauty of the Spirit - Leurenc Hushi

This book was written by Leslie Silko and it mainly describes her life in the “Pueblo” community.

The author describes in details the ways the Pueblo people lived and how they viewed the world: “IN THE VIEW OF THE OLD-TIME PEOPLE, WE ARE ALL SISTERS AND BROTHERS because the Mother Creator made all of us--all colors and all sizes. We are sisters and brothers, clans’ people of all the living beings around us. The plants, the birds, fish, clouds, water, even the clay--they all are related to us. The old-time people believe that all things, even rocks and water, have spirit and being.”


She flawlessly shares her concerns for racism, discrimination and prejudice by implementing her childhood stories and experiences into her thesis: “My great-grandmother was dark and handsome. Her expression in photographs is one of confidence and strength. I do not know if white people then or now would consider her beautiful. I do not know if the old-time Laguna Pueblo people considered her beautiful or if the old-time people even thought in those terms. To the Pueblo way of thinking, the act of comparing one living being with another was silly, because each being or thing is unique and therefore incomparably valuable because it is the only one of its kind. The old-time people thought it was crazy to attach such importance to a person’s appearance. I understood very early that there were two distinct ways of interpreting the world.”

This short book was a great read and it serves to remind us how we should be comfortable with our differences and always act out our feelings despite the disapproval of others.