Customer Reviews

The Four Hills of Life: Northern Arapaho Knowledge and Life Movement (Studies in the Anthropology of North Ame)

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This is a scholarly and yet soulful book about the Northern Arapaho 'life movement', or path through life. The contrast with modern American (or Euro-American) culture would strike anyone, and Anderson explores these contrasts in terms of cultural expectations and values. Besides describing the different stages of life and how they are treated among the Arapaho in Wyoming, Anderson explores the differences in the ways in which knowledge is treated. This has instant implications for how education and information are treated in the two cultures, and Anderson explores these differences at length.

This book is satisfying pleasure reading, as well, because it explores a culture that centers on the wholeness of its people. Anyone who has enjoyed native wisdom in other books should enjoy this book. Reading about a culture like this is spiritually nourishing; we are fortunate that Anderson has captured these principles, as the Northern Arapaho continue to face erosion of their old ways along with so many other tribes inside the nation-state.