Navajos Wear Nikes: A Reservation Life [Paperback]

Jim Kristofic (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2011

Just before starting second grade, Jim Kristofic moved from Pittsburgh across the country to Ganado, Arizona, when his mother took a job at a hospital on the Navajo Reservation. Navajos Wear Nikes reveals the complexity of modern life on the Navajo Reservation, a world where Anglo and Navajo coexisted in a tenuous truce. After the births of his Navajo half-siblings, Jim and his family moved off the Reservation to an Arizona border town where they struggled to readapt to an Anglo world that no longer felt like home.

With tales of gangs and skinwalkers, an Indian Boy Scout troop, a fanatical Sunday school teacher, and the author's own experience of sincere friendships that lead to ho?zho? (beautiful harmony), Kristofic's memoir is an honest portrait of growing up on--and growing to love--the Reservation.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Kristofic, now a high-school teacher in Pennsylvania, shares his story of being transported at age seven from Pittsburgh to Ganado, Arizona, on the Navajo Indian Reservation by his mother, a nurse who had long nurtured her "Indian Dream." Jimmy is the only bilagaana, or white person, in his class, and he struggles with racial teasing from day one. By the third grade, he's learning to escape the daily taunting by helping his "Navajo enemies" with their schoolwork. Jimmy's new world is one of contrasts the violence and domestic abuse so common on the Rez occurring amidst its natural wonders, the prejudice he experiences before forming life-long friendships, the poverty-stricken homes in which food is always shared with a stranger. His mother marries a Navajo artist, and when Jim is a sophomore, the blended family moves to a small Utah town, where once again he feels like the "rootless transplant, the outsider," this time in a predominantly Anglo world. Today he teaches tolerance, reminding his students that Navajos don't usually wear moccasins, but, rather, Nikes like their own. --Deborah Donovan --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Few regionally tied autobiographies have shown as much wit and keen observation as Navajos Wear Nikes by Jim Kristofic. --Arizona Daily Sun --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 230 pages
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press (October 15, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826349471
• ISBN-13: 978-0826349477
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,883 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > Native American
  • #77 in Books > History > Americas > Native American

More About the Author

Jim Kristofic has worked on and off the "Rez" for more than ten years as a river guide, journalist, and oral historian. He has written for The Navajo Times, Arizona Highways, and High Country News. He and his wife currently live in eastern Pennsylvania with--of course--a rescued dog.

You can contact him through the "Navajos Wear Nikes" Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Navajos-Wear-Nikes/132679940123287

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining memoir, February 8, 2011

By 

Theresa Scott - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Navajos Wear Nikes: A Reservation Life (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this tender, well-written memoir very much. Mr. Kristofic's coming-of-age tale relates a world so many Anglos know too little about. Amazingly, the author manages to walk the line between being effusive in his appreciation for his adopted life and any potential criticism of the Navajo. Rather, he presents a clear-eyed portrait of a people and an environment he came to love. I was charmed by the episodes Kristofic chose to recount. From the opening pages, I liked the second-grade boy who is transplanted to the desert against his will. The boy, and the man he becomes, is keenly observant, self-effacing, and accepting. While there is nothing unique here (transferring into a new school, enduring the agonies of football as an undersized kid, figuring out who you are and wanting to be accepted at the same time), the author freshly presents these rites of passage. That they are set against a southwestern backdrop and peppered with fascinating historical facts about the Navajo only added to my enjoyment.

Mr. Kristofic's prose is crisp and sparse. Not a word is wasted. His ear for dialogue is spot on, whether it is capturing the verbal volley of a bully and his victim or teenagers out on a night of aggressive play or an exchange between Anglos and Navajo.

The author effectively represented the beauty of both the place in which he found himself, as well as its people. I was privileged to inhabit his world for the days I spent reading Navajos Wear Nikes. Even after having read so much of his life, I longed to know more, to know this person better. I also wanted to know more about the Navajo. This is an interesting and touching memoir.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nicely crafted memoir, January 29, 2011

By 

R. Burr - See all my reviews

This review is from: Navajos Wear Nikes: A Reservation Life (Hardcover)

Having briefly lived on a Navajo reservation as a twenty-something I would like to comment on this book's resonance with a fellow biligaana. Since, however, few people have likely shared the experiences Mr. Kristofic writes about, I'm sure my comments about its authenticity will be of little use to many readers, so I will keep these comments brief. I would simply like to say that this book poignantly captures the naivete of a modern man brought up on a steady diet of cartoons and John Ford. Though it's a familiar (but never cliche)coming-of-age story line, NWN takes us through the pains of wanting to belong matched only by a striving to be unique. The chapter when young Jimmy finally goes to college and is surrounded by his own WASP heritage is a situation that should resonate with anyone who has wrestled with reconciling the truths and platitudes of their heritage.

Regardless of your own experience with N. Americans or life on the Rez, I would recommend this book because of its great pacing, subtle comedy and a light-handed treatment of learning how to grow up. I read this book quite quickly, due in large part because I didn't put it down. It was a different sort of page-turner in that I wasn't on edge, or worried for the characters. Instead, it was more like getting caught up in a grandfather's story where there is a great balance of details and story. By "subtle comedy," I mean that I wasn't laughing out loud but there was a tender treatment of childhood friendship and world view that causes one to appreciate such simplicity as well as laugh at the brashness of youth. I don't know if the author would think this is a compliment but his ability to authentically write children, their dialogue and their thought process, reminds me of King in Different Seasons and IT.

My reason for four stars is that I felt the last few chapters were exploring similar themes and I wasn't as "into" them. I can't put my finger on it but I just wasn't as engaged with the vignettes or the smattering of interesting facts. Although, as I said already, one of those last chapters was my favorite.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Navajos Wear Nikes, March 13, 2011

By 

Beth Riley - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Navajos Wear Nikes: A Reservation Life (Hardcover)

This book brought to life everything that I love about living on the rez. He truly captured the spirit of the Navajo people and our land. He brought to light many of the issues that face our people in a very funny, astute and emotional story. I believe he answered The Question in the only way possible, with stories, just like a Navajo should. I am definitely recommending this book to people who have asked me The Question.