A Zuni Life: A Pueblo Indian in Two Worlds [Paperback]

Virgil Wyaco (Author), J. A. Jones (Editor), Carroll L. Riley (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1998

Here Virgil Wyaco, a Zuni Indian elder and leader, recounts his life in both the traditional Zuni and modern Anglo worlds. As a boy, Wyaco learned Zuni ways from his family and the English language and vocational skills in Anglo schools. Earning a Bronze Star during World War II, he killed German soldiers in combat and participated in the executions of SS guards at Dachau. His postwar career included studies at the University of New Mexico, federal employment, marriage to a Cherokee woman, and family life in the suburbs. Later, Wyaco returned to Zuni as postmaster and married a traditional Zuni woman. His election to the Zuni tribal council in 1970 quickly established him as an influential leader. His varied career demonstrates the heartbreaks and rewards of a Native American life bridging two cultures.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

An account of Virgil Wyaco's life in both the traditional Zuni and modern Anglo worlds. His varied career demonstrates the heartbreaks and rewards of a Native American life bridging two cultures in the twentieth century.

About the Author

Virgil Wyaco is a retired postmaster in Zuni, New Mexico.

Product Details

• Paperback: 153 pages
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press (February 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826318819
• ISBN-13: 978-0826318817
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #225,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #85 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > Native American

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life in Zuni -- by an insider, September 20, 2000

By 

Theodore A. Rushton (PHOENIX, Arizona United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Zuni Life: A Pueblo Indian in Two Worlds (Hardcover)

This is a magnificent book, written with skill, sensitivity, insight and the gentle teasing humor that is characteristic of Zuni. After reading it, anyone will easily understand why Tony Hillerman is still an "outsider" to many Native Americans.

My dealings with the Zunis began in 1967, when I began writing stories about some aspects of life in Zuni and was honored enough to be the recipient of some of their teasing. It's a good place to start: British humor centers on clever word plays, American humor is blunt slapstick, while the essence of Zuni humor is kindly and gentle teasing.

After all, they've lived and prospered in the Southwest for as far back as science can trace. In Zuni terms, they've been here since the beginning of the world. They learned to live in one of the harshest climates of the United States without depending on outsiders. It's only since the coming of the Anglos, which Wyaco portrays as oddball outsiders who vary from insensitivity cruelty to bumbling kindness, that many Zunis have become dependent upon a sometimes crazy American world.

His experiences in World War II, which included winning the Bronze Star, are an example. The all-Anglo draft board in Gallup, which easily filled its quotas by drafting Indians, shipped him off to Santa Fe for his medical. He wanted to join the Navy to get out of walking, but was rejected because he'd once suffered three broken ribs when he was kicked by a horse. So, the draft board tried again and sent him off to the Army where he was accepted, even though he'd have to march every day.

"It didn't make any sense then. It doesn't now," he writes. The book is filled with such examples of non-Zuni illogic. As a combat rifleman, he killed his share of Germans. He was among the troops who liberated Dachau, and was horrified at how the SS guards had treated the dead. He writes the dead "looked like juniper firewood just unloaded from a pickup truck, no more human than that, all naked and skinny.

"The Zunis don't even kill birds without asking permission," he states. "To the Zuni, death is a transition time that must be handled with love and respect by one's closest family. A person's body and hair must be washed, rubbed with corn meal, and pointed to the west toward Kothluwalawa, with prayers to guide the departed spirit on the way."

Wyaco was one of a dozen GIs who summarily executed 60 or so Dachau guards, who had surrendered without firing a shot. He says, "I've never felt any remorse for my part in that execution. Those SS guards were more like witches than like men. They'd already lived too long." When he went home, a medicine man brushed him with a wing feather from an eagle and blessed him with corn meal to wipe away such bad spirits from the war.

It's the only incident in the book that made him really angry. The rest is an insight into traditional Zuni life. It was written by J. A. Jones, a novelist and anthropologist who became a friend of Wyaco after the war. Jones did a superior job, retaining the gentle teasing humor and manner of speaking that is characteristic of Zuni. It is an art Hillerman never mastered, his books present acculturated Navajos dealing with traditional customs, but little of the "soul" of the People.

Obviously, Wyaco doesn't reveal everything about Zuni life. But then, as Wyaco points out, neither do any of the many anthropologists. He offers something they cannot; he explains the spirit, the meaning and the gentle humor of Zuni culture. It's something no outsider can do.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Zuni Life, December 29, 2008

By 

Russell Kyncl - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Zuni Life: A Pueblo Indian in Two Worlds (Paperback)

I am a regular visitor to Zuni Pueblo, having fallen in love with Zuni art and jewelry as a child. This book is a great, very readable introduction to life in Zuni.

While there is some self promotion evident on the part of the author in the book, it remains a very engaging and interesting story that gives a great introduction to the world view of the Zuni.

The first pages grab you and draw you in to the unique Zuni perspective of the world and life.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, January 21, 2010

By 

S. Gardner (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Zuni Life: A Pueblo Indian in Two Worlds (Paperback)

This was a very touching book for me. I had visited the Zuni pueblo and had the experience of viewing the Rain Dance as a guest of one of the Zuni families. It was an awesome experience and then to read from a Zuni perspective the significance of the ceremony was very special to me. Having been a long time collector of Zuni fetish, to better understand the culture was very interesting. I would recommend this to anyone interested in the Zuni culture and a true picture from a Native view.