ABOUT THIS BOOK

For over one hundred years, Navajos have gone to work in significant numbers on Southwestern railroads. As they took on the arduous work of laying and anchoring tracks, they turned to traditional religion to anchor their lives.

Jay Youngdahl, an attorney who has represented Navajo workers in claims with their railroad employers since 1992 and who more recently earned a master's in divinity from Harvard, has used oral history and archival research to write a cultural history of Navajos' work on the railroad and the roles their religious traditions play in their lives of hard labor away from home.

REVIEWS

"Youngdahl's book explores fascinating and virtually unexcavated historical and cultural terrain. Curious about religiosity and cultural practices, Youngdahl has woven an unusual narrative which takes us deep into both the past and the present of the Navajos."
—William Deverell, author of Railroad Crossing: Californians and the Railroad, 1850-1910

"A valuable account of how the Navajo involvement in railroad labor and underlying cultural values interface. It is the sensitivity to that cultural identity that gives the work a special edge and at the same time a broad appeal. It is extremely well written and well organized. Jay Youngdahl tells a good story while applying high standards of scholarship along with an underlying humanism."
—Paul Zolbrod, author/translator of Diné Bahané: The Navajo Creation Story

"The stories captured in Working on the Railroad, Walking in Beauty testify to a resourcefulness and resilience that the Navajos have demonstrated throughout their engagement with economic change."
—Daniel H. Usner, Vanderbilt University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

One: Life on the Tracks

Two: Religion on the Rez

Three: A Visit with a Medicine Man

Four: Adversaries and Advocates

Five: How Did Navajo Men Come to Work for the Railroads?

Six: Railroads, Trading Posts, and a Fatal Challenge to the RRB’s System

Seven: In the Workers’ Words

Eight: Anchoring and Adaptability, Fixed yet Fluid

Afterword

Selected Bibliography

Index

REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE

If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you with an electronic file for alternative access.

Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.

It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.