Sacred Fire

by Nancy Wood, Frank Howell (Illustrator)

Sacred fire means longevity and hope. It is part of the Four Great Ancestors--Water, Air, Earth, and Fire--necessary for all life. It is the old man's job to keep the sacred fire burning, so that the Indian people can remember the ways of their ancestors.

Using the old man as her guide, Nancy Wood chronicles the history, legends, religion, and philosophy of the Pueblo Indians of the Southwest in poetry and prose. Frank Howell's magnificent paintings evoke the pride and nobility of an embattled people whose history has much to teach us and whose wisdom can enrich our lives.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Hardcover

First published September 8, 1998

About the author

Nancy Wood / Nancy C. Wood

"It is a tale of the universal spirit of all living things, and their eternal connection to each other," says Nancy Wood of OLD COYOTE, her simple story of a wise creature's final journey, masterfully illustrated by Max Grafe. These words could apply to virtually all of Nancy Wood's books, from inspirational collections of her own poetry and prose to an anthology chronicling the history of the Taos Pueblo Indians, her friends for more than thirty years. The author of more than ten books for children, teens, and adults, Nancy Wood has garnered such honors as a prestigious Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and an International Reading Association Teacher's Choices Award for her stunning SPIRIT WALKER: POEMS, illustrated by Frank Howell. Indeed, many of her poems have had such a powerful impact on readers that they are often read at weddings and funerals.

Nancy Wood says that she wrote the story of OLD COYOTE when her seven-year-old grandson came to her, grief-stricken, after his dog was run over by a car. "He wanted to know if Buddy had gone to heaven," she says. "I explained that Buddy had dreamed himself into another world; that he was, at that very moment, beginning a new life, maybe as a horse this time, or a bear. He had begun a new and natural circle." Certainly the deeply moving OLD COYOTE suggests a universal meaning as well. "OLD COYOTE is a book about beginnings, and endings, and love among all creatures of the earth," Nancy Wood says. "It is a metaphor for the mystery, beauty, and certainty of death. How easy life would be if, like Old Coyote, we accepted death as a natural part of life. Life may be long or short, happy or sad, but whatever we're given, we should make the most of it, the way Old Coyote does as he changes one world for another, unafraid."


Most recently, Nancy Wood penned HOW THE TINY PEOPLE GREW TALL, an original creation tale illustrated by Rebecca Walsh. Of her fanciful tale, Nancy says, "We are all Tiny People at heart. Though the story of these Tiny People is based on an American Indian emergence myth, it could be about people and animals anywhere."


The award-winning poet, novelist, photographer, and children's book author Nancy Wood lives near Santa Fe, New Mexico where she still occasionally glimpses Tiny People dancing in the wilderness.

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thius is a wonderful work. The prose is imforative, the poetry beautiful, and the paintings alone are worth the cost of the book. There was not a poem in this book that I did not enjoy but two that stood out to me were Rock Drawings and Strengthen the Things that Remain.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nancy Wood is a long time resident of New Mexico and has been friend with the Taos Pueblo Indians for more than thirty years. Sacred Fire is a collection of poems and short stories written for the Native American people. Frank Howell, the illustrator, was part Lakota Sioux but according to his obituary, he didn’t know about his American Indian heritage until he was an adult. His artwork captures the spirit of Wood’s poetry and of American Indians. Wood brings the plight of the American Indian home to her readers. She says, “The enemy saw us without hearts, without brains. They mistook our silence for agreement as they stilled our voices and gave us their learning so we could become like them” (39). This book could be used in any unit about Native American cultures, and it teaches about our indigenous people in a way that doesn’t demoralize or diminish.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the illustrations/paintings- they add a wonderful texture to this book of poetry.