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Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit

Leslie Marmon Silko

3.98 · Rating details · 606 ratings · 32 reviews

Bold and impassioned, sharp and defiant, Leslie Marmon Silko's essays evoke the spirit and voice of Native Americans. Whether she is exploring the vital importance literature and language play in Native American heritage, illuminating the inseparability of the land and the Native American people, enlivening the ways and wisdom of the old-time people, or exploding in outrag ...more

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Paperback, 208 pages

Published March 18th 1997 by Simon Schuster (first published 1993)

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Jan 21, 2019 Gina rated it really liked it

This is a collection of essays on similar themes, with a lot on storytelling, family, and photos, so some parts repeat almost exactly word for word.

That being said, each essay in itself is interesting, with good things to think about. Working together, they are even better.

It makes me want to read more by the author.

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Oct 19, 2016 Indie rated it it was amazing

Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit

I only read the essay Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit,therefore my review consist on this essay not on the entirety of the book.This short essay was beautifully written,it made it's points clear,convincing and engaging.The story is a narrative told by the author’s perspective, in an interesting way she gives us an insight on the Laguna Pueblo people and their culture,which is very intriguing and different.The culture,which is one of the main thought ...more

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Aug 01, 2018 Angie Fehl rated it it was ok

2.5 Stars

In this collection of essays, Silko, a member of the Pueblo Nation, discusses art, symbolism, and overall cultural growth within the Pueblo community. Some of the topics covered in Yellow Woman (the title of the book coming from one of the essays enclosed):

ART
* Symbolism in Pueblo art, ie. use of squash blossom on pottery designs = possible berringer of death, lightning imagery could mean good fortune, karmaj petals used for their symetry to represent four corners of the earth or four e 2.5 Stars

In this collection of essays, Silko, a member of the Pueblo Nation, discusses art, symbolism, and overall cultural growth within the Pueblo community. Some of the topics covered in Yellow Woman (the title of the book coming from one of the essays enclosed):

ART
* Symbolism in Pueblo art, ie. use of squash blossom on pottery designs = possible berringer of death, lightning imagery could mean good fortune, karmaj petals used for their symetry to represent four corners of the earth or four elements (fire, water, earth, air). Discussion of how some imagery is used to illustrate the earth being simultaneously complex and fragile

* "Yellow Woman" an image of Pueblo mythology, a goddess highly regarded for her bravery, strength, calm demeanor during catastrophe, and her "uninhibited sexuality" Rather than relying on violence and destruction to assure victories, "Yellow Woman" bewitches foes simply through her sensuality and self confidence.

FAMILY / SOCIETAL STRUCTURE & PREJUDICES

* Silko writes that her own family is a blend of Pueblo, Mexican and Caucasian and her own struggles of "not looking right" to any of these groups. She speaks lovingly of her "dark and handsome" great-grandmother who "exuded confidence and strength", but admits that the woman might not have been considered traditionally beautiful by either Caucasians or Pueblo people, which opens up an essay discussion for how beauty, the thing itself, is interpreted by different cultures. Silko notes that facial differences are highly prized among the Pueblo people.

*Discussion of how the idea of gender norms or "mens' work vs. womens' work" doesn't really have a place in Pueblo culture, only a matter of if you are able-bodied enough to get the job done.. so you find women doing construction and men doing basket weaving and child care. People just go where they are needed.

*Historically, Pueblo people were originally fine with sexual fluidity and up until the arrival of the Puritans, openly supported LGBTQ members of the tribe. Also, babies born out of wedlock were not an issue because unplanned or not, the life was honored as life. If not wanted by the biological parents, the newborn was simply given to a barren woman within the tribe to raise.

The discussions on art and culture were interesting but there was something quietly underneath that just had a feel of Silko sometimes talking down to her readers. Some of the essays repeat topics and even certain passages are duplicated verbatim from one essay into another, which I found incredibly disappointing and lazy. I know some of these pieces were previously printed elsewhere, but certain essays she must have been sitting on for a long while. For instance, one that is noted as having been previously published in 1996 -- "Auntie Kie talks about US Presidents and US Policy" -- but within that essay Silko talks about telling her aunt about an upcoming article Silko is to have published, "What Another Four Years Of Ronald Reagan Will Mean to Native Americans" (Reagan announced his Alzheimer's diagnosis in 1994).

So while some of the topics were interesting, I thought the collection as a whole was kind of sloppily put together. Also, if you haven't read any of Silko's fiction, there are spoilers for some of her short stories within these essays. ...more

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Nov 27, 2020 Amanda rated it liked it

If you're new to Leslie Marmon Silko, Yellow Woman and the Beauty of the Spirit is a great introduction. If you already know her work, you'll probably appreciate this essay collection that much more. The titular essay introduces Leslie Marmon Silko to readers: a woman of mixed ancestry who grew up on the Laguna Pueblo reservation and became a writer, mostly known for her fiction (all of which looks excellent). She also incorporates photography and visual art into her written work, and she happen If you're new to Leslie Marmon Silko, Yellow Woman and the Beauty of the Spirit is a great introduction. If you already know her work, you'll probably appreciate this essay collection that much more. The titular essay introduces Leslie Marmon Silko to readers: a woman of mixed ancestry who grew up on the Laguna Pueblo reservation and became a writer, mostly known for her fiction (all of which looks excellent). She also incorporates photography and visual art into her written work, and she happens to be one of the first recipients of the prestigious McArthur Fellowship grant.

"Yellow Woman" is a figure from Laguna Pueblo old stories who represents all women. From an early age, young Leslie knew she didn't fit into white society's stereotype of what an "Indian girl" should look like, but she found her sense of self in Pueblo old stories about Yellow Woman that value strong spirit, courage, and the ability to act without concern for appearances. The rest of the essays explore themes related to identity by weaving together Pueblo origin stories and culture, her career and creative processes, and Native American history and injustices.

As a collection of essays, this book can be hit or miss. Your enjoyment will depend on your personal interests and your familiar with Marmon Silko books. This was my first time reading her work, so the essays that go behind the scenes of her novels were somewhat lost on me. Yellow Woman is also an anthology of previously published essays, so they often overlap in ways that make you feel like you've already read the page or lost your place.

My personal favorite essays explore the role of books in indigenous cultures and how they've been used as a tool of colonization. I'm a lifelong book lover (duh), but these essays actually resonated with me as a graphic designer. Like many designers, I was taught in Swiss design, which views a specific set of standards as "good design," all based on how Europeans read, write, and value language. Marmon Silko breaks down the history of Native American books to show how their design and their mere existence challenged colonizers' portrayal of indigenous cultures as unintellectual and uncivilized. The surviving documents re an incredible combination of visual image, written text, and spoken word—a level of abstraction and an experience that any good designer would dream of achieving.

There are countless fascinating gems in these essays, and anyone reading them will have a different takeaway and experience. I suspect that's something Leslie Marmon Silko would appreciate. ...more

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Dec 12, 2018 Jonah Raleigh rated it liked it

"To them, the land was as dear as a child, and as I listened, I felt the loss and the anger too, as if it all had happened only yesterday."

Although I only read around the first half of the book for my class, I was pleasantly surprised with Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit. The introduction felt rather tedious, but the collection of essays that followed were engaging and offered a great deal of insight into Pueblo culture and spirituality, as well as a broader scope of Native American poli ...more

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Jul 16, 2020 Elizabeth rated it it was amazing

I picked this up at an antique/thrift store in rural PA. It caught my eye because I'd read stories by the author before in an undergrad lit class. This compilation of essays did not disappoint. I took a pen to it and made notes as I read.. so much learned about not only the Pueblo people but also about issues surrounding Native Americans in the US. Great read for anytime, but especially these times. ...more

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Mar 19, 2021 aída rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021

«Like all human beings they [Pueblo people] are concerned with their continued survival as the people they believe themselves to be. What is essential to all Pueblo people is that generation after generation will continue to remember and to tell one another who they are, who they have been, and who they may become»

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Feb 10, 2021 Toya rated it liked it

Shelves: 2021-tbr

3.5 stars

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Dec 24, 2020 Jennifer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: essays

I absolutely LOVED this book. Leslie’s voice really came through for me in her writing. I can’t wait to read Ceremony next!

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Feb 25, 2014 Jen Mays rated it it was ok

Shelves: essays, native-american, new-mexico, pueblo, racism, southwest

Rating: 2.5 stars

Review: This is a short collection of essays compiled about twenty years ago from items that had mostly been previously published in other magazines and journals. Per the author's note, some grammar and other writing issues were fixed between the first publication and the second, but for the most part, they were as they were written originally.

I had picked up the book because of my F2F book group's topic of Women's History for our upcoming discussion, but the essays weren't so Rating: 2.5 stars

Review: This is a short collection of essays compiled about twenty years ago from items that had mostly been previously published in other magazines and journals. Per the author's note, some grammar and other writing issues were fixed between the first publication and the second, but for the most part, they were as they were written originally.

I had picked up the book because of my F2F book group's topic of Women's History for our upcoming discussion, but the essays weren't so much about the female side of things with regard to Native American life; though some touches were made on the topic, overall, the essays seemed to be about Indian connections to land and the history that's come from that, and the disconnect of same by the European settlers since their arrival some 500 years ago. Most of the personal connections are painted with the Pueblo Indian point of view, as this is the heritage of the author. Also discussed are the personal struggles felt by the author who is caught between two worlds and the growing (returning?) power to those in authority who are abusing their powers to frighten people for no apparent reason other than the color of their skin.

This is a thin collection at just 200 pages. I found the emergence and migration stories interesting, as well as the author's recollections of her childhood experiences and the stories of her family and tribe growing up in Laguna. Where things fell flat for me was the repetitiveness of the statements from one essay to the next. As individual essays, the information was strong and compelling. However, in a compilation of them, especially one so thin already, the same few anecdotes told and retold in subsequent pages (sometimes with the exact same sentences, like they were copied and pasted over) meant that I wasn't learning anything new after having read the first few essays in the book. The author mentions a few times that the storytelling of the Pueblo people often involves repeating all the same facts over and over because they are meant to be lessons and not just entertaining stories. In this type of format, though, where I'm reading the same bits over and over again, it just becomes that much easier to distract me away from reading entirely and I don't think losing her audience is what the author intended.

She's written a couple of novels and I might be interested in reading those to see how her fictional storytelling goes. I don't think I'd read any additional non-fiction though, except as maybe a one-off article as these essays appear to have been originally. ...more

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May 23, 2016 Michelle Boyer-Kelly rated it liked it

Shelves: american-indian-literature, gender-studies, contemporary-ai-identity, american-indian-studies, american-indian-fiction, autobiography, native-american-history, contemporary, ph-d-books, fiction

To begin, I was a little disenchanted by the fact that all of the essays in this collection had already been previously published. I was expecting that a few might be "new" to readers. Otherwise, one could be disappointed with the fact that they had already read her 1980s-1994 material, which was then just combined in 1997 into this book. That being said, perhaps it is good to have a collection of essays in one book, because they are easier to reference this way.

At times, the essays can get rep ...more

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Jan 11, 2015 Carrie rated it liked it

I read this for a book group I belong to. As I read the introduction, my trepidation increased...I thought it was going to be a very dry, angry book that is difficult to get through. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, there are sections where the author is angry - and justifiably so. But, I found the book provided insight into Pueblo spirituality and culture. There were essays that were repetitive, but I don't know that she wrote the essays with the intent of compiling them someday. Overa ...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Devika Koppikar rated it it was amazing

Shelves: to-read-again-finish

Overall, this book was insightful about the Native American view of life. For example, Silko went into detail of how Native Americans view time in a circular pattern. I had read about this concept before - but Silko draws it out clearly. My only critique of this book is that some sections are repeated. I understand it's a compilation of essays - but it should have been condensed at the publication level. It will save the trees of this beautiful land which is a part of all of us!

...more

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Jan 17, 2016 Mark Valentine rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Silko provides the backstory to her prominent novels. Her initial essay on interior/exterior landscape is essential reading for those interested in understanding Native American Literatures. Included is a re-publication of her famous (eponymous) story and she also references how important photography has been in her art. I think it a highly readable, highly significant book in understand her art in the context of widening circles of appreciation.

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Jan 21, 2012 Reiden rated it it was amazing

Shelves: native-american

The short essays in this book discuss Native American culture today, as well as polotics, writing, and art. A common theme throughout the book is the Laguna Pueblo tribe of New Mexico. I found the writing to be powerful, honest, and beautiful (as others have already described it). I will definitely be reading more books by this author.

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Aug 23, 2012 Jane rated it liked it

Silko's book of essays about being caught between the worlds of Native America and the Anglo world contains stories of her grandmothers and Aunt Lucy, and reflections about the rocks and topography near Tucson as living beings with stories of their own. ...more

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Apr 30, 2007 Rabya marked it as to-read

still have to read it. . .
read her previous stuff when i was in high school

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Jul 10, 2007 Stephanie rated it really liked it

So depressing to read about the utopian society that I dream about...and learn that it once existed, and was destroyed. You'll start looking at trees and dogs differently after this one. ...more

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Jan 18, 2008 Anna rated it it was amazing

This is a lovely collection of essays on Native American life/politics/history/narratives. It's beautiful, even handed, a wonderful read. ...more

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Mar 25, 2008 Pamela rated it really liked it

This was an insight to my Native American fore fathers.
these are Essays on Native American Life today,

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Jun 25, 2008 Lyds rated it liked it

Silko should maybe stick to fiction, but I still love it.

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Jul 15, 2008 Erika rated it it was amazing

this book is beautiful.. silko writes with great imagery.:)

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Jul 14, 2009 Marah rated it it was amazing

very good read! pretty much liked all the essays

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Oct 13, 2009 Shari rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2009

Short story. I read this for English 102 in October 2009.

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May 20, 2010 Steph added it

Shelves: my-current-owned-books

I read this for my women writer's literature class. Another great example of Silko's wonderful descriptive poetic writing. ...more

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Aug 11, 2010 Anniejones rated it liked it

Well, I've read excerpts, and liked what I read. ...more

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Aug 23, 2010 Byrd marked it as to-read

I've only read the Introduction and im intrigued. It tells of home for me and sandstone and rain on the desert sand. I cant wait to read more. ...more

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Dec 10, 2011 LeeAnn rated it it was ok

Boring to me, but I guess a good example of turning native American traditional stories and using the within a piece of modernism.

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Oct 13, 2015 K Kriesel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: religion, recommend, westerns, race

99% of the time, I can't stand books of essays. But this is such a vibrant, elegant book. ...more

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Jan 17, 2016 SouthWestZippy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: women-history, library-loan, native-american

Great collection of essays.

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About Leslie Marmon Silko

Leslie Marmon Silko

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Leslie Marmon Silko (born Leslie Marmon; born March 5, 1948) is a Native American writer of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, and one of the key figures in the First Wave of what literary critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissance.

Silko was a debut recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Grant, now known as the "Genius Grant", in 1981 and the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas Life ...more