WE WALK THE EARTH IN BEAUTY Traditional Navajo Lifeways WRITER KATHY HOOKER IMAGES HELEN LAU RUNNING
WE WALK THE EARTH IN BEAUTY
SOULSTICE PUBLISHING AVAILABLE NOW
“A straightforward and richly atmospheric illustrated look at traditional Navajo customs.” ~Kirkus
Experience the time-honored practices of the Navajo as shared by wisdom-keepers who live close to the land and follow ancestral ways. In We Walk the Earth in Beauty, readers will learn much that is of practical value for living in harmony with our environment. The book was created by Kathy Eckles Hooker in partnership with the extraordinary Caribbean photographer Helen Lau Running.
Watch and listen as Mary Joe Yazzie fires a clay pot, Hazel Nez weaves a rug, and Sam Worker stitches a pair of moccasins for his wife. Each of the book’s 19 chapters invites readers into a Navajo family to learn traditional methods for doing everything from making yucca shampoo to building a hogan.
The book was published November 12, 2024. Buy it from your local bookstore, online retailers, or from Soulstice by clicking “ADD TO CART” above! We donate a portion of profits to the nonprofit Adopt-A-Native-Elder, which “serves to help reduce extreme poverty and hardship facing traditional Elders living on the Navajo Reservation.”
Helen LAU Running was born and raised in the West Indies — the Caribbean islands of Trinidad, Tobago, and Aruba — within a rich cultural tapestry woven from British colonial roots, Afro-Caribbean traditions, and Chinese heritage. A graduate of St. Joseph’s Catholic School, she brought with her an enduring grace, wit, and global perspective.
In 1964, she married U.S. Marine and photographer John Running, and the young couple traveled across the United States via Route 66 to settle in Flagstaff, Arizona, where John studied anthropology at Northern Arizona University.
As a writer and photographer herself, Helen documented life with raw sensitivity and purpose. Her book, Time Among the Navajo, presents a black-and-white reportage-style portrait of Diné culture and experience. The work was recently re-released as Walk in Beauty by Soulstice Publishing, honoring her deep connection to the people and lands of the Colorado Plateau.
