It Wasn’t Until I Left the Reservation That I Understood My Purpose as a Navajo Storyteller

Straddling Two Worlds Scarred Me, Then Inspired Me

I am Diné, an American Indian. Not the Indian princess of a Disney movie, not the enemy combatant in a Western film, not the romantic, stoic relic of an old Edward Curtis photograph.

I was born and raised on the Navajo Tribal Reservation, where my grandparents plied traditional knowledge but at the same time shared with me the importance of a white man’s way of life. In this day and age, they told me, finding a balance between the two is crucial to your own path. But it wasn’t until I …

By Pamela J. Peters | July 5, 2016

Sill

By J. Mark Smith | June 3, 2016

(Field, B.C. / July 2009)

It was near dark and I went along a gravel road up into the woods
where a stream crashed off a great peak. I stood without …

Element

By José Angel Araguz | March 25, 2016

The wind would be water and fire,
would be earth—sand and gravel,
mud churning, even magma—

as I held my hand out from
the car on drives back to Texas.
The …

Water Lily

By K. A. Hays | March 18, 2016

One isn’t one only.
That much is sure—

beneath the lance-leaves
and the scum,

the wiring tangles into one engine,
same humming ages back,

fat with the flower to come,
fat with the …

When Frogs Sing Their Evening Song, Listen for Nature’s Greatest Lesson

Spring Peepers Hijack My Brain With an Arrhythmic Chorus About Chance and Survival

By Lisa Margonelli | March 16, 2016

For some people, spring begins with the sound of birds. For me, it’s frogs.

All winter, frogs crouch hidden in the leaves, their outsides frozen so hard they’d make a …

Could Nanotechnology Spark Another ‘Silent Spring’?

A Biologist Investigates How the Booming Demand for Microscopic Materials Could Threaten Fragile Ecosystems

By Olivia Osborne | March 4, 2016

Nothing can compare to the first night in a rainforest. In Honduras, in 2007, I hung my hammock beneath a lavish tree canopy, closed my eyes, and let insect chirps, …

nature

It Wasn’t Until I Left the Reservation That I Understood My Purpose as a Navajo Storyteller

Straddling Two Worlds Scarred Me, Then Inspired Me

Sill

Element

Water Lily

When Frogs Sing Their Evening Song, Listen for Nature’s Greatest Lesson

Spring Peepers Hijack My Brain With an Arrhythmic Chorus About Chance and Survival

Could Nanotechnology Spark Another ‘Silent Spring’?

A Biologist Investigates How the Booming Demand for Microscopic Materials Could Threaten Fragile Ecosystems

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Do Californians Love Their Houses Too Much?

A Fourth-Generation Homeowner Reconsiders the California Dream

How Native Americans Made Basketball Their Own

In the Early 1900s, the Sport Offered a Rare Physical and Mental Refuge From Oppressive ‘Indian Schools’—and the Chance to Develop Distinctive Identities

The Indian “Princess” Who Said What She Thought

As a Translator for the Northern Paiute, Sarah Winnemucca Was an Outspoken Critic of Their Harsh Treatment in the American West

The Passion for Ojibwe Culture I Inherited from My Native-American Mom—and Austrian-Jewish Dad

Championing My Heritage Began with Their Half-True American Dream

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