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Working on the railroad, walking in beauty: Navajos, Hózhq́, and track work

Date

2011

Authors

Youngdahl, Jay, author
Utah State University Press, publisher

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Abstract

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.

Description

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Rights Access

Access is limited to the Adams State University, Colorado State University, Colorado State University Pueblo, Community College of Denver, Fort Lewis College, Metropolitan State University Denver, Regis University, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, University of Denver, University of Northern Colorado, University of Wyoming, Utah State University and Western Colorado University communities only.

Subject

Navajo Indians -- Employment
Navajo Indians -- Social conditions
Navajo Indians -- Religion
Railroad construction workers -- Southwest, New -- History
Railroads -- Southwest, New -- Employees -- History
Southwest, New -- Race relations
Southwest, New -- Politics and government

Citation

Associated Publications