Earth Keeper: Reflections on the American Land

Written by N. Scott Momaday

Narrated by N. Scott Momaday

""Dazzling. . . . In glittering prose, Momaday recalls stories passed down through generations, illuminating the earth as a sacrosanct place of wonder and abundance. At once a celebration and a warning, Earth Keeper is an impassioned defense of all that our endangered planet stands to lose."" — Esquire

A magnificent testament to the earth, from Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet N. Scott Momaday.

One of the most distinguished voices in American letters, N. Scott Momaday has devoted much of his life to celebrating and preserving Native American culture, especially its oral tradition. A member of the Kiowa tribe, Momaday was born in Lawton, Oklahoma and grew up on Navajo, Apache, and Peublo reservations throughout the Southwest. It is a part of the earth he knows well and loves deeply.

In Earth Keeper, he reflects on his native ground and its influence on his people. “When I think about my life and the lives of my ancestors,"" he writes, ""I am inevitably led to the conviction that I, and they, belong to the American land. This is a declaration of belonging. And it is an offering to the earth.”  

In this wise and wonderous work, Momaday shares stories and memories throughout his life, stories that have been passed down through generations, stories that reveal a profound spiritual connection to the American landscape and reverence for the natural world. He offers an homage and a warning. He shows us that the earth is a sacred place of wonder and beauty, a source of strength and healing that must be honored and protected before it’s too late. As he so eloquently and simply reminds us, we must all be keepers of the earth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Caedmon
• Release date: Nov 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9780063009356

N. Scott Momaday

N. Scott Momaday (1934-2024) is an internationally renowned poet, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, artist, teacher, and storyteller. He authored numerous works that include poetry, novels, essays, plays, and children’s stories. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his debut novel House Made of Dawn and was the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Academy of American Poets Prize, the National Medal of Arts, the Ken Burns American Heritage Prize, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation's Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award, and the Frost Medal for distinguished lifetime achievement in poetry. A longtime professor of English and American literature, Momaday earned his PhD from Stanford University and retired as Regents Professor at the University of Arizona. In 2022, he was inducted into the inducted into the Academy of American Arts and Letters. 

Reviews for Earth Keeper

[Kimberlee Rodriguez · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

N. Scott Momaday has a voice to match the words of this work. A favorite read when you know the Earth is calling you to connect with it

[michaelwaynehunt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful and true! A soothing submersion in the poetry of life!

[ari santa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Deep and wise in a very natural way. Helps you to remember the connection we all have lost but can recover. Nourishment for the soul.

[beamis12 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Who would know and wonderfully convey the specialness of our Earth, more than a native. A member of the Kiowa tribe, Momaday reflects on the many ways we are connected to all things that inhabit with us, this amazing world. In short vignettes his musings contains thoughts on grasshoppers, horses, dogs, eagles, among others. Their oral tradition in how they first appeared on this earth and other creation stories. A special read."All things are taken back by the earth, for all things belong to it. And all things can be container in a story."ARC from Netgalley.