Miracle Hill: The Story of a Navajo Boy

by Emerson Blackhorse Mitchell

"It was in the year of 1945 on a cold morning, the third day, in the month of March. A little boy was born as the wind blew against the hogan with bitter colds and the stars were disappearing into the heaven." So begins the story of Broneco, a Navajo boy who tells of his search for a miracle. Through that telling we learn a new perspective on language and life.

In Miracle Hill, Blackhorse Mitchell presents the unforgettable account of a boy’s struggle to learn—which would be for him a miracle—in the face of handicaps most people would call insurmountable. Under the guidance of a teacher determined to help him pursue that miracle, he records his life from birth to the dawn of herding family sheep, living at a boarding school, encountering whites for the first time, journeying home, and finally enrolling in the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, where his talent was encouraged.

Miracle Hill is written in a distinctively personal style, without strict adherence to orthodox grammar that would have robbed Mitchell of his true voice. Filled with unforgettable characters and brimming with insights into Navajo ways and family relationships, it is a book that crosses cultural barriers and speaks to the miracle-seeker in us all.

Genres: Nonfiction

248 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

Reviews

[Craig Monson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Along with the rest of the class, Blackhorse—do not call him “Emerson”—received an assignment to write his own biography. To his teacher’s surprise, what he turned in was not the usual page or two, but what became the basis of this book. When it appeared (several decades before the “2004” date on the U of AZ edition), it created something of a stir (e.g., reviews in such unaccustomed places as the New Yorker). Some questioned the retention of Blackhorse’s distinctive approach to English. It was worthwhile reprinting the earlier edition as a window onto a comparatively unmediated representation of Native American culture half-a-century ago. Blackhorse still lives next to “Miracle Hill” (which is not Shiprock, on the book cover), still shears sheep in June, sings, both healing ceremonies, traditional Navajo songs (“American Bar” is even on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsHhq... ), and his own take on rock and roll, and teaches teacher education in Tsaile, AZ.

[Kerry Pickens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had read another book that was a collection of Native American writing and the authors discussed their influences. Many of them referred to this author's book so I purchased it to read. You have to keep in mind the author was a teenager when he wrote this book, but it was really the first book where the author described his childhood and growing up on a pueblo. There are issues with the writing like a lack of writing conventions (verb tense etc).