No Parole Today

by Laura Tohe

This first collection, in prose memoir and poetry, of the work of a Navajo poet and teacher describes attending a government school for Indian children and the challenge it presented to her socially, culturally, and expressively. Laura Tohe says this of her "I was born in Fort Defiance, Arizona, and raised on the Diné (Navajo) Reservation in Arizona and New Mexico. I grew up speaking Diné as my primary language. For a while we lived near Coyote Canyon with my grandparents while my parents operated the Tohe Coal Mine, a family business. After the mine closed, my mother moved us to Crystal, New Mexico, where she worked at the boarding school. I grew up without television in the beautiful Chuska Mountains, where only a dirt road connected us to the rest of the world. "While growing up I heard stories all around me. As we drove down the dusty reservation road, my mother told many Diné stories. I liked to listen to her and Grandma gossip. Sometimes she would catch me eavesdropping and make me leave. My first publication originates from a story given to my mother by her great-grandmother."

Genres: Poetry, Indigenous, Memoir, Nonfiction, Adult, 20th Century, Native American

47 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Haley Beaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a powerful, lyrical, and unflinching exploration of the boarding-school experience imposed on Navajo children. The blend of poetry, memoir, oral history, the documentary fragments, Tohe reconstructs not only what happened within those walls but also the emotional and cultural ruptures that echoed far beyond them. Her voice is careful yet piercing, filled with both tenderness and outrage, creating a work that feels as much like testimony as literature.

What makes it especially compelling is Tohe’s ability to hold contradictions within the moments of childhood curiosity, companionship, and resilience that exist alongside trauma, isolation, and the erasure of language and identity. She never sensationalizes these experiences; instead, she allows the starkness of the children’s voices, the rhythm of Diné storytelling, and the silences between lines to convey the depth of loss. The structure itself mirrors this fragmented memory (which is so relateable to our own memories), shifting from past to present, individual to collective, personal to political.

Tohe’s critique of the boarding-school system is incisive but grounded in human detail (the cruelty of enforced assimilation, the small acts of resistance, and the survival of culture in whispers and dreams). Her interweaving of Navajo language and cultural references resists the very erasure she describes, transforming the book into an act of reclamation, which made it hit even harder emotionally.

No Parole Today is not only literature but also a witness. It invites readers to understand a painful chapter of Indigenous history while honoring the endurance of those who lived through it. Thoughtful, moving, and beautifully crafted. It is a vital contribution to both Native literature and American cultural memory.

[Annalisa Ely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful poetry and compelling prose.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

"... a young heartbeat to strengthen the drum." I weirdly love this line from the poem "Little Sister".

[Ali Vallarta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A poetry/prose look back at Navajo Nation poet laureate Laura Tohe’s experience in an Indian Boarding School

[Karin Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

really conveys the boarding school experience in the 1960s and 70's

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of heartbreak and humor and defiance.

[Rolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of two awesome books my sister Julia got me for Christmas--it's a collection of prose and poetry by a Navajo writer about her Indian Boarding School experience. Especially since all of the people here I know over 40 pretty much shared her experience or a similar one, it's a fascinating read. Documents a very interesting time when Navajo youth were picking and choosing what parts of white culture to assimilate and what parts of Diné culture to keep around. Thanks, Hoolia!

[Sheila Rocha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contemporary reflection on the Indian boarding school experience with humor and childlike reflections.
She gets in the shadows of street lamps and watches the darkness mixed with the memory of youth in this tender look back at the days.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Tohe's understanding of institutions and what institutions do to people. Very moving.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

[Margaret Adams]

Excellent collection, one of the first (1999) by current Navajo Nation Poet Laureate Laura Tohe. I got to hear Dr. Tohe read some of her current work at the Northern Arizona Book Festival, which I attended while in the process of moving to Tohe's hometown. Subsequently picked this up at the library in Gallup, NM. This book is a reflection on the Indian Boarding Schools, with the kind of prose/poetry mashup that always draws me in. Glad I found Dr. Tohe's work and looking forward to reading more.