This is the story of two courageous boys and of how they saved their village, Haapaahnitse, Oak Place, and it lies at the foot of a mountain. Once there was a lake and a stream nearby, but they have dried up. The land has become barren and dry. Two brothers, Tsaiyah-dzehshi, whose name means First One, and Hamahshu-dzehshi, Next One, are chosen for a westward trek to the home of the Shiwana, the Rain and Snow Spirits, to ask them to bring the gift of water to the village again. The brothers cross deserts and mountains on an arduous journey until they are finally stopped short by a treacherous canyon filled with molten lava. “The Good Rainbow Road” tells how the brothers overcome this last challenge and continue on to their destination.
“The Good Rainbow Road” is presented in Keres, the language of Acoma Pueblo and six other Pueblo communities in New Mexico, and in English, with an additional Spanish translation in the back of the book. It is published in cooperation with Oyate, a community-based Native organization dedicated to the continuation of traditional literatures and histories.
- ISBN: 9780816523405
- Published: 2004 , University of Arizona Press
- Themes: Indigenous
- Descriptors: Folklore and Fairy Tales, Primary (ages 6-9), Southwest, United States
- No. of pages: 80