Warehouse white noise -- The "Palm Springs of Washington" -- Ganas in Carver Country -- Getting out -- Walla Walla walkabouts -- Cold feet -- The arrival -- Tree noodles -- "Indian time" -- La Cruz de Campos -- Glacier dip -- Washington gray -- Goldendale -- An X-Man -- Apache medicine -- Cougar country -- City-slicker natives -- Tlaloc in L.A. -- Southern fire -- Main in the maze -- Running the wrong way -- The devil's coffin -- El chapito -- Deer runners -- Chihuahua -- Touch of treasure -- The rebirth story -- Nayarit -- Mangoes -- Santo coyote -- Hardware store -- Weaving words -- The flying men of Teotihuacán -- Descending eagle -- Oaxaca -- Zapatistas : rebel country -- Acteal -- Guatemala -- Old orchard -- Today.
Summary:
"Growing up in Yakima, Washington, Noé Álvarez worked at an apple-packing plant alongside his mother, who "slouched over a conveyor belt of fruit, shoulder to shoulder with mothers conditioned to believe this was all they could do with their lives." A university scholarship offered escape, but as a first-generation Latino college-goer, Álvarez struggled to fit in. At nineteen, he learned about a Native American/First Nations movement called the Peace and Dignity Journeys, epic marathons meant to renew cultural connections across North America. He dropped out of school and joined a group of Dené, Secwépemc, Gitxsan, Dakelh, Apache, Tohono O'odham, Seri, Purépecha, and Maya runners, all fleeing difficult beginnings. Telling their stories alongside his own, Álvarez writes about a four-month-long journey from Canada to Guatemala that pushed him to his limits. He writes not only of overcoming hunger, thirst, and fear--dangers included stone-throwing motorists and a mountain lion--but also of asserting Indigenous and working-class humanity in a capitalist society where oil extraction, deforestation, and substance abuse wreck communities. Running through mountains, deserts, and cities, and through the Mexican territory his parents left behind, Álvarez forges a new relationship with the land, and with the act of running, carrying with him the knowledge of his parents' migration, and--against all odds in a society that exploits his body and rejects his spirit--the dream of a liberated future"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.