Table of Contents
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Also on this website:
Toby
Johnson's books:
TWO SPIRITS: A Story of Life with the
Navajo, a collaboration with Walter L. Williams
GAY
SPIRITUALITY: The Role of
Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness
GAY PERSPECTIVE:
Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us about the Nature
of God and the Universe
SECRET
MATTER: updated, revised & expanded edtion from Lethe Press
with Afterword by Mark Jordan
GETTING
LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE
PLAGUE:
A NOVEL ABOUT HEALING.
CHARMED LIVES: Spinning Straw into
Gold: Reclaiming Our Queer Spirituality Through Story
Books on Gay Spirituality:
Articles
and Excerpts:
Read
Toby's review of Samuel Avery's The
Dimensional Structure of
Consciousness
Funny
Coincidence: "Aliens Settle in San
Francisco"
The
Simple Answer to the Gay Marriage Debate
Why gay people should NOT Marry
Wedding Cake Liberation
Gay Marriage in Texas
What's ironic
Shame on the American People
The "highest form of love"
The
cause of homosexuality
What is homosexuality?
What Jesus said about Gay
Rights
The purpose of homosexuality
What the Bible Says about
Homosexuality
Mesosexual Ideal for Straight Men
Varieties
of Gay Spirituality
Why Gay Spirituality: Spirituality
as Artistic Medium
"It's Always About You"
The myth of the
Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara
Joseph Campbell's description of
Avalokiteshvara
You're
Not A Wave
Emptiness & Religious Ideas
Experiencing experiencing experiencing
Going into the Light
Meditations for a Funeral
Meditation Practice
The way to get to heaven
Curious
Bodies
What
Toby Johnson Believes
The Joseph Campbell Connection
Campbell & The Pre/Trans Fallacy
The Nature of Religion
Being
Gay is a Blessing
Freedom
of Religion
The
Gay Agenda
Gay
Saintliness
Gay Spiritual Functions
The subtle workings of the spirit in gay men's lives.
"The Evolution of Gay Identity"
"St. John of the
Cross &
the
Dark Night of the Soul."
Avalokiteshvara at the Baths.
Eckhart's Eye
Let Me Tell You a Secret
Religious Articulations of the
Secret
The Collective Unconscious
Driving as Spiritual Practice
Meditation
Historicity
as Myth
Teenage
Prostitution and the Nature of Evil
Allah
Hu: "God is present here"
Adam
and Steve
The Life is in the Blood
Gay
retirement and the "freelance monastery"
Seeing with Different Eyes
What
are you looking for in a gay science fiction novel?
The
mystical
experience at the Servites' Castle in Riverside
The
Great Dance according to C.S.Lewis
The Techniques Of The World Saviors
Part 1: Brer Rabbit and the
Tar-Baby
Part 2: The
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
Part 3: Jesus
and the Resurrection
Part 4: A
Course in Miracles
The
Secret of the Clear Light
Understanding the Clear Light
Mobius
Strip
Finding Your
Tiger Face
How Gay
Souls Get Reincarnated
About Alien Abduction
In honor of Sir Arthur C Clarke
The
D.A.F.O.D.I.L. Alliance
The
Rainbow Flag
Toby's friend
and nicknamesake Toby Marotta.
About
Michael Talbot, gay mystic
About Guy Mannheimer
|
About reviews: I think to a writer the
best comments always have to do with the book being compulsive reading
("I couldn't put it down") and with it bringing tears!
I've gotten several such informal, personal "reviews" from readers.
 Recently
I've gotten email from Portland-based gay performance artist, singer,
and playwright/producer Wade
McCollum (here's his picture--and a link
to his most recent album "Beauty is a Streelight"--lovely
music--available from iTunes).
Wade wrote: "Can I tell you how many times
I cried reading TWO SPIRITS? SO beautiful... like coming
home."
New York writer John Caminiti wrote: "I just finished
reading "Two
Spirits" and I wanted to say that I found it to be one of the most
moving
novels I have read in a very long time. . . It is still
resonating with me.
I can't get some of it out of my mind. I had a very similar feeling
when
I read Song of the Loon. Both books spoke to me in very deep
emotional ways.
Published Reviews: TWO
SPIRITS
by "Betty Conley"
ElizConley@aol.com elizconley
Mon Aug 21, 2006
Two Spirits: A Story
of Life With the Navajo
By Walter L. Williams and Toby Johnson
Lethe Press 2006 $18.00
Set in the New Mexican Territory in the Civil War
era, TWO SPIRITS
focuses on a little known and shameful fact of
American history.
Thousands of Navajo Indians, who refer to themselves
as Diné, were
held in US Government sanctioned concentration
camp-like captivity,
at Fort Sumner, from 1864 to 1868. Walter L.
Williams, Ph.D. and Toby
Johnson, Ph.D. combined their knowledge and talent
to pen a
historically accurate fictional account of the
Diné's incarceration.
TWO SPIRITS' factual story line centers around the
callous treatment
the Diné suffered under the supervision of
the righteous Union
General James Carlton. Carlton, an Indian fighter,
devised a plan to
relocate almost twelve thousand "savages" from their
fertile homeland
at Canyon de Chelly (now northeast Arizona), to the
Bosque Redondo
outside Fort Sumner. The Diné were forced to
walk a distance of 325
miles, in winter, with insufficient wagons to carry
the young, old,
and infirm. More than three thousand people died en
route to the
desert area. Carlton's Indian "experiment" had the
support of
officials in Washington who wished the Indians
pacified. The
officials saw to it that sufficient funds for food
and housing for
the Diné were regularly sent to Fort Sumner.
The funds,
unfortunately, made General James Carlton a wealthy
man. During the
Diné's four years of captivity without
government subsidies, and
unable to grow crops in the arid soil, another
quarter of their
population died. The vulnerable Diné were
also victims of raids by
the New Mexicans. General Carlton never ordered the
soldiers to
defend his charges against these attacks.
Adding appeal and fast pace to TWO SPIRITS' plot,
Williams and
Johnson developed a beautiful love story between a
young Virginian,
William Lee, and a high ranked Diné,
Hasbaá. Will had been shunned by
his fundamentalist preacher father after being found
in a barn with
another young man. With the advice and help of an
influential
townsperson, Will went to Washington, D.C. and was
fortunate to be
hired as an apprentice Indian Agent. Assigned to
Fort Sumner, Will
realized immediately that the Indians were poorly
treated, then
learned the previous agent was dead. Feeling fully
responsible for
the Indian's welfare, Will conscientiously wrote
reports to his
superiors in Washington requesting additional aid
for the starving
Diné. Will was not yet aware of Carlton's
duplicity.
Will frequently visited the Diné camp and
after proving himself
worthy was accepted into their talk circle. He
became captivated with
the spiritual person, Hasbaá. A two spirit
person, Hasbaá was honored
and respected by the people. According to
Diné lore, people
possessing two spirits were blessed with twice the
spiritual gifts,
both male and female, and thus had special powers to
oversee healing
rituals and other sacred ceremonies. Hasbaá
and Will grew close and
fell in love. The Diné celebrated their
union, as was their custom.
Will discovered Carlton's treachery so with the help
of Hasbaá and
other Diné, set out to prove Carlton's
unworthiness as leader. Some
of Williams and Johnson's characters, such as
General James Carlton,
were actual people who played significant roles in
the circumstances
surrounding the Navajo's incarceration. In TWO
SPIRITS' pages, the
authors show how spirituality, wisdom, and true
understanding of
human nature existed among the native people of our
continent for
thousands of years before European settlers arrived.
Williams and
Johnson's TWO SPIRITS is a very
important work with far
reaching social significance. TWO SPIRITS is a
highly recommended
five star read.
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender
Student Support Services Library, located at Bloomington Indiana, STAFF PICKS
by Sarah Stumpf
Do you like historical fiction? How about standing up
to corruption, challenging racism, and falling in love?
Two Spirits: A Story of Life With the Navajo by Walter L. Williams and
Toby Johnson is one of the best fiction books I have read in a long
time. Johnson is an award-winning gay writer and Williams is an expert
in same-sex relationships among the Navajo (or Diné as they
prefer to be called). Together they create a beautiful work of fiction
that blends historical truth with compelling fictional characters.
Shortly after the Civil War Will Lee arrives in the harsh desert of New
Mexico to be the new Indian Agent at Fort Sumner and to escape his
fire-and-brimestone father. He quickly finds himself captivated by
Hasbaá, a Diné two-spirit, a man who lives like a woman
and has a sacred role in the community. Her gender transitiveness
fascinates and frightens him, as he is forced to examine himself, his
spiritual beliefs, and his place in this world.
Is he falling for her? Can he help expose the corruption of the Army
officials in charge of the fort as well as face his own racism? Is he
willing to give up the privileges of being a ’straight’ white man to
live in the Diné’s world? And would she even have him if he was
able to get over his own issues?
You could call this book gay fiction or trans fiction, but the labels
don’t matter as much as the strong characters, sexual and sensual
relationships, beautifully harsh settings, and historical realism that
William and Johnson are able to create.
Washington Blade (Aug 8,
2006)
Exploring a spiritual history (Gay)
New novel about a gay Navajo and his white lover examines gay identity
By GREG MARZULLO
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
The history of gay identity on the North American continent is totally
absent from the educational system of the United States, and until
recent years, the travails of the American Indians have been reduced to
the myths of the bloodthirsty Injun or the noble savage.
With "Two Spirits: A Story of Life With the Navajo," gay authors Walter
L. Williams and Toby Johnson deftly unveil the great histories of gay
people as seen through the mythic and cultural expressions of the
Navajo.
The novel is set shortly after the end of the Civil War, when Will Lee,
a white Virginian, runs away from home upon being discovered naked with
his best friend by his stridently religious father. Will joins up with
the Office of Indian Affairs and heads out West to his new post at Fort
Sumner, New Mexico.
The Navajo were forced to live in the parched desert surrounding Sumner
after the U.S. Army drove them from their ancestral lands in what is
now northern Arizona. The tribe remained at the fort as prisoners from
1863 until 1867 when they were restored to their homelands.
While there, Will falls in love with Hasbaá, a "two spirit"
shaman of the tribe.
"The Navajo as well as many other American Indians honored people --
who we today would call gay -- as spiritually gifted,” says Johnson.
"They were understood to possess both the spirit of a man and the
spirit of a woman.”
Two spirit people usually displayed signs of gender variance by
dressing in clothing that was opposite of their biological gender and
engaging in activities that were nontraditional for their gender. They
held a spiritual position of honor within the community and worked as
healers and intermediaries between the human and spirit worlds.
"The way America thinks of homosexuals is not as spiritual leaders,"
says Johnson, 61. I think in the long run it's more important that gay
people change how we understand homosexuality than it is how we get
straight people to change their minds about it."
THE AWAKENING OF gay consciousness, one of the book's central themes,
is nothing new to the writings of either author. Johnson's nonfiction
works "Gay Spirituality" and "Gay Perspective" have become classics in
the queer spirit genre, and Williams, currently a senior professor in
the gender studies program at the University of Southern California,
wrote a seminal book on the two spirit phenomenon titled "The Spirit
and the Flesh: Sexual Diversity in American Indian Culture."
Both writers seamlessly weave their academic backgrounds into the
fabric of Will's and Hasbaá's story. Surrounded by the culture
and myths of the Navajo people, Will begins to embrace his sexuality as
a vehicle toward liberation, happiness and a deepening sense of
empowerment.
"One of the great mythological patterns is that people become heroes
not because they set out to be a hero, but because they got drawn into
it because of personal drive," says Johnson. "Those personal drives are
more sexual most of the time. In writing a gay story, we wanted to be
more open about the sexuality.
Researchers like Williams have determined that two spirit shamans
regularly engaged in same-sex eroticism and even married their
paramours.
"Same-sex marriage is as American as apple pie," Johnson laughs. "On
American soil, there has been same-sex marriage for 5,000 years. It's
the Christians who came along and objected 200 years ago. They're the
new ones."
Book Marks, Sept 25, 2006
Review by Richard Labonte
Two Spirits: A Story of Life with the Navajo,
by Walter L. Williams and Toby Johnson. Lethe Press, 332 pages, $18
paper
Cliched passion between the Sensitive White Man and
the Noble Savage has been a subset of gay romantic and erotic fiction
since Richard Amory's Song of the Loon set the standard almost
five decades ago. The bar has been raised much, much higher by this
compassionate collaboration between academic Williams, whose scholarly The
Spirit and the Flesh explored sexual diversity in American Indian
culture, and novelist Johnson, whose several books blend gay fiction
with spiritual wisdom. Their enchanting and suspenseful romance, set in
Navajo-territory New Mexico shortly after the Civil War, eschews those
unfortunate cliches: the young Virginian and the two-spirit native who
come to love each other here are fully dimensional characters. The
story hews closely to real history, too, as it recounts the callous
eviction of the Navajo from their sacred homelands, a shameful era of
cultural oppression and brutal discrimination in America. Two
Spirits bristles with an angry depiction of regrettable history,
but any hint of didactic overload is totally tempered by fine writing.
RFD, Winter 2006-07
Review by B
Two Spirits, A Story of Life
with the Navajo
by Walter L. Williams & Toby Johnson
Lethe Press, 331 pages, 2006
"Two Spirits, A story of Life With the Navajo", is an
eminently accessible novel. It is written with joy and sensitivity and
successfully evokes the post-Civil War era. In addition, it offers a
lucid and simple (at times almost too simple) view of Dine (the word
the Navajo peoples have for themselves) spirituality and the unique
role of the Two Spirit people in Dine culture.
In the first three chapters we are introduced to the hero,
Will Lee (a distant relative of Robert E.) who arrives at Ft. Sumner NM
to take up duties as an apprentice to the Indian Agent. Following
chapters alternate between his earlier life in Virginia and his
experiences at the Fort. Will, we learn, has had some questions about
his sexuality; had a brief romantic/ sexual experience with his best
friend, Michael; and is discovered just after the act by his
Bible-thumping father with the expected dire consequences. Michael
escapes to Norfolk to follow his dream of becoming a sailor; and Will,
through the intervention of a local lawyer is given a copy of Walt
Whitman's recently published "Leaves of Grass"; given a letter of
introduction to the lawyer's friend in the Department of the Interior
and encouraged to escape to Washington, D.C. where he is assigned to
the post at Ft. Sumner.
Through this devise of alternating episodes between
his earlier life and life at the fort, a picture of a sensitive and
caring, though confused young man emerges. He meets, and is very
attracted to Hasbaa, a Dine Two Spirit spiritual leader of his/her
people. Will is appalled at the destitute conditions to which the Dine
are subjected by General Carlson, the Fort Commander, and gradually
discovers the extent of the General's perfidy.
Love blooms between Will and Hasbaa and as he learns about
the Dine life and spirituality the reader gains a clear picture of the
profound reverence for life and the joyous and innocent sexuality
evidenced by the people. The device works well and the adventure
provided by the pursuit and ultimate downfall of Gen. Carlson and the
return of the Dine to their homeland makes for a satisfying tale.
If you are interested in Native American culture and
spirituality I highly recommend" Two Spirits". It will be a treasured
addition to your library.
Midwest Book Review Dec. 2006
by Lori L.
Lake, author
This is the first work of
fiction I've
read that speaks about the world of the berdache with such clarity,
depth,
and soulfulness. The novel draws much of its historical fact and
information
from Walter L. Williams' nonfiction book THE SPIRIT AND THE FLESH:
SEXUAL
DIVERSITY IN AMERICAN INDIAN CULTURE, but despite its historical base,
the
book never feels dry. Instead, it is lively, entertaining, and a
fascinationg
look at a time gone by when two people from completely different
cultures
came together as friends, lovers, and trusted allies to prevail over an
enemy
that seemed impossible to defeat. Highly recommended.
Ashe Journal Vol 5, Issue 4
Also from Toby Johnson, this time joined by anthropologist Walter
Williams, comes a new work of historical fiction: Two Spirits: A Story
of Life With the Navajo (Lethe Press, 2006, 331pp, $18.00). Set in the
Civil War era of the 1860’s, Two Spirits tells the story of a feckless
Virginian who finds himself captivated by a Two-Spirit male. This is a
fascinating book that combines tragedy and oppression with a tale of
love, beauty and self-discovery.
Barnes & Noble.com
This book I could not
put down, with its visual beauty and its base in historical
truth, I found it enthralling. I am most grateful to learn yet
another piece
of who we are, and understand more fully why we are here.
--- Craig A. Lee
Lambda Book Report
Winter
2007
BY THOM NICKELS
Novels are generally written by one author, but Two Spirits: A Story of Life with tlte
Navajo, is co-authored by Walter L. Williams and Toby Johnson.
Williams. of course. is known for his classic overview of Native
American sexuality. The Spirit and the Flesh, a must-read for anyone
interested in American (sexual) history or Native American life. In
that work Williams explains the dynamics and the ways of the berdache,
or the Two Spirited-third gendered male. usually gay, who would often
dress as a member of the opposite sex, take a husband or wife (Two
Spirited persons were male or female) and live among the tribe as a
shaman or holy per-son. As a link between male and female. such persons
were thought to have the ability to tap into mystical realms. and to
create power-ful influences among the tribe.
Toby Johnson, the author of a number of spiritual books and former
editor of White Crane Journal, a gay men's journal of spiritu-ality, is
a logical choice to team with Williams. Being on the same page
spiritually would indeed be a prerequisite for such a venture.
The novel follows the adventures of Will, a young son-of-a--preacher
man who runs away from home after his father discovers him in the arms
of his best friend, circa 1868, in—as it turns out—-a not so secret
hayloft in the family barn.
Will runs away from home because he fears for his life and be-cause his
preacher father (a 19th century version of the Religious Right) seeks
to make an example of him before the congregation. Will feels that his
father will hang him although at one point he contemplates hanging
himself. He alters course when he runs to a family friend, an older
unmarried man and
Walt Whitman devotee, who lectures him on the value of people who are
"different." Although homosexuality or same sex attrac-tion is never
mentioned per se. the old man talks to Will about the love of comrades,
and Will. if only subliminally, gets the message. The old man also
suggests that WiIl leave home immediately for Washington D.C. to see a
friend of his in the government who might be able to get him a job.
This promise of employment is the springboard for Will's new life, and
he ven-tures forth into the bureaucratic labyrinths of Washington D.C.
where his introduction pays off. The old man's network of "secret
comrade friends" helps the young man ob-tain the dangerous yet exciting
job as an
Indian Agent. What follows is the story of how young Will travels to
the displaced homeland of the Navajo people (who yearn for their
original home in New Mexico) and how he slowly integrates himself into
their community.
On the reservation Will encounters top military brass hostile to Native
American interests; indeed, all the standard anti-Indian prejudices of
the day are in full bloom there. Complicating matters, Will meets the
Navajo Two Spirit, Hasbaa, and begins a personal odyssey of self
discovery. His fascination for Hasbaa leads eventual-ly to a
consummated love relationship or marriage within the tribe that has
dire consequences for Will both personally and profession-ally.
The authors' acute eye for historical detail and fact make this a
historical novel worth reading. This combination adventure story.
history lesson, and love story/soap opera are as compelling as the
early novels of Herman Hesse. While the straightforward narrative can
sometimes have a "young adult" feel, the book is a page turner
nonetheless, even if the grafting of erotic sequences and history
lessons sometimes have the feel of self conscious constructions.
In the description of Will's making love to a Two Spirit Mexican before
making his commitment to Hasbaa. we read:
As his kiss deepened, everything went out
of Will's mind. He felt himself go all to jelly as his muscles began to
move on their own as by reflex. His testicles contracted, and the
warmth deep inside moved upward and out onto his belly against Jose's.
He shuddered and convulsed in pleasure like never before.
In passages like these, this reader sensed an awkward confluence or
clash of two writing styles.
Reading these explicitly erotic passages is a little bit like taking a
supersonic transport from the 19th to 21st century. In one erotic dream
sequence we read how "Hasbaa sucked and caressed Will's cock with her
tongue," and how Will. getting it from behind in a menage-a-trios dream
fantasy, felt "himself filled with the warrior's maleness and that that
maleness was being pumped into him in this act. "
Eroticism is fine but here it feels very much out of place. The authors
fare much better in their descriptions of the private rela-tionship
lovemaking of Hasbaa and Will. This is perfectly in context in this
historically im-portant and even beautiful story.
Thom Nickels is a
Philadelphia-based author/journalist/ playwright. and the author or
eight published books including Out
in History and
Philadelphia Architecture.
An Exceptional
Spiritual Adventure in Cross Cultural Love
June 14, 2007
By Fred Stewart
I found Two Spirits to be a
delightful and entertaining book bringing
together compelling history,
culture, romance, and spirituality. The
authors vividly tell the
story of the historical plight of the Navajo
(Dine) tribe forced to
languish in an extremely hostile environment
far away from their homeland
in an experiment in Indian management" by
the U.S. military following
the Civil War.
The writing is lucid and the
characters are exceptionally
well-developed. I readily
experienced the hardships and the profound
spirituality of the tribe as
I entered their world and joined the
journey. The tribal ways,
rituals, and governing are rich in detail. I
became aware that under the
horrendous hardships the tribe managed to
maintain an enduring sense
of human hope, trust, and love. Tribal
members displayed this love
and trust for each other and their
spiritual leader. The
eventual acceptance of the "hairy face" (as the
Native Americans referred to
white men) into the tribe's midst is a
lesson of tolerance and
acceptance, especially when contrasted by the
ugliness of discrimination
practiced by the tribe's so-called
'protectors'.
Two Spirits is a must read
for anyone who seeks to understand an
aspect of Native American
culture that has been denied far too long.
GAY SHAMANS AS HEROES
AND WARRIORS
A Book Review by Lewis
Elbinger
Walter L. Williams and Toby Johnson, Two Spirits: A Story of Life with
the Navajo,
Lethe Press, New Jersey, 2006, 331 pages
Some books have veils over them. That means
you cannot read them until you are ready for the message contained
therein. Two Spirits: A Story of Life with the Navajo was such a
book for me. I bought it immediately after it was published, but
it sat on my shelf for almost a year before the veil was lifted and I
could enter the world the authors created and described.
Perhaps the barrier that prevented me from plunging
into this novel of American frontier life in the 1860s was the harsh
and accurate description of the injustices suffered by the Native
Americans at that time. I found the situation too painful to
contemplate and refused to do so. When the veil was finally
lifted, I was surprised and delighted to find a plot that veered from
comedy to horror and back with an underlying message of hope, triumph
and redemption. At one point I was moved to tears by the
magnificence of the characters and the skillful manner in which they
were portrayed. That, the shedding of a joyful tear evoked by
artistic talent, is the surest sign for me that the authors have
succeeded in their mission.
This book reminded me once again of the power of
fiction to reflect and affect the so-called "real world." Toby
Johnson literally wrote the book on gay spirituality (Toby Johnson, Gay Spirituality, Lethe Press, New
Jersey, 2004, 296 pages). Here, with co-author Walter Williams,
he delivers a message about the beauty, power and glory of gay shamans
in the guise of historical fiction. The book has several levels:
it is a story about the love between two men from radically different
worlds, about the differences between those worlds and, ultimately,
about the reconciliation of those worlds. The plot hinges on
historical characters, situations and places, but incorporates a
variety of elements, including magical realism, that make the story
memorable, interesting and exciting.
The word "Navajo" is the Spanish name of a Native
American tribe that calls itself Dine which means "the people."
In the 1860s, the Dine suffered a devastation comparable that
experienced by the Jews in Nazi Germany. They were forcibly
deported from their homeland and relocated to a barren track of land
outside of Fort Sumner in what is currently New Mexico. Their
violent resistance to this deportation provided the excuse for further
oppression. With little food, water or shelter, people died by
the thousands. Eventually, the Dine made a treaty with the U.S.
government that allowed them to return to their homeland from the brink
of extinction.
Certain heroic and decent personalities among both
the Dine and U.S. government facilitated this fortuitous
conclusion. In this fictionalized version of the story, Williams
and Johnson posit a love affair between a young Indian Agent from
Virginia named William Lee and a Dine nadleehi (gay shaman) named
Hasbaá. While the plot contains the heart-pounding twists
and turns of an exciting movie, the underlying message of the book is
William Lee's discovery, understanding and acceptance of Dine holistic
and humane cosmology in contrast to the cosmology of his own tribe of
rapacious and callous Americans. The love between Lee and
Hasbaá served as a bridge between two utterly diverse and
hostile cultures. This love allowed healing, growth and
understanding to develop in an atmosphere in which only violence,
oppression and cruelty flourished.
Love exists on four levels: physical, emotional,
mental and spiritual. It was the spiritual bond between the white
American and the red Native American that drew them together and
allowed them to foster reconciliation between their antagonistic
societies. William Lee's curiosity and fascination with Dine
culture and religion in general and with Hasbaá's exalted
position as a religious figure in that culture in particular opened a
window onto a world which was closed to most white Americans. The
reader is privileged to gaze over Lee's shoulder as he peers into the
forbidden and foreign world that most of Lee's compatriots considered
savage and barbaric. One wonders who is the savage and who is the
barbarian when the truth is known about the values and behaviors of
each society.
One message of Toby Johnson's considerable literary
output is that the homosexual perspective makes a valuable and
necessary contribution to the evolution of human consciousness.
This book presents the same idea in an entertaining, interesting and
enlightening way. After finishing the book, I bought three copies
of it as gifts for friends who would appreciate the concept of same-sex
love as a vehicle for intercultural understanding.
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