With a simplicity as disarming as it is frank, Left Handed tells of
his birth in the spring of 1868 "when the cottonwood leaves were
about the size of [his] thumbnail," of family chores such as
guarding the sheep near the hogan, and of his sexual awakening. As
he grows older, his account turns to life in the open: nomadic
cattle-raising, farming, trading, communal enterprises, tribal
dances and ceremonies, lovemaking, and marriage. As Left Handed
grows in understanding and stature, the accumulated wisdom of his
people is revealed to him. He learns the Navajo lifeway, which is
founded on the principles of honesty, foresightedness, and
self-discipline. The style of the narrative is almost biblical in
its rhythms, but biblical, too, in many respects, is the
traditional way of life it recounts.