In the Sun's House
My Year Teaching on the Navajo Reservation
In the year he spent teaching at Borrego Pass, a remote Navajo community in northwest New Mexico, Kurt Caswell found himself shunned as persona non grata. His cultural missteps, status as an interloper, and white skin earned him no respect in the classroom or the community—those on the reservation assumed he would come and go like so many teachers had before. But as Caswell attempts to bridge the gap between himself and those who surround him, he finds his calling as a teacher and develops a love for the rich landscape of New Mexico, and manages a hard-won truce between his failings and successes.
Rex Lee Jim is a member of the Navajo Nation Council and chairs its Public Safety Committee. He is the author of several books of poetry written in the Navajo language, including Dúchas Táá Kóó Diné, a trilingual poetry collection in Navajo, Irish, and English. He lives in Rock Point, Arizona.
