PROTECTOR OF THE NAVAJO

A horseback quest to locate a mountain lion ties a boy to his cultural and ancestral roots.

- H.A. EAGLEHART

Dreams fill his head resting against the pillow, stirred only by gray foxes barking outside the bedroom window. He wakes from well-rested slumber, returning to this world atop the bunk bed shared with his older brother, who has already risen to drive into town for summer break high school football practice.

Barking continues from a battle unfolding just outside the bedroom window, as cute gray foxes scurrying through laden limbs of the apricot grove fight over the ripest fruit. Groggy eyed gook blurs the boy's vision as all five senses attempt to regain consciousness from a night spent in dreams of soaring amongst the clouds high above his sacred Navajo homeland, mounted upon the Appaloosa horse named Cisco that father gifted to him for his 13th birthday.

In the realm of dreamland, Cisco sprouts wings like Pegasus to take him on grand adventures flying over the four sacred tribal mountains, searching for cougars. The boy's feet banging against the floor after slipping off the top bunk bed scare the gray foxes, ending their battle and forcing them to flee back to their dens along the San Juan River bank, which rolls gently past a few hundred yards away.

A NEW DAY

The boy makes his way outside to the old windmill and water tank to shower. Lathering his long native hair with shampoo grandmother makes from yucca plant root, the cold water pouring straight from the water tank through the shower head makes him shiver and wish for a water boiler.

The eastern sunrise peeks out over the Bisti Hills as prairie dogs and burrow owls congregate above ground to bask in the warm rays of light. The young Navajo and his Australian Cattle Dog named Blue enjoy the warmth of a new day before he dresses and returns to the farmhouse, where his mother has prepared him a bowl of oatmeal he hungrily consumes as she gently combs and braids his hair.