Yellow Woman and a Beauty of Spirit

Yellow Woman and a Beauty of Spirit is a collection of twenty-one nonfiction essays examining modern Native American life. The collection is told entirely from the author-narrator’s point of view and concerns many of her own experiences growing up within the Laguna Pueblo community. Silko weaves her own personal experiences and observations with the stories told to her by other people, both ancient stories concerning Pueblo mythology and familial stories depicting the actions of her ancestors. In this way, these essays mimic the tradition of Pueblo storytelling, an oral tradition in which stories—both familial and mythological—are passed down through generations in communal narratives meant to convey knowledge.

The essays place special attention on the female experience, as many of the characters within the essays are female. Silko contrasts this Laguna attachment to female identity with the patriarchy of Anglo-Western societies. Although female identity—and identity in general—are viewed by Pueblo culture as always being in flux, Silko creates a space for the importance of female characters within the history of her people via these essays. Although Laguna is not a full-fledged matriarchy, it is important to note that traditionally, homes and land belonged to females within the family units, affording children stability without concern for paternal lineage.