Shonto Begay, artist, writer, poet, and filmmaker, was born into the Navajo nation, USA. “In My Mother’s Kitchen”, introduced for reading and exam below, displays some clues of Native American culture that are especifically connected to word choices represented by:

Fragrance of fresh tortillas and corn stew

Fills my mother’s kitchen

Sparsely furnished

Crowded with

warmth

Soot-grayed walls, secretive and blank

She moves gently in and out of light

Like a dream just out of reach

The morning light gives her a

halo 

That plays upon her crown of dark hair

Strong brown hands caress soft mounds of

dough She gazes out into the warming day

Past sagebrush hills, out towards the foot of Black

Mesa How far would she let the goats wander today

Before it rains

Childhood dreams and warmth

Tight in my throat, tears in my eyes

The radio softly tuned to a local AM station

News of ceremonies and chapter meetings

And funerals 

Flows into the peaceful kitchen

Lines upon her face, features carved of hard

times Lines around her eyes, creases of happy

times Bittersweet tears and ringing silvery

laughter

I ache in my heart

My mother’s gentle movements light up dark

corners Her gentle smiles recall childhood dreams still

so alive

My mother moves in and out of

light Like clouds on days of

promising rain 

 (Available in: https://www.coursehero.com. Acess in: August 2024.)