“The scope of Jim Kristofic’s new book is really of epic proportions, an intriguing, accessible history of the Ganado Mission on the Navajo reservation in northeast Arizona.”—David Steinberg, Albuquerque Journal
“Kristofic is a fantastic storyteller.”—The Taos News
“Medicine Women contributes to an engaging body of work that values oral history and emphasizes storytelling in historical analysis.”—Gianna May Sanchez, Journal of Arizona History
“The book presents a clear, readable narrative that is layered with detail.”—Rebecca Tannenbaum, Medical History
“Jim Kristofic offers a veritable twentieth-century saga of the rise and eventual eclipse of the Presbyterian Mission school, hospital, and nursing program at Ganado against the background of Juan Lorenzo Hubbell’s success as an Indian trader in a unique part of the Native world. In telling of the triumphant confluence of missionary dedication and Navajo endurance against the unrelenting pressure of post–World War II change, he offers a moving story equal to the power of Thomas Gray’s unforgettable ‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.’”—Paul G. Zolbrod, author of Diné bahane’: The Navajo Creation Story
“The book is a history of the largest medical mission among the Diné (Navajo people), 1902–1969, and its crown jewel, the first Native American nursing school. You’ll find herein appealing portraits of mission staff and students, both Diné and non-, and feel the triumphs and failures of an oasis of learning.”—Klara Bonsack Kelley, coauthor of Navajo Sacred Places
“In Medicine Women, Jim Kristofic adeptly combines archival research with good, old-fashioned storytelling. He draws readers into this world through Diné leader Ganado Mucho, trader Juan Lorenzo Hubbell, US government representatives in the territory, and the varied inhabitants of the land—native, Hispanic, and white.”—Nancy J. Taylor, Director of Programs and Services, Presbyterian Historical Society
