guila: The Vision, Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Two-Spirit Shaman in the Ozark Mountains [Paperback]

InÁguila: The Vision, Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Two-Spirit Shaman in the Ozark Mountains, María Cristina Moroles traces the path of her extraordinary life from the streets of Dallas to the wilderness of the Arkansas Ozarks, where she has resided for fifty years. Hailing from a large Indigenous and Mexican American family in Texas, Moroles apprentices herself to healers and shamans across the Americas as she follows the spiritual vision that leads her to establish a mountaintop sanctuary for women and children of color in a notoriously insular location in the Ozark Mountains. This is a survivor’s tale, and a back-to-the-lander’s tale, unlike any other. From early traumas to countercultural rebellion and profound spiritual awakening, Moroles recounts milestones that earn her the ceremonial names SunHawk and Águila, as she builds a sustainable community off the grid, atop a mountain otherwise uninhabited by human life.Águilatells the truth of one woman’s search for freedom and all women’s quest for dignity as it celebrates the healing powers of nature.“This impressive chronicle of the lifework of a powerful Indigenous woman wrestling with personal, familial, and cultural survival is also a story of the landscapes of Texas and Arkansas, which emerge as sites of birth, death, safety, and danger. A wonderful book.”
—Pippa Holloway, Cornerstone Chair in History, University of Richmond“I have long admired the work of María Cristina Moroles at Arco Iris, and nowÁguilacelebrates her life and vision. Filled with stories from Moroles’s life deftly assembled by Lauri Umansky,Águilademonstrates how to live honoring visions of peace and justice. Moroles has led a life filled with meaning and purpose; readingÁguila, all may witness and emulate.Águilais fantastic!”
—Julie R. Enszer, editor and publishlƒ