In the Fifth World: Portrait of the Navajo Nation

In the Fifth World: Portrait of the Navajo Nation
by Adriel Heisey and Kenji Kuwano
Adopted by
Maureen Conners
Mr. and Mrs. Richard J Conners
on June 5, 2022
In the Fifth World: Portrait of the Navajo Nation

In the Fifth World: Portrait of the Navajo Nation

By Adriel Heisey and Kenji Kuwano. Tucson, Arizona: Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2001.

The “Fifth World” refers to the current Navajo timeline of things. This photo essay reveals a deep adoration for the Navajo people and the land that sustains their livelihood. Through the land-level lens of Kuwano and eagle-eye views from Heisey’s handmade Kolb Twinstar, they curate a vivid display of portraits and landscapes transpiring exquisite beauty. Kuwano’s black and white portraits juxtaposed with Heisey’s colorful aerial panoramas tell a blended story of Navajo kinship, life, land, and connection between the contemporary and traditional: newlyweds pose in a Pendleton robe, opposite a color aerial high above the Navajo Nation Fair. Heisey once piloted tribal government officials and Kuwano was photojournalist for The Navajo Times Today (and married into Navajo) and together created a gracious tribute to the Navajo people with In The Fifth World: Portrait of the Navajo Nation.

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Adoption Type: Build and Access the Collection

Location: 
Vine Deloria, Jr. Library, National Museum of the American Indian