Wisdom Sits in Places

I love that Basso can take me so far inside someone's mind that I can begin to understand not just what they think and feel but how and why they think and feel it.

This book contains the very systems and processes that we use to make knowledge and meaning, and I love learning about a way of knowing and making meaning that is very different from mine—entirely logical, purposeful, valid, and different from mine. 

Wisdom Sits in Places is a model for writers who want to describe the scope, importance, and the social and ecological applicability of indigenous wisdom.

In the book, Basso describes poetically how Western Apache elders teach us how spaces and places have histories the wisdom of which clears the mind and engenders respect for nature and for one’s fellow human beings. It is a key work for anyone who wants to write about wisdom.

Keith Basso wrote an anthropological masterpiece by taking many, many years to listen to his Western Apache interlocutors. The result is a sharp and ethnographically rich analysis of how wisdom and knowledge are embedded in places, placenames, and stories about places. Basso’s prose is smooth yet theoretically rich, and he gives plenty of space for showcasing the diverse voices of Western Apache people. It is not common to pick up an academic book that is difficult to put down, but this is an exception.

A brilliant and uplifting tale of how stories are used by the Western Apache people to tie them to place and give meaning to life. This is a quite unique book, speaking to all human experience. The Western Apache talk of mental smoothness, a mind that can be calm and focused. The smooth mind is a tightly woven basket, yielding but strong, resistant to the jarring effects of external events. “Wisdom sits in places,” said elder Dudley Patterson, “You will walk a long way and live a long time. And your mind will be smoother and smoother.” If objects and… show more.

Keith Basso argues with a quiet authority that a sensing of place is a cultural activity unlike any other. His book relies on a deep understanding of Arizona land as well as a familiarity with Apache culture and naming traditions. In translation, Apache place-names often require entire phrases like “White rocks lie above in a compact cluster” or “Coyote pisses in the water.” To learn the meanings and stories behind those names is to experience the land itself in a powerful way – new and perplexing for English speakers, ancient and vibrant for the Apache people.