A terrible accident thrusts a Navajo youth into the Anglo world: In 1957 Gilbert John, named in Navajo Hashke’ Yitaaswod, is born in northwest New Mexico. His childhood encompasses extremes of freedom, responsibility and constraint far beyond the experience of typical American children. His youth straddles not only two cultures but two eras, for modernization comes late to the Navajo reservation. His energy is boundless, his thirst for freedom tempered by devotion to family and a determination to succeed. At age 17, Gilbert is on his way to graduating high school at the top of his class when a tragic accident changes the course of his life. Gilbert is suddenly transported into the white man’s world. First, a shocking awakening in a hospital where no one speaks his language. Then comes an arduous rehabilitation, of which the most painful part is coming to terms with his prognosis of irreversible quadriplegia. Here, one might expect the tale to wind down, but many adventures and achievements follow, as Gilbert goes on to earn his bachelor’s degree, to travel and live independently in a pre-ADA world, and ultimately to become a powerful advocate and role model for people with disabilities on and off the reservation. Gilbert John’s autobiography offers a rare intimate glimpse into tribal life, and a forthright take on Western medicine and culture from a Native American perspective. John tells his story with vivid description, dry wit and piercing honesty.

This revised and expanded Second Edition of Gilbert John’s Unbroken Spirit combines text from the first print edition (Acacia, 2010) with the author’s insertions and addenda to that earlier text, as well as entirely new material, specifically the Prologue and Postscript, written after the book’s initial release.