Born in 1919, Holiday is a practicing traditional Navajo medicine man living in Monument Valley, Utah. Drawing on extensive interviews with Holiday, McPherson (College of Eastern Utah) presents a detailed account of Holiday's life, from his early training with his grandfather and other family members living in the high country desert of the Colorado Plateau, through years of interactions with whites in the early film making industry, in the Civilian Conservation Corps and the military during the 1930s, and as a miner on the Navajo Reservation during the 1950s. The second half of the book features tribal and family teachings passed down from generation to generation, and other lessons from contemporary society.