"With methodological sophistication, sound original arguments, emic sensitivity, and even a good dose of self-aware, self-deprecating humor, Walking to Magdalena may very well become a young classic in the study of Native American Christianity."—David J. Howlett, Journal of the American Academy of Religion
"This book will be of interest to those concerned with Native American Christianities, theories of pilgrimage, and the interaction between selfhood and place. Scholars of Tohono O’odham culture will be particularly drawn to this text, which provides such a careful analysis of material culture and song work."—Suzanne Crawford O’Brien, Material Religion
"The subject-matter of the book is original: a decade-long partnership with the O'odham, built on trust, offers the reader insights into contemporary, every-day, lived religious experiences of this Indigenous Catholic community. . . . The conscious revelation of self, as it sits alongside the presentation of the O'odham, allows the author to acknowledge his position as the author, without effacing the co-production of this work with his partners in the O'odham community."—Kathryn N. Gray, Transmotion
"Walking to Magdalena makes many original contributions to the anthropology of the Southwest, and readers interested in these theoretical discussions (from ontology to transnationalism) will profit enormously from poring over the rich and sensitive ethnography in this book. As such, this book makes a number of important contributions to anthropology—as well as to the allied disciplines of Native American studies, history, and religious studies."—Sean O’Neill, Journal of Anthropological Research
"Probably not since Ruth M. Underhill’s Singing for Power: The Song Magic of the Papago Indians of Southern Arizona . . . has anyone devoted a study to O’odham pilgrimage traditions. . . . Students of O’odham culture and history now have a worthy companion to Underhill’s seminal text."—David Martinez, Kiva: Journal of Southwestern Anthropology & History
"Twenty years ago, Michael D. McNally proposed a compelling framework for decolonizing the study of Native American religions. . . . Nowhere since has that approach found greater resonance than in Seth Schermerhorn’s Walking to Magdalena, a terrific new book that reformulates McNally’s historiographical method as ethnographic practice."—Maxine Allison Vande Vaarst, Western Historical Quarterly
"This is a worthwhile text that demonstrates the deep importance and meaning that O’odham and other Indigenous peoples convey as they complete their yearly walk to Magdalena."—Juan A. Avila-Hernandez, Native American and Indigenous Studies
"This is a holy journey, and the author enriches his account with interviews of various walkers that include discussions about songs, stories, and traditions."—S. J. Zuber-Chall, Choice
"Walking to Magdalena is a fine ethnography that contributes to the emerging understanding of embodiment, emplacement, and religious co-existence or layering in contemporary cultures. Schermerhorn demonstrates a mastery of several bodies of academic literature, including anthropology and religious studies."—Jack David Eller, Reading Religion
"Walking to Magdalena is a book that demonstrates incredible insight and a recognition of a people’s ability to adapt to changes in their environment."—Keith Cook, Journal of Arizona History
“In the tradition of Keith Basso’s Wisdom Sits in Places, Seth Schermerhorn’s Walking to Magdalena grounds the study of Native American religion, and in this case Tohono O’odham Catholicism, in a profoundly sophisticated sense of place and deliberate movement across ancestral landscapes. Theoretically informed and tangibly grounded in respectful relationships with Tohono O’odham elders, Walking to Magdalena is as humble a book as it is game-changing. We come to think differently about pilgrimage, the indigenization of Christianity, and what it might mean to become fully human.”—Michael D. McNally, John M. and Elizabeth W. Musser Professor of Religion at Carleton College
“Walking to Magdalena makes important contributions to the field of indigenous religious studies. The work will also be of interest to those doing fieldwork with Native communities, regardless of the specific field of research. . . . The writing is some of the clearest academic writing I’ve read. The author has a unique gift for writing direct, simple sentences, yet within an insightful, engaging narrative.”—David Delgado Shorter, professor in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at the University of California, Los Angeles
“Seth Schermerhorn’s insightful work, Walking to Magdalena, is a wonderful piece of ethnographic research offering a poignant window on O’odham Catholic beliefs and practices. He was fortunate to become a friend and walking companion to the O’odham.”—Ofelia Zepeda, author of Where Clouds are Formed
“A sophisticated and engaging ethnography of O’odham expressive culture as it relates to pilgrimages to Magdalena; as an inveterate walker myself, Schermerhorn’s discussion of ‘being a good walker’ reminds us of the fundamental role that walking can have in the constitution of memory and history.”—Anthony K. Webster, author of Intimate Grammars: An Ethnography of Navajo Poetry
“Walking to Magdalena makes a vitally important contribution to borderland studies, tracing the making and remaking of place and personhood of the now-transnational Tohono O’odham. It makes contributions to indigenous and subaltern studies and provides us with a unique set of Tohono O’odham voices.”—Andrae Marak, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Graduate Studies and professor of history and political science at Governors State University
