Book Notices

A Navajo Legacy: The Life and Teachings of John Holiday.

By John Holiday andRobert S. McPherson. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2011. xxii + 394. pp.Paper, $24.95.)

This engaging account of the life of John Holiday, a tribal elder, medicine man and spiritual leader was first published in 2005 as a hardback edition and reviewed in the Winter 2006 issue of the Utah Historical Quarterly. Holiday saw his purpose to provide a source of information to future generations. “Our children will read and learn the important teachings, language, and history of our people. These teachings of life are from the past, but they are still good for the present and future. Our children will benefit from them” (xi). This paperback edition, also published by the University of Oklahoma Press, makes this important source on Navajo rituals, ceremonies, traditions, and beliefs available as volume 251 in The Civilization of the American Indian Series

The Introduction of Mormonism to Finnish Society, 1840-1900.

By Kim Östman.(Åbo, Finland: Åbo Akademi University Press, 2010. vi + 486 pp. Paper.)

This study by Finnish scholar Kim Östman is a result of his graduate studies at the Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland. In eight chapters as well as an introduction and a section on methodology, Östman focuses on the societal relationship between Mormonism and the Russian governed Finnish society (both religious and secular) between the years of 1840 and 1900, with special attention to the earliest Mormon proselytizing activities of Mormon missionaries primarily from Sweden during the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

Östman’s extensive research into documents and newspapers in Finland as well as his extensive research in the archives of the LDS church in Salt Lake City present a much different approach (and understanding) of early LDS church activities in Finland than what is generally found in traditional Mormon studies by American scholars.

Of special interest are the chapters fourth through seven: “Proselytizing and its Results,” “A Turbulent Interface to Society,” Pohja as a Finnish Mormon Microcosm,” and “From Finland to Zion: Emigration to Utah.” The latter chapter is an analysis offor the lack of adherence by the few Finnish Mormon converts to the peculiar Mormon doctrine of “gathering to Zion” than that which was followed by other European Mormon converts during the last third of the nineteenth century. The author provides several appendices of all LDS church missionaries who served in Finland during the period under discussion, data of Finnish Mormon converts, and those Finns who converted to Mormonism abroad.

Latter-day Dissent: At the Crossroads of Intellectual Inquiry and Ecclesiastical Authority.

Philip Lindholm, ed. (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books: Salt Lake City,2011. xxxiii + 236. Paper, $24.95.)

This collection of nine interviews includes five of the “September Six,” a group of intellectuals officially excommunicated or disfellowshipped from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in September 1993. Of particular interest to students of Utah history are the interviews with prominent Mormon historians Lavina Fielding Anderson and D. Michael Quinn. Interviews with three other members of the “September Six,” include those with Lynne Kanavel Whitesides, Paul James Toscano, and Maxine Hanks. Three other intellectuals whose interviews are included are Janice Merrill Allred, Margaret Merrill Toscano, and Thomas W. Murphy. A concluding interview with Donald B. Jessee, a veteran of forty-five years employment in various departments of the LDS church, offers an “unofficial” defense of church disciplinary action.