Adee Dodge

Navajo Artist, Intellectual, and Individualist

By: Nancy Mattina

Write A Review

Hardcover | 1 May 2026

At a Glance

Hardcover
277 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.91

Hardcover

$173.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $43.44 with

Ships in 5 to 10 business days

Adee Dodge: Navajo Artist, Intellectual, and Individualist chronicles the life of Navajo artist and intellectual Adee Dodge (1912-92). Born on the Navajo Reservation near Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, Dodge studied anthropological linguistics at Columbia University, taught Navajo literacy at Indian Bureau boarding schools on his reservation, rose from private first class to captain in the army during World War II, and founded Adee Dodge Enterprises, Inc., the first uranium prospecting and mining firm owned by a Navajo. At age forty, by then living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Dodge began to paint allegorical pictures grounded in Navajo wisdom traditions and aesthetics. By 1960 he was an acclaimed Southwest Native watercolorist based in Arizona's Phoenix metro area. His devotion to interpreting the Navajo worldview in modernist form earned him praise as the best of the Navajo painters of his day. Upon his death, Dodge left behind a rich record of his intellectual history that has since been conserved at major museums and archives. Written from a postcolonial perspective, this biography conveys Dodge's assessment of the contributions the Navajo Nation might yet make to the American experiment, if only Americans would honor their promise to treat tribal peoples with dignity and respect.

Industry Reviews

"Adee Dodge is an underrecognized Indigenous artist and intellectual in the scholarly record. During his lifetime he received high acclaim from Native art collectors, academics, curators, and aficionados, as well as other Navajo artists for his paintings. This book provides new insights into why much of Dodge's work went unpublished and why, despite his success as an artist, he was and largely continues to be marginalized from other modern Native painters in most scholarship on this subject."--Laura E. Smith, author of Horace Poolaw, Photographer of American Indian Modernity "Nancy Mattina has written an important biography of a largely unknown Native American artist and scholar who, despite his flaws and lack of recognition during his lifetime, sought to bring greater understanding of the relationship between Navajo culture and non-Native Americans. When considering Dodge's scholarly work, his attempts to share his Navajo culture with a non-Native audience, and his unique style of artwork, it's apparent that his story has been waiting to be told for some time."--Alan Petersen, curator of fine arts at the Museum of Northern Arizona

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $89.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.