Mid Term Paper

The Way to Rainy Mountain, by N. Scott Momaday, is a literary exploration of the history of the Kiowa tribe and its oral traditions. In the book the author presents the stories in one of three voices; the first being the oral tradition of the Kiowa tribe, the second being the history commentary pertaining to the story, and the third being the author’s own voice. When the book is viewed as a short story cycle it becomes evident that each of the chapters and each of the voices is part of the cycle, during which the history of the Kiowa tribe is explored and made permanent. From this point of view Momaday’s purpose for writing the book becomes clear; to preserve the culture, identity, and spirit of his people.

The short story cycle is very evident within with book, as each of the three voices within the book is used once in each chapter, giving each chapter a cyclical form. However, the repetition of this form for each chapter makes them part of an overall cyclical form. Momaday breaks this form up into three sections, the setting out, the going on, and the closing in, and within each section he has a purpose. The first section serves to introduce the reader to the Kiowa tribe and its culture, the second serves to give the reader more insight into the culture and identity of the tribe, and the third section serves to make the story of the Kiowa tribe and its people, including N. Scott Momaday, permanent in the mind of the reader. However, each voice also serves its own purpose in the overall form of the book, and as was said earlier, is part of a cycle within each chapter.

The first part of the cycle the reader encounters in each chapter is the ancestral voice, or the oral tradition of the Kiowa tribe. These stories had been passed down through the ages and were a key part of Kiowa identity and culture. It is through these stories that the reader encounters the only primary source within the book, and therefore the most direct contact with the Kiowa culture. Momaday uses this voice to track the history of the Kiowa tribe and offer insight into their customs and traditions. The first story in the first chapter discloses the myth behind the creation of the Kiowa tribe, and it goes as follows, “You know, everything had to begin, and this is how it was: the Kiowa’s came one by one into the world through a hollow log.” (16) This story gives some understanding of the oral tradition, in that it serves to give the Kiowa tribe an identity. However, some stories do more than just provide the tribe its identity; they instead offer an explanation of important cultural symbols. This can be seen in the story of Tai-me, the central figure of the kado, or Sun Dance. The tribe had stumbled upon bad times, and there was no food, so a man went into the wild to look for food. He came upon a canyon on his fourth day of traveling, weak with hunger, when a voice said to him “Why are you following me? What do you want?” (36) He told the “thing standing before him [which] had the feet of a deer, and its body was covered with feathers” (36) that the Kiowa’s were hungry. The creature which stood before him was the Tai-me, and it told him, “Take me with you and I will give you whatever you want.” (36) This story plays a significant role in the story, as it reveals both the origin and the purpose of the all important Tai-me. Each story in the ancestral voice serves to uphold the legend of the Kiowa tribe and its people. This can be seen in the last story of the book during which the tale of a woman buried in “a beautiful dress” in “an unmarked grave.” (82) The story also remarks on how the “dress is still there, under the ground.” (82) The woman seems to encompass the best of the Kiowa tribe, and the story of her and her dress can be considered as a metaphor for the existence of the Kiowa tribe, which is “buried” in the lands which they lived on. However, by the time the reader reaches the end of the book, it can be seen that both the identity and the culture of the Kiowa tribe has been encompassed within the pages of the book.

The ancestral voice alone is not enough for the reader to understand and derive meaning from the text, a supplement is needed. This is where the historical voice comes into play within the cycle. For example, on page 17 the historical voice gives background information on the Kiowa tribe, including its various names, the “Kwuda,” the “Tepda,” and the “Gaigwu,” as well as their origins. But this voice does more than simply give facts about the Kiowa tribe; it gives the reader a historical perspective to aid their understanding of the ancestral voice. For example on page 39 the ceremony behind the “peyote ritual” is explored. The reader learns that during the ritual “the songs go on all through the night, broken only by intervals of prayer, additional distributions of peyote, and, at midnight, a peculiar baptismal ceremony.” The historical voice is Momaday’s way of helping the reader become more aware of how the ancestral voice plays into the history of the Kiowa tribe.

The last part of the cycle is Momaday’s personal voice. This is where Momaday adds the human aspect to his book. He uses his voice to make the reader more emotionally involved in the book, or in other terms uses it as pathos. The style of writing he uses is very vivid and allows the reader to immerse themselves in the story. For example, on page 17, Momaday describes “coming out upon the northern Great Plains in the late spring” using terrific imagery and says, “I now see the earth as it really is.” Through this and other stories Momaday offers the reader the closest thing they can get to getting in the head of a real Kiowa Indian. Having already figured out so much about the culture and identity of the Kiowa tribe, the reader is drawn to the more human side, the spirit, of the Kiowa people. Momaday gives this insight to the reader in each of the stories in his voice. On page 37 he talks about his first and only encounter with the Tai-me, describing the room as having “a great holiness… as if and old person had died there or a child had been born.” The connection of the past, the legend of the Kiowa people, and the present, Momaday’s experiences and voice, allows the reader to humanize the culture and experience it from both a historical perspective as well as a personal one.

In conclusion, The Way to Rainy Mountain, by N. Scott Momaday, took the form of a short story cycle broken into three sections during which the reader is exposed to three voices, each playing their own role within the overall experience of the book.