N. Scott Momaday's The Way To Rainy Mountain

The Native American’s way of living was different from the Europeans. They believed that man is ruled by respect and reverence for nature and that nature is an

It is important to note that the majority of the academic sources concerning Sun Dance are written by anthropologists, primarily those who participated in cultural genocide in the 19th and 20th centuries. There are very few recorded accounts in existence of the intimate details of Sun Dance that are authored by the Indigenous people who actually practice and participate in it. There are no videotaped records available online. Before the criminalization of Native spiritual practices, rituals like the Sun Dance were mutually respected and therefore shared between Indigenous peoples. Settler violence forced these practices underground, and therefore they are still hidden and heavily protected from outsiders. In 2003, there was a gathering of Bundle Keepers and spiritual leaders of the Cheyenne, Arapahoe, Nakota, Dakota, and Lakota Nations to discuss the exploitation of sacred ceremonies. Chief Arvol Looking Horse of the Lakota Nation, 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, released a statement

For years, the Native Americans lived a very solitary life with their own unique way of living, that was until the European’s showed up with their very complex way of living. Harmony with nature was a very important aspect of Native American culture. The Native people embraced nature with no intention to modify it unlike the Europeans. They simply cared more about nature and what it had to offer. The spiritual connection between the land and these Natives were distinctive from the Europeans also due to the fact that to the settlers, land meant wealth. As a European, if you owned any land you were considered a wealthy upper class human being. As a Native, no one owned the land and anyone could benefit from the land.

The Blackfoot Indian tribes held a major tribal ceremony in the summer, for which all the bands came together. It was called the Sun Dance. By engaging in the Sun Dance, their prayers would be carried up to the Creator, who would bless them with well being and abundance of buffalo. Other than the winter, when a few bands might join together for shelter, this was the only time the entire tribe came

He pictured Kiowa’s face. They’d been close buddies, the tightest, and he remembered how last night they had huddled together under their ponchos, the rain cold and steady, the water rising to their knees, but how Kiowa had just laughed it off and said they should concentrate on better things. And so for a long while they’d talked about their families and hometowns. At one point, the boy remembered, he’d been showing Kiowa a picture of his girlfriend. He remembered switching on his flashlight. A stupid thing to do, but he did it anyway, and he remembered Kiowa leaning in for a look at the picture – “Hey, she’s cute,” he’d said – and then the field exploded all around them.

There are three key patterns seen in most Native American religions they are the human relationship with nature, framing of time and space and respect for gods/ancestors. The human relationship with nature known as animism, everything is seen as part of the same reality and every object has a spirt, is a practice where there is little distinction between humans and animals. Time and space is sacred, cyclical,

Storytelling continues to be an integral part of Native American culture, providing us with an understanding of what was important to the Native Americans. Through their stories, Native Americans expressed an understanding of the environment, and the relationship that existed between themselves and their environment. These stories also provide us with a look at Native American legends, history, and a collection of knowledge critical to their survival. Native American stories are deeply rooted in their relationship with Mother Earth. Their many years connected with land, life, water and sky has created many stories explaining these important bonds with Mother Earth. From ancient times the Native Americans have looked to their

"The Navajo traditionalists view their land as representing the essence of their being," says Jennie Joe of the Native American Research and Training Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson, who conducted a study

Alice Mead published Year of No Rain on May 8, 2003.She wrote a book about three friends; Stephen,Wol, and Jairo, She made wrote about them going through hunger and thirst in their village and they can’t attend school because the village’s school due to the civil war between the northern soldiers and the southern soldiers,when the bombs exploded Stephen's Mother told him and his two other friends to run away so they won't be captured by the enemy soldiers.They’re on a journey and they all have to help each other survive. Sometimes you need teamwork to get over an obstacle.“Your mother should have let Naomi come with us.They kidnap girls, I heard.”He thinks She might’ve gotten kidnapped by the soldiers and it would've been better if She came

The novel, Ceremony, weaves a message through the eyes and mind of Tayo, Laguna Pueblo half-breed who just returned from World War II in the Philippines. Leslie Marmon Silko, the author, uses strongly developed characters, their interactions with Tayo, and Tayo’s reactions to those interactions to emphasize and illustrate the many themes of this story. Like large stones at the bottom of a river, these characters help these themes resurface again and again throughout the novel. A recurring theme throughout the entire book is this thought of witchery and deception. And the white man in all his inglorious brutality, is both the creation and the embodiment of the witchery and deception. Two characters that Silko uses to emphasize this idea to

Around the world, there are many Indigenous groups having practiced their own traditional cultures. Through the history and following globalisation, traditional cultures have gradually disappeared. For example, in Japan, there are Ainu people had established their own culture, but they were assimilated to Japanese culture because of the annexation to Japan in the mid-1800s. Therefore, until recently, they have used the Japanese language and been educated and lived as Japanese. However, there are many traditional cultures which have still practiced over the time. Those existing cultures may be more significant than those cultures that have disappeared. Particularly, Indigenous performing arts tend to be survived over the time and actively protected to preserve. This essay will argue that Indigenous dance and chant have had significant roles to Indigenous people in many aspects. Firstly, this essay will examine hula’s several roles among the Hawaiian culture and society in the past and current. Secondly, it will focus on the relationship between haka and the Maori’s mentality and spirituality over the time. Finally, it will investigate Ainu chant, yukar, and its particular changes of importance to the Ainu.

All humans are interested in their origins and trying to account for their existence through creation stories. Native Americans tribes are no different from the rest of humanity. The tribes’ stories explain how people came into existence, how they came to be live on the lands they do and the how people interact with nature and each other. These trends can be seen in the legends of three tribes hailing from New England to the Great Lakes Region.

The sun’s personification implies that the sun sought to mourn with the Apache mothers, sharing a sort of universal pain among them. The warriors, however, see the traumatic kidnapping as their right, just another tradition to celebrate their victory against ancient enemies. On the other hand, Odjib’we depicts men with a larger emotional range, capable of feeling compassion, if not for their bitter enemies on the battlefield, but for the Sioux women. A single warrior reflects on the unexpected empathy evoked by the Sioux women “gather[ing] up their wounded men/the voice of their weeping comes back to me” (Odjib’we, “Song of War” 3-4). The speaker in the song may have held a deep hatred for the Sioux, but the courage and grief of the women dragging the men back to protect them from scalping struck a chord within him.

In, “The Man to Send Rain Clouds”, an old man, Teofilo, dies and his grandson Leon plans the funeral. Momaday writes about his own grandmother in “The Way to Rainy Mountain”. Both Leon and Momaday remember their grandparents as a link to their Native American heritage. Momaday writes the story when he goes on a pilgrimage to visit Rainy Mountain. He traveled down to remember his grandmother, who had died. On his trip, he makes observations about the geography of the plains and Rainy Mountain. He recalls the stories his grandmother told him and learns more about the Kiowa culture and history. Leon and Teofilo are a part of the Laguna tribe. When Leon finds Teofilo, he paints his face and performs other Laguna traditions. He plans to have a traditional funeral to honor Teofilo. Where they live, there is a Christian church that is trying to convert people. Most attend church regularly but some, like Leon, are more skeptical of this new religion. When Louise suggests asking Father Paul, the priest, to pour Holy Water on Teofilo’s grave, Leon is unsure. It is believed that the Holy Water

In Leslie Silko's novel, Ceremony, Tayo's healing process takes him on an extensive spiritual journey to find his way back to his roots. On that journey, he encounters several mental challenges in order to let go of traumatic events he has faced throughout his life. While he embarks on this journey to happiness, Tayo encounters many symbols that help aid him in developing this sense of freedom. Having grown up Native American, Tayo learns that nature is a fundamental part in not only his life, but in his healing process altogether. Thought this novel, the reader witnesses Tayo’s connection to the natural world and to that of the rain, the sun, and the earth.