Short Story The Man To Send Rain Clouds

The story I'm choosing is The Man to Send Rain Clouds by Leslie Marmon Silko. The theme of the story is about the strength of Native American customs and traditions and bridging the gap between Native American customs and Christian customs. The author uses the setting and the mood to surface the theme throughout the story. The Man to Send Rain Clouds helps to set up a recurring theme that Silko will use in many of her other stories.

The short story “The Man to Send Rain Clouds” by Leslie Marmon Silko is a deceptively simple narrative about the death and funeral of an old man of the Laguna Pueblo tribe of Native Americans. Set in the desert southwest of the United States, the story is narrated from an omniscient point of view, and describes the discovery of the old man’s body, the preparation of the body for burial, and the interaction between the family of the dead man and the Catholic priest who lives on the reservation. The author uses very simple language and unsophisticated descriptions to describe an intricate and complex relationship between the Christian culture of the priest and the religious culture of the Pueblo culture. Descriptions of the bleak landscape

Waterlily by Ella Cara Deloria tells the story of a young woman, Waterlily, and her family as they experience the every-day life on the prairie as Oceti Sakowin. Through the clever storytelling of Waterlily’s childhood, Deloria’s novel covers the Oceti Sakowin family life, camp circle, ceremonies, hunts, and war parties, and the introduction of white presence in the Midwest. Themes of reverence for tradition and honoring of beings and nature span the book; however, the story also exceptionally demonstrates the Oceti Sakowin way of life in a way that illuminates many of the beautiful pieces of the Oceti Sakowin culture. Waterlily displays two particularly significant aspects of the Oceti Sakowin culture: kinship and generosity.

Identities can be ripped away from people, but love can help people to regain it and realise who they truly are. In Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse the native children’s identities are taken from them, and not all of them find it again. Saul’s own identity as an Ojibway is taken by the residential school and the impact of unfavourable circumstances; but with the love and support of his family and friends, he finds it again. The residential school and other negative influences cause Saul to lose his identity, which is the offset for his quest to regain it with help from his friends and family.

In the story "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" by Sherman Alexie, points out the hardships of being a Native American back in the 20th century. These hardships were racism, alcoholism, poverty and isolation. The story takes place in the reservation and it is about a young Native American whom struggles in society because of his skin color, family's addictions and fights. The narrator moves to Seattle with his white girlfriend who he seems to have an odd relationship because they are constantly fighting. He becomes an alcoholic and moves back to the reservation after a break up with his girlfriend.

Martin is an average teen that lives with his parents and his younger sister Cheryl when his life is interrupted when his Lakota Grandpa comes to visit. Grandpa tells the story of his culture and life as an Indian, but Martin was afraid that his grandfather might not live up to the expectations he implemented into the minds of his friends. Sadly his grandfather was sick and tired, so he gave Martin the medicine bag as a passing gift to remember his family’s culture. In the end, Martin visited the Iowa sanctuary as a way to commemorate his grandfather and the medicine bag. The hardships of judging your family, culture and those around you are difficult to do unless experience, the description, and events experience by Martin explain these events and the meaning of the discovery changed him for the better. In the story, “The Medicine Bag”, the remarkable events during Grandpa’s visit enlightened Martin of the importance of family culture and the acceptance of others.

Indian Horse, a novel by Richard Wagamese, is a realistic and tragic story of a First Nations child named Saul who is taken to residential school. Saul Indian Horse goes through a multitude traumatic experiences at a young age; experiences consisting of losing his family, experiencing sexual abuse, and violent racism. In the novel, a theme the reader is always brought back to is Saul’s connection to, and longing for the land. Saul’s relationship with the land is meaningful to his character because it helps him understand his family history, connects him with his culture, and comforts him in times of need.

Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko is a novel written multidimensionally to portray the traditions and ceremonial practices of the Native American. Silko describes the rebuilding of the Native American culture by writing the real story and poems in the alternate story. The animal symbolism is an integral piece of the novel’s importance that reflects characters and the Native American culture with the use of them in metaphors. Silko respectfully depicts the animals, such as cattle, Fly and Hummingbird, and mountain lion that represent Tayo and the Laguna people, Betonie, and the cultural relationship with nature.

Stories that have been passed on for decades by Indigenous people have many cultural values and meanings that can help teach and guide others. In his book Earth Elder Stories: The Pinayzitt Path, Alexander Wolfe’s includes three stories “The Sound of Dancing,” “The Orphan Children,” and “Grandfather Buffalo,” that reveal important Anishinaabe cultural values. In the story “The Sound of Dance,” the value of family sacrifice is shown as a strong Anishinaabe cultural value. In the story “The Orphan Children,” Wolfe expresses the importance of orally transmitted knowledge as a core Anishinaabe cultural value. Then in “Grandfather Bear,” the keeper of knowledge emphasizes the importance of the connection to the past, especially within family relations in Anishinaabe culture. There are many cultural values that can be found in these three stories told my Alexander Wolfe. Family sacrifice is one of many values shown throughout these stories, specifically in the story “The Sound of Dancing”.

Waterlily by Ella Cara Deloria tells the story of a young woman, Waterlily, and her family as they experience the every-day life on the prairie as Oceti Sakowin. Through the clever storytelling of Waterlily’s childhood, Deloria’s novel covers the Oceti Sakowin family life, camp circle, ceremonies, hunts, war parties, and the introduction of white presence in the Midwest. Themes of reverence for tradition and honoring of beings and nature span the book; however, the story also exceptionally demonstrates the Oceti Sakowin way of life in a way that illuminates many of the beautiful pieces of the Oceti Sakowin culture. Waterlily displays two particularly significant aspects of the Oceti Sakowin culture: kinship and generosity.

Sherman J. Alexie, is a short story written in the first person focusing on two Native American Men who grew up together on a Reservation for Native Americans but have been estranged from each other since they were teenagers. Victor who is the narrator of this story is a young man who lost faith in his culture and its traditions, while Thomas our second main character is a deeply rooted traditional storyteller. In the beginning of the story Victor, our Native American narrator learns the death of his father. Jobless and penniless, his only wish is to go to Phoenix, Arizona and bring back his father’s ashes and belongings to the reservation in Spokane. The death of Victor’s father leads him and Thomas to a journey filled with childhood

Traditions and old teachings are essential to Native American culture; however growing up in the modern west creates a distance and ignorance about one’s identity. In the beginning, the narrator is in the hospital while as his father lies on his death bed, when he than encounters fellow Native Americans. One of these men talks about an elderly Indian Scholar who paradoxically discussed identity, “She had taken nostalgia as her false idol-her thin blanket-and it was murdering her” (6). The nostalgia represents the old Native American ways. The woman can’t seem to let go of the past, which in turn creates confusion for the man to why she can’t let it go because she was lecturing “…separate indigenous literary identity which was ironic considering that she was speaking English in a room full of white professors”(6). The man’s ignorance with the elderly woman’s message creates a further cultural identity struggle. Once more in the hospital, the narrator talks to another Native American man who similarly feels a divide with his culture. “The Indian world is filled with charlatan, men and women who pretend…”

     Throughout Ceremony, the author, Leslie Silko, displays the internal struggle that the American Indians faced at that time in history. She displays this struggle between good and evil in several parts of the book. One is the myth explaining the origin of the white man.

    Leslie Marmon Silko is a Native American from New Mexico and is part of the Laguna tribe.  She received a MacArthur "genius" award and was considered one of the 135 most significant women writers ever.  Her home state has named her a living cultural treasure.  (Jaskoski, 1)  Her well-known novel Ceremony follows a half-breed named Tayo through his realization and healing process that he desperately needs when he returns from the horrors of World War II.  This is a process that takes him back to the history of his culture.

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.