In Ceremony, I thought it was interesting how metaphors were made for familial and clan relationships, specifically ones that used nature. On page 64, Auntie attempted to bring Tayo’s mom back to the people, to “gather the feelings and opinions that were scattered through the village, to gather them like willow twigs and tie them into a single prayer bundle that would bring peace to all of them. But now the feelings were twisted, tangled roots, and all the names for the source of this growth were buried under English words, out of reach.” I thought it was interesting how the conflict with Tayo’s mom was compared to a tree and roots, seeing as how Indigenous people are so spiritually and culturally close to their land. The choices that Tayo’s mother made didn’t just affect her, it fell on all of the people and that connection is reflected in the metaphor about the roots (63). To the people, it probably felt like they were losing her, they were also losing a part of themselves, their land, and their spirituality. Similar to the way that their land was taken by white people, Tayos mom was also shamed by the white people at the Indian school, and in a sense taken by the white people as well. This made me think of the relationship between Auntie and white people.
Assuming that Auntie also attended the missionary school for Indians, how did Auntie stay so grounded, connected to the family/tribe? Auntie is described as a Christian woman. Is this just another way of saying that the white missionaries also affect her, but in a more subtle way? Tayo’s mom was influenced by white people and her actions were criticized. Auntie was influenced by white people in her religion, didn’t hold to the same Native beliefs and yet she wasn’t exiled by the people. Why was Auntie influenced in such a different way? Does Auntie’s Christian values separate her from Indigenous people as much as Tayo’s actions did? Does she feel the same hatred/shame for herself, her people or white people?
A key theme in Leslie Silko’s “Ceremony” is cultural dominance. At one-point Betonie speaks of the scalp ceremonies; laying to rest the Japanese in the Pacific Campaign (156). Here we hear the story of a man and white shell beads, stolen from a grave. The man is haunted by the white shell beads. Silko further states, “he could not eat, and he could not work. He lost touch with the life he had lived before the day was lost somewhere on that trail where he first saw the beads” (157). I interpret it in two different ways; one in which war changes a person and one where culture changes does. After war, nothing is ever the same. It is what warriors dream of, think of, and where the past self is lost. In culture, whether it is pursued as Rocky did or conflicting as it is to Tayo, Native American culture is forgotten the further white culture reaches into their lives. The white shell beads can never replace who they are. It can never fill the happiness and importance of their Native American culture. In addition, white is a recurring symbol of demise. In response to the stolen beads, the acts of war, the fading Native American culture, Harley and others turn to booze and war stories to numb them of a time they cannot forget.
How do you interpret the white shell beads? Is all cultural heritage lost indefinitely or can it ever be revived truly to its former glory? If so, does Silko provide a path for this revival within the story?
On page 42, Tayo recalls Josiah telling him, “These dry years you hear some people complaining, you know, about the dust and the wind, and how dry it is. But the wind and the dust, they are part of life too, like the sun and the sky. You don’t swear at them. It’s people, see. They’re the ones. The old people used to say that droughts happen when people forget, when people misbehave.” This parallels with a poem on pages 11 and 12 about Corn Woman getting upset with Iktoa’ak’o’ya—Reed Woman for bathing too much, so Reed Woman went away, and everything dried up. I can’t find an exact page number, but I remember Tayo discussing how wet it was during the war and how he prayed and prayed for it to stop, and then he talks frequently when he is home of how dry it is. Do you think that these quotes, among other passages in the text, reflect Tayo potentially feeling guilty for praying the rain away? Do you think he feels like his “misbehavior” or his prays are the reason for everything drying up? Again, I can’t find a specific passage, but this was a thought I had when reading that Tayo may feel guilty and is feeling like it is his fault.
In reading Silko’s book Ceremony, we are able to recognize that most of the stories follow the perspective of Tayo told from a third person point of view. The reader follows as the author tells us of Tayo’s experiences before the army, during the war, and after the war all in different order to mimic the storytelling of the Laguna people. The reader gets pretty used to hearing about the struggles of Tayo trying to find a solution to the ailment that seems to haunt him. After Betonie performs the scalp ceremony, Tayo leaves their company and runs into some other war veterans he is familiar with, Leroy and Harley, but they have a companion with them, Helen Jean. From Tayo’s point of view there is not a whole lot Helen Jean and the only indication that there might be more to her is when Silko writes, “She rubbed her leg against Leroy, but she was staring out the window while she did it, as if her mind were somewhere else” (Silko 144). But later Silk decides to give the reader and insight to Helen Jean’s background, her perspective, and how she came to be with Leroy and Harley. Silk writes, “She looked at the Laguna guys. They had been treated first class once, with their uniforms. As long as there had been a war and the white people were afraid of the Japs and Hitler. But these Indians were fooled when they though it would last, She was tired of pretending with them, tired of making believe it had lasted” (Silko 153). Why does Silko decide to include Helen Jean’s perspective? Is Helen Jean suffering from the same ailments as the veterans even though she was not in the army? Why is her perspective on Harley, Leroy, and Tayo important and what does it say about them?
In this weeks reading pages 59 through 104 I see this relationship between the ‘white world’ and the Laguna community. Much of it has been negative such as the army recruiter with the pamphlets. In a white world we see this as patriotic or this idea of freedom, yet for them it sees to be the domination or destruction of people lesser value. We also come to see that Auntie has lost some of her traditional values such as religion. In the Laguna community christianity isn’t the religion focus, rather the white worlds focus. My questions with those portion of the book would be is where is the line drawn before you will be criticized for the white world beliefs? Why was his mom criticized mom then Auntie?
The stories told in Silko’s Ceremony are vivid narratives that allow readers to delve into understanding one’s identity fully. In the novel, Tayo struggles with identifying himself with his culture because of his mixed ancestry. Combined with returning from war, Silko portrays the different views of human experiences through his dreams, stories, and poems. One of the main concepts that are clear in the first half of the book is that Tayo fights to be visible as he is torn between two worlds (one that is white and one that is not). This is a recurring thread and a little bit into the novel Silko brings in the character of the ‘Night Swan’ woman who Tayo has relations with. She too struggles with her culture and recognizes that despite the hardship, one must not dismiss tradition. In her conversation with Tayo, she says, “They are fools. They blame us, the ones who look different. That way they don’t have to think about what has happened inside themselves… You don’t have to understand what is happening. But remember this day. You will recognize it later. You are part of it now” (92). It is clear through this passage that the woman believes them to not be the outsiders even though it may feel like it. What do you think the woman means when she says ‘You are part of it now”? Can this be interpreted as a collective understanding or as a call for individual agency?
Throughout reading Ceremony, there have been several connections and stories relating back to cattle and this sort of raising of animals that is then connected fairly blatantly to European science and methods. There are mentions, as us SD students would support, of cattle being like all other living things in that the separation of the cattle from the land for too long and them being kept in barns and corrals causes them to “lose something” (68). In looking specifically at European ideals, there was also an obvious mention of the issues caused by all this ‘new and valuable’ information from Western countries in saying that the problem of this new way of thought was that these books and this information was “written by white people who did not think about drought or winter blizzards or dry thistles, which the cattle had to live with” (69). This helps us understand the author’s point of view in colonization and Western knowledge. Later on in the book, Grandma went on to talk about how things were different back in her time and that “animals could talk to human beings and [that] many magical things still happened” – Tayo didn’t lose the feelings he had when Grandma would tell these stories (87). Despite all that was taught to Tayo in school, he remained true to the stories he heard as well as, it seems, the one’s he’s created – which doesn’t appear to be the same for Rocky in his beliefs. Rocky mentions, in relation to the cattle, that the books mentioned about raising cattle are “written by scientists” and that “they know everything there is to know about beef cattle.” He continues on to be rather hateful towards his own in saying “they never knew what they were doing,” even with being as close as his people are, with the land (70).
I am wondering if there is a connection between the reasons for Rocky’s death and his disbelief in the importance of traditional ways. Is there significance here and is it possible that the ‘reason’ for Rocky’s death is because of his abandoning of traditional knowledge systems? Does this further strengthen the author’s point of view in relation to colonialism? Is this a stretch in the dark, or are there other very deep connections between the characters and their doings to mention?
An unraveling motif in Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony is the importance of land for the identity of the Laguna people. Throughout his time at war, Tayo was separated from his homeland, and on page 8, Rocky acknowledges Tayo’s homesickness. While at war, Tayo develops an unexplained sickness, characterized by nausea and a sense of dread and emptiness, that is unable to be treated with Western medicine and is sent home. Later in this book, as Tayo assists Josiah in caring for cattle, his illness is explained. Through Josiah’s dialogue, the cattle act as a metaphor for Tayo after returning from war. “Cattle are like any living thing. If you separate them from the land for too long, keep them in barns and corrals, they lose something. Their stomachs get to where they can only eat rolled oats and dry alfalfa. When you turn them loose again, they go running all over. They are scared because the land is unfamiliar, and they are lost. They don’t stop being scared either, even when they look quiet and they quit running. Scared animals die off easily” (Silko, Ceremony, 74). As Ceremony progresses, it becomes evident that reintegrating himself with the land helps Josiah heal and regain his identity. “In a world of crickets and wind and cottonwood trees he was almost alive again; he was visible” (Silko, Ceremony, 104).
Since the colonization of the America’s, the land has been drastically altered to fit the cultures and economies of the colonizers. If indigenous Americans were to be returned to their lands, could the human-land connection be returned despite the transformation of land?
Locally, Boone has been the host of gentrification, as people who have lived in Boone their entire lives are forced to leave the area due to rising living costs or eminent domain. How does this impact the identity of the “locals”? How has the identity of Boone changed?
When reading Silko’s ceremonies, the first poem really sticks out to me especially after the class discussion. The poem talks about the creation of the universe and the world below. Stories are a large part of the book and especially the ceremonies that the stories told revolve around. The narrator talks about the Thought Woman and the story she is thinking about. I believe the story she is thinking about is the story written in the book. Based on what I have read, colonization and the loss of Indigenous land plays a major role. Additionally, violence plays a key role in this book leading to the cause of PTSD for Tayo. Another key factor within the book is weather and draughts that lead to the loss of agriculture especially corn. From my findings, use of ceremonies in Indigenous cultures bring the land and people together as one.
Ceremony, by Leslie Silko, provides insight into the mind of an indigenous man who fights in the war. It is interesting to see this perspective as it is not mentioned much in US history classes and seemed like it only involved Americans, Germans, Japanese, and other western powers and it does not mention much about the colonized fight for the colonizer. I believe this is an interest point to explore. War effects Tayo much differently than most. Tayo sees dead people and immediately associates it with Josiah which shows that Tayo understands the ties between all of humanity as one single entity, or seeing everyone as equals completely and wholly. He also has an episode in the western hospital where he believes he is white smoke. This is important to note that the western answer to this problem is modern medicine and nothing very much spiritual at all. This I believe will be an important theme throughout the book as it is called “Ceremony”. Ceremony is something that is completely lost in modern western medicine and is replaced with drugs and other less spiritual forms of treatment. This is something that should be considered in treating mental illness and other issues because of the deep ties to indigenous culture and should not just be dismissed.
From the readings we have had so far, a huge theme or takeaway is the amount of struggle derived from white culture that is put on these natives living in America and the dominated white culture. We see the result of American War on the native characters in the book being Toyo and his friends. We see the way the drought effects their daily lives due to the reservation they have been placed. The poem on page 119 eludes to this reliance and struggle of native culture succumbing to the white culture. The poem talks of a child lost from his family, who wondered away to a bear den. The bear den could be the reliance on white culture, as more and more natives are wondering away from their native culture. “So, long time ago they got him back again but he wasn’t quite the same after that not like the other children”(p.120) This is a refrence to the problem of natives not bein the same culturally when they have experienced or accepted the dominate white culture. To what extent does white culture play on the influence of loss or gain of native self identity?
In this novel, changing ceremony is highly controversial; Betonie discusses how historic authenticity/accuracy is essential to his people and how they are skeptical of the alterations he makes to fit the context of their current society. On page 116, he states that “But long ago when the people were given these ceremonies, the changing began, if only in the aging of the yellow gourd rattle or the shrinking of the skin around the eagle’s claw, if only in the different voices from generation to generation, singing the chants. You see in many ways, the ceremonies have always been changing.”
Here he argues that ceremonies are dynamic by nature, supporting his argument that they should be able to alter them to fit the present issues. This idea reminds me of past theology classes I have taken, where we discussed how different religions circulated new doctrines/interpretations to aid the concerns of society. Although religion and ceremony differ in many ways, the connection can be argued that historic wisdom tends to mold to fit current concerns. This is what Betonie argues is necessary for the ceremony’s survival.
This is reflected in this quote, “I have made changes in the rituals. The people mistrust this greatly, but only this growth keeps the ceremonies growing.” (p. 116)
I agree that cultural relevance can keep traditions alive. People should not have to be restrained by original customs; embracing and intertwining newness into old systems can be liberating. How do you hold onto historic uniformity within your life, in a secular or spiritual context? If so, how could you expand your practice to be informed and evolved by society?
This quote reminded me of the conversation we had in class about the anthropologist that did not want to record the indigenous ceremonies due to their modern transformation and inclusion of advertisements. And prompted our discussion of imposing romanticized ecological consciousness on all native peoples rather than recognizing them as they exist in modern society. In what ways can the demand for cultural exactness and historical preservation contribute to tribalism?
A quote on page 115 reads: “We have all been waiting for help a long time. But it has never been easy. The people must do it. You must do it.” I believe that this quote encapsulates a major theme throughout this novel, one that underlines the injustices faced by indigenous groups as well as multi-cultural individuals. There is a collective sense of action and ignorance leading towards the injustices faced by these groups, yet, there has been a pressure on the individual to fight these systemic issues and injustices. This quote underlines a key issue regarding the dichotomy of thought regarding indigenous cultures and communities. There are hundreds of years of oppression regarding indigenous groups as a whole, yet there is an individual based focus regarding the rectification of these injustices.
The stories told in Leslie Marmon’s Ceremony often share a feeling of isolation and exclusion by the person featured in the story. Like many people who are mixed race or who belong to several cultures the people in these stories, most prominently Tayo. The feeling of not belonging anywhere is expressed especially strongly with Tayo since his adoptive family, namely his mother and grandmother always treated him coldly and differently from his adopted brother. The poor treatment that native american people face and the erasure of their culture in the stories gives rise to their need to heal from the corruption of their culture and themselves and bring in the use of ceremony as a method to heal. Two of the scenes that stood out to me were of when Tayo spoke to the medicine man about the hospital “That’s true.” the old man said, “you could go back to that white place.”– “But if you’re going to do that, you might as well go down there, with the rest of them, sleeping in the mud, vomiting cheap wine, rolling over women. Die that way and get over it.” – “In that hospital they don’t bury the dead, they keep them in rooms and talk to them.” (pg 113, & 114). This reflects the feelings Tayo felt in the hospital, his invisibility, his lack of humanity, and his feeling as if he weren’t truly alive. Tayo also feels this lack of self, and alienation from his own body several times in the story, only further proving his need to heal from this sense of corruption. Another scene that stood out to me was when Tayo was in a car shortly after undergoing his first ceremony “ We’ll give you a cure! We know how don’t we? – “Drink it! Drink it! It’s good for you! You’ll get better! Get this man to the cold Coors Hospital! Hurry up!” (pg 146 & 147). Once again the reader sees the difference between cultures, and the different methods of treatment, and healing. The mention of a hospital in this quote also stood out to me because of its connection to the earlier quote and the stark difference in these methods of healing. These comparisons just build upon the overall narrative of the need for a ceremony to heal the illness and corruption native american people face, and their daily struggles in a society that often rejects their very existence.
Ceremony is a book filled with life, whether about the actual creation of life, or just those experiencing it. In this book we are introduced with a poem depicting the creation of life from the view of an indigenous group and as the book continues on, we get the experience of something that is a prominent part in many natives lives and that is the impact white supremacy and the correlated erasure of their culture has on them. We are introduced to this concept through Tayo a World War ll veteran who is also indigenous. We experience his loss of his cousin Rocky and the haunting memories of war through the visualization of his uncles face in a crowd of Japanese soldiers. Ceremony to Tayo and very other indigenous people does not always look like a big celebration, sometimes it can be the simple act of praying. Tayo prayed for the cease of rain fall while fighting, which in my mind is like a quite ceremony. He then also goes on to talk about how dry it is back home and how that may correlate with his praying. This book conveys that there’s many connections in this world and that life can look very different on opposite sides of the planet. With this one example being a wet place and the other dry, but life still exists in both. With white supremacy being a big issue talked about in this book, what other ways will we learn white supremacy effects others? In what ways will white supremacy and culture effect Tayos healing process?
Throughout reading Ceremony, I was really interested in the relationship between Rocky and Tayo and I kept wondering what it would have looked like if Rocky had not died in the war. Rocky and Tayo had a somewhat unspoken relationship because of Tayo’s family history. Rocky was full Indian and Tayo is part Indian and part white. People always saw Rocky and Tayo as unrelated and completely separate. “They’re not brothers,’ she’d say, ‘that’s Laura’s boy. You know the one.’ She had a way of saying it, a tone of voice which bitterly told the story, and the disgrace she and the family had suffered” (60). Tayo was put on the outskirts of the family and community in Laguna and Rocky was the loved and successful child. I thought it was interesting how different the boys viewed the Indian traditions and culture. For example, when Tayo sees Josiah’s face on the Japanese body Rocky talks him out of that dream or vision. “Rocky had reasoned it out with him; it was impossible for the dead man to be Josiah, because Josiah was an old Laguna man, thousands of miles from the Philippine jungles and Japanese armies… He examined the facts and logic again and again, the way Rocky had explained it to him…” (7-8). Rocky focuses so much on fact and reason much like Western society does through science and technology. Another example of how Rocky was more invested in the Western culture was how signing up for the army was so important to him. He wanted to fight for America and had to convince Tayo to join who wanted to stay in Laguna and help there. Leaving Laguna hurt Tayo much more than it hurt Rocky. “We can do real good, Tayo. Go all over the world. See different places and different people. Look at that guy, the recruiter. He’s got his own Government car to drive, too” (66-67). What Rocky is saying is reflecting the values of Western society of globalization and colonialism as well as falling into the consumer society in reference to the car. Rocky was the one who died in the war and I wonder if this is metaphoric to his values of white society and that progress and expansion can only lead to destruction and death. Why did Rocky and Tayo see the world so differently? Why was Tayo more attached to a place where he wasn’t welcomed as much as Rocky? Would Rocky have died in the war if his values focused more on the culture and traditions of his own ancestry? I also wonder if Rocky had survived the war, if he and Tayo would have created a stronger relationship that would have helped Tayo find his identity within Laguna.
While reading Ceremony, one of the main ideas that has been apparent is the immense value that stories hold. This is seen from the very beginning of the book in one of the first poems when it says, “I will tell you something about the stories, [he said] They aren’t just entertainment. Don’t be fooled. They are all we have, you see, all we have to fight off illness and death. You don’t have anything if you don’t have the stories.” It also very often shows the contrast between Indian culture and the culture that many are accustomed to in the United States through the everyday life and actions of Tayo. It also details the ways that Indian culture may overlap with the more traditional cultures we associate with America. Another very interesting concept from this is the two different views of the enemy. Rocky did not seem to show much remorse regarding killing the enemy in war while Tayo clearly humanized the enemies. Two essential ideas came to mind when I observed this. The first part I found very interesting was the fact that Tayo was fighting for a country that oppressed and continued to oppress his people (though he is technically part White as well). This leads to the second idea which is the fact that he might empathize more with the enemy because of what has been done to his people. A major question I have from this reading is what actions can we take to better the relationship between and understanding of native cultures in the United States after our past treatment?
The stories, poems, and memories synthesized throughout the book Ceremony provide philosophical, Indigenous perspectives on ‘good vs evil’, ‘tradition vs progress’, and ‘rain vs drought’. Through her storytelling, Silko creates scenes in which the answers lie somewhere in the middle. For example, a dominant portrayal of dualism began with Tayo cursing the never ending rain when he was deployed. Yet, when he returned from war, he found his home in the midst of a drought. The following passage exemplifies Silko’s portrayal of how neither the rain nor drought should be viewed as completely good nor evil: “These dry years you hear some people complaining, you know, about the dust and the wind, and how dry it is. But the wind and the dust, they are part of life too, like the sun and the sky“ (42).
Another example of dualism, or lack of, can be found in the portrayal of Tayo’s mother as ‘shameful’ for assimilating aspects of her life to white culture. Her assimilation was particularly wrongful in the eyes of Auntie, who also happened to be a devout Christian and strongly encouraged her own son to move away from the reservation in order to pursue a college career with a football scholarship.
Since Tayo’s healing process has been a focal point of the story, how has Silko used his journey as a way to push back against dualistic ideologies? What are some points throughout his journey that highlight connectivity and growth?
Something that interested me was the interactions that our protagonist and his fellow Native American family and community members had with characters like the Night Swan and the people of Lagunas. The Night Swan was not white and many of the people that the novel focused on in Laguna were also not white; many of these characters were people of color that were forced into a lifestyle because of their race. The Night Swan shares how she had similar experiences to Tayo because she is also mixed, she said that people who are mean to others who look different are “fools. They blame us, the ones who look different. That way they dont have to think about what has happened inside themselves.” The Night Swan was forced into a life of sensual acts of dancing and sex work, she was looked down upon because of this. The people of Lagunas that were forced to live in poverty were also looked down upon. Something that these two groups of people have in common is that they were put into these positions because of eurocentric systemically racist systems that were working against them. My question is that how could the Native Americans in the novel that surrounded Tayo not understand that? Tayos family all looked down upon the Night Swan and the impoverished people of Lagunas, I wonder if they would still look down upon them if they knew them like they knew Tayo? I ask this because Tayos family is trying to help and sympathize with him because he fought in a white war that gave him PTSD. Could they not have the same sympathy for others in similar positions?
Lack of sight is a reoccurring theme in Ceremony. It is associated with sorrow and isolation, such as when Tayo describes himself as invisible in the depths of his depression in the VA hospital, or in how Grandmother’s blindness prevents her from understanding things about Auntie’s neurosises that Tayo recognizes, or how the blind mule is effectively trapped by the windmill due to it’s lack of ability to see other sources of water or food. However, lack of sight takes on a more positive connotation when the villainous Gambler is blinded by the Sun Man after his loss. Additionally, the novel sometimes has characters damaged by sight, such as when Tayo becomes emotionally overwhelmed when first seeing the inside of Betonie’s hogan. It could be argued that lack of sight it used as a metaphor for ignorance, and sight a metaphor for knowledge, but this line of reasoning does not hold up to the use of blindness in the poem of the Gambler and the Sun Man. What do you make of this?
On page 39, Silko says “They blamed themselves for losing the new feeling; they never talked about it, but they blamed themselves just like they blamed themselves for losing the land the white people took. They never thought to blame white people for any of it; they wanted white people for their friends. They never saw that it was the white people who gave them that feeling and it was white people who took it away again when the war was over.” But then on page 51 where Emo is giving his little speech about how they were basically taken advantage of by the military just for their man power, he states: “But they’ve got everything. And we don’t got shit, do we? Huh?” and “They took our land, they took everything! So let’s get our hands on white women!” Yet there they are, drinking too much beer at the bar trying to numb their memories and feelings of never truly belonging, never being recognized for the men that they are. Yet it is clear throughout this bar scene that Emo is proud to have been in the war fighting for America–it made him feel equal to the American white man. It seems that because Emo is proud of killing the Japanese soldiers and loving the smell of death he believes that he is better than Tayo and the others, as if he is closer to the white man than they are. So he honors them and wants to be at their level yet at the same time despises them and wants to ruin them. Do you think Tayo has these same feelings about the white people, or do you think deep inside he feels somewhat guilty because he is half white? Do you think he partially blames himself, too, for what the white people have done to the Indians?
This also reminds me of the irony of Tayo’s situation compared to Rocky, because he is much more loyal to the Indian culture and traditions than Rocky is (was), even though he is “half-breed.” Do you believe he is more loyal and attentive to Indian culture because of this deep down guilt that he feels for being partially white? As if it is a way of erasing his ethnic being and the shame that his mother (and himself, unwillingly) brought to the whole family?
I feel as if on page 61 Silko included the secluding of Tayo on purpose. She says this about Grandmaw “When she was alone with the boys, she kept Rocky close to her…She was careful that Rocky did not share things with Tayo, that they kept a distance between themselves and him”. I see this as a type of foreshadowing of how Tayo will live his life keeping his distance between himself from others since he was forced into isolation and neglect as a child. This only rendered the fact that he has to deal with having a double ethnicity. This follows him throughout the story especially evident in the hospital and other scenes. Is this neglect because his mother is not being responsible and not keeping culture so his grandmaw takes it on him and he continues to carry this pressure and neglect with him? Does this happen because she is focused on old ways and tradition and she feels it may be broken with Tayo?
In Silko’s Ceremony, there are many instances of physical interventions in the text and specifically the spacing between certain paragraphs. Such as on page 37, for example, when at one moment in the above paragraph there is a story being told of Emo in the bar, a large space in between paragraphs, and then a beginning of a seemingly new paragraph. How might this contribute to Silko’s ongoing intervention in colonial formations of storytelling? In what ways does the space signify that intervention and how might this then be applied to Indigenous epistemologies? Additionally, how does this intervention into Western formations of storytelling signify an intervention into the perception of time in literature?
Silko introduces the importance of animals and their role in personal growth. As also seen in the poem at the beginning, “Thought-woman, the spider”, animals hold meaning and symbolization. We see both the introduction to real animals in the story but also the use of animals in metaphors. What do animals symbolize in the novel? what is their importance
I also took note of the repeating theme of animals in the novel. I think the use of animals are there to show another factor that goes into the divide between Tayo and the white people in the beginning. He sees animals as sacred, and they see them as objects as stated on page 135, “…they grow away from the plants and animals. They see no life When they look they only see objects.” As the book moves along, as Tayo assimilates more into the culture of the white people, you can see at times, where he takes on this perspective and shifts his view of animals. I am curious as to see how the remainder of Silko’s work carries out in regards to this.
I am much more enjoying this book than the previous. Ceremony has an interesting ‘plot’. I think being prior military myself, I understand and relate to a lot of what Tayo is experiencing. What I do want to point out is how his ‘upbringing’ is what really defines him, not so much as his race or heritage. It seems so far that Tayo is ‘caught in between’ of a lot of stories. He seems to not fit in completely with his family (that raised him) with the demands of military life and how and who he relates to with his own heritage. I believe I read somewhere in the chapters where he was basically in a state of limbo. My question would be, what is the best way for Tayo to feel ‘whole’ or ‘acceptive’ or ‘complete’ for his life to have meaning? Should Tayo focus on his Native American heritage or his Caucasian heritage? Should he make a choice between the two based on his life’s experiences thus far?
One of the most interesting parts of Tayo’s story to me is the relationships between him, his Aunt and his mother. Particularly the blame and judgment that is put onto Tayo for his mother’s actions which have been perceived as shameful by the Laguna community. Tayo has carried that with him constantly, but as he meets other people who are different from those at home, like the woman at Lalo’s and Betonie in Gallup, it seems like that weight is slowly being lifted because of the perspective they provide of change being necessary and good. However, there is still the widespread opinion that as someone of mixed heritage he is a new category of Other who has to choose either one side or the other despite never fully fitting into either. This is a mentality that is still held onto now, and it makes me wonder if mainstream society is always going to hold onto such a dualistic and binary way of thinking, or if it is possible to deconstruct it. And if so, how?
What I am finding most fascinating about ceremony so far is the way the book was written. In the sense that the story is written through a story in traditional paragraph form and then intermittently telling the story through poems. In class we have gone through some of these poems and analyze them and what Silko is trying the portray through the poems. I think this is so interesting because it allows for the readers to view the story in another perspective and allow them to almost create our own perspective on what is going on. In class many different people have had different takes on different poems, all answers beings correct in their own way. Why do you think Silko takes this approach to writing Ceremony? Do you think writing only in traditional form or writing this way is impacts the story more? How does this relate to the ceremonies in the story?
Beginning with the four iterations of the novel, each separate in format, taking no certain pattern, Leslie Marmon Silko paints the picture, sets the the stage, and creates an outline of her storied novel. “Ceremony” takes us upon the right of passage of a young man by the name of Tayo, accompanied by his brother in arms, Rocky, past the fall of Josiah, his uncle, and onward seeking medical advice from two medicine men, advancing a cure not only from Toyo’s homesickness, but also for the resulting physical ailments ascribed to him from therein.
I seem to be reading this differently. What I am getting from the story is a man dealing with an extreme case of Post-Traumatic Stress mixed military separation anxiety. This is especially hard on Tayo because even in his own lands, he is an outsider. This second half, I can relate to. Military towns are just different, and a lot different than Boone. Given the timeframe in which Silko wrote this book (during the post-Vietnam War era) I am sure she got to study a lot of Veterans who were dealing with these situations. When Veterans leave the military, they go from a structured life, one where Brothers and Sisters often have their back no matter what (often in life and death situations) to being surrounded by people who not only do not understand what they went through but seem to always just be out for themselves with no regard for those around them. They go from being king of the world, to an afterthought. Tayo experienced this.
One thing I found interesting about the text Ceremony was Tayo’s struggle with his own identity. I found that not only was this shown through Tayo but also the relations between other natives and white people. One of the many examples of conformity and relationality throughout the text between the different groups of people on the land is seen on page 99 when Silko states, “Tayo smiled. Gallup was that kind of place, interesting, even funny as long as you were just passing through, the way the white tourists did driving down 66, stopping to see the Indian souvenirs. But if you were an Indian, you attended to business and then left, and you were never in that town after dark. That was the warning the old Zunis, Hopis, and Navajos had about Gallup. The safest way was to avoid bad places after dark.” (99). What struck me as interesting concerning the relations present in this section was the lighthearted, gentle response provoked by Tayo when driving through. The duality and ability within that relationship to be not only light-hearted but also being this while at the same time being a ‘bad place’. The attitude and remarks by the people and the seeming ability of people to understand and confront this change in the atmosphere not only show their strength and community ties but also their ability to delink from it when necessary. It seems like throughout the text this issue of confronting and relating with white people and within their world is something quite strenuous and although not stated, something that all of the characters in the book struggle with whether or not all of them show these struggles. For example Tayo or someone else like Auntie. What strength does this show in the Native American response (as shown by Silko) about their understanding of relationships with others occupying the land albeit in a bad way?
Silko emphasizes new aspects of the relationship between the traditional Laguna community and the modernized white world. This relationship has been portrayed as mostly destructive, especially for the Laguna people. War has robbed the Native Americans of some of their most promising young people (like Rocky) and reduced those who remain to drunken irresponsibility. Yet the flashback to the appearance of the army recruiter is a reminder that the destructive aspects of Caucasian society can initially appear as symbols of hope—even if they become destructive realities. Rocky, after all, joined the military not in order to kill other men, but because he wanted to “fly all over the world” as an air force pilot (60). My question is, can you think of any other symbols of hope that can become destructive realities?
Through this novel, I believe the central overarching theme is the oppression forced upon Indigenous people, communities, and other minority groups. Many of these injustices committed upon these people have been due to horrifying actions yet these groups face pressures to alleviate these injustices and systemic oppressions on their own. The novel says “We have all been waiting for help for a long time. But it has never been easy. The people must do it. You must do it.” (115) This portrays the lack of assistance received by these groups and how they feel as if they have no choice but to continue to fight these issues alone. This is still a pressing issue throughout the world today, how can this novel help us try and combat the injustices more successfully than in the past?
One theme that I noticed in this section of Ceremony was Tayo’s longing for connection to those around him and to the natural world. It is stated that Tayo has deep empathy for others, allowing him to feel how they feel without the use of words; and Tayo’s longing for a connection with Rocky is outlined when he is excited about enlisting in the army, not because he is excited about the army, but about travelling with and being more similar to Rocky. This can be seen when Tayo realized that he’s supposed to stay and help on the farm, but the feeling of letting Rocky leave him takes over; “‘No,’ Tayo said, feeling the hollow spread from his stomach to his chest, his heart echoing in his ears. “No.” Rocky walked on without him; Tayo stood there watching the darkness descend. He was familiar with that hollow feeling”(Silko, 67). I believe the poem about the fly and hummingbird is also strategically placed throughout this section because it personifies animals, showing the connection between humans and animals by giving the animals human traits. There is also something to be said about the hungry people in the poem and the lack of food and water on Tayo’s family farm, How the characters in the poem are on a mission to help, and Tayo feels guilty and wrong about leaving the farm and not helping.
My question is, Did Tayo have to go away to the army in order to discover that he is a key piece in the lives of his community and family, and is needed for the healing of his culture? Is there something more significant to be said about Tayo’s discomfort in following Rocky into the white, war-filled world, even though Rocky is his brother and a full-blood Native American whom he feels connected to?
SD 3800 Voices in Sustainable Development 
In Ceremony, I thought it was interesting how metaphors were made for familial and clan relationships, specifically ones that used nature. On page 64, Auntie attempted to bring Tayo’s mom back to the people, to “gather the feelings and opinions that were scattered through the village, to gather them like willow twigs and tie them into a single prayer bundle that would bring peace to all of them. But now the feelings were twisted, tangled roots, and all the names for the source of this growth were buried under English words, out of reach.” I thought it was interesting how the conflict with Tayo’s mom was compared to a tree and roots, seeing as how Indigenous people are so spiritually and culturally close to their land. The choices that Tayo’s mother made didn’t just affect her, it fell on all of the people and that connection is reflected in the metaphor about the roots (63). To the people, it probably felt like they were losing her, they were also losing a part of themselves, their land, and their spirituality. Similar to the way that their land was taken by white people, Tayos mom was also shamed by the white people at the Indian school, and in a sense taken by the white people as well. This made me think of the relationship between Auntie and white people.
Assuming that Auntie also attended the missionary school for Indians, how did Auntie stay so grounded, connected to the family/tribe? Auntie is described as a Christian woman. Is this just another way of saying that the white missionaries also affect her, but in a more subtle way? Tayo’s mom was influenced by white people and her actions were criticized. Auntie was influenced by white people in her religion, didn’t hold to the same Native beliefs and yet she wasn’t exiled by the people. Why was Auntie influenced in such a different way? Does Auntie’s Christian values separate her from Indigenous people as much as Tayo’s actions did? Does she feel the same hatred/shame for herself, her people or white people?
A key theme in Leslie Silko’s “Ceremony” is cultural dominance. At one-point Betonie speaks of the scalp ceremonies; laying to rest the Japanese in the Pacific Campaign (156). Here we hear the story of a man and white shell beads, stolen from a grave. The man is haunted by the white shell beads. Silko further states, “he could not eat, and he could not work. He lost touch with the life he had lived before the day was lost somewhere on that trail where he first saw the beads” (157). I interpret it in two different ways; one in which war changes a person and one where culture changes does. After war, nothing is ever the same. It is what warriors dream of, think of, and where the past self is lost. In culture, whether it is pursued as Rocky did or conflicting as it is to Tayo, Native American culture is forgotten the further white culture reaches into their lives. The white shell beads can never replace who they are. It can never fill the happiness and importance of their Native American culture. In addition, white is a recurring symbol of demise. In response to the stolen beads, the acts of war, the fading Native American culture, Harley and others turn to booze and war stories to numb them of a time they cannot forget.
How do you interpret the white shell beads? Is all cultural heritage lost indefinitely or can it ever be revived truly to its former glory? If so, does Silko provide a path for this revival within the story?
On page 42, Tayo recalls Josiah telling him, “These dry years you hear some people complaining, you know, about the dust and the wind, and how dry it is. But the wind and the dust, they are part of life too, like the sun and the sky. You don’t swear at them. It’s people, see. They’re the ones. The old people used to say that droughts happen when people forget, when people misbehave.” This parallels with a poem on pages 11 and 12 about Corn Woman getting upset with Iktoa’ak’o’ya—Reed Woman for bathing too much, so Reed Woman went away, and everything dried up. I can’t find an exact page number, but I remember Tayo discussing how wet it was during the war and how he prayed and prayed for it to stop, and then he talks frequently when he is home of how dry it is. Do you think that these quotes, among other passages in the text, reflect Tayo potentially feeling guilty for praying the rain away? Do you think he feels like his “misbehavior” or his prays are the reason for everything drying up? Again, I can’t find a specific passage, but this was a thought I had when reading that Tayo may feel guilty and is feeling like it is his fault.
In reading Silko’s book Ceremony, we are able to recognize that most of the stories follow the perspective of Tayo told from a third person point of view. The reader follows as the author tells us of Tayo’s experiences before the army, during the war, and after the war all in different order to mimic the storytelling of the Laguna people. The reader gets pretty used to hearing about the struggles of Tayo trying to find a solution to the ailment that seems to haunt him. After Betonie performs the scalp ceremony, Tayo leaves their company and runs into some other war veterans he is familiar with, Leroy and Harley, but they have a companion with them, Helen Jean. From Tayo’s point of view there is not a whole lot Helen Jean and the only indication that there might be more to her is when Silko writes, “She rubbed her leg against Leroy, but she was staring out the window while she did it, as if her mind were somewhere else” (Silko 144). But later Silk decides to give the reader and insight to Helen Jean’s background, her perspective, and how she came to be with Leroy and Harley. Silk writes, “She looked at the Laguna guys. They had been treated first class once, with their uniforms. As long as there had been a war and the white people were afraid of the Japs and Hitler. But these Indians were fooled when they though it would last, She was tired of pretending with them, tired of making believe it had lasted” (Silko 153). Why does Silko decide to include Helen Jean’s perspective? Is Helen Jean suffering from the same ailments as the veterans even though she was not in the army? Why is her perspective on Harley, Leroy, and Tayo important and what does it say about them?
In this weeks reading pages 59 through 104 I see this relationship between the ‘white world’ and the Laguna community. Much of it has been negative such as the army recruiter with the pamphlets. In a white world we see this as patriotic or this idea of freedom, yet for them it sees to be the domination or destruction of people lesser value. We also come to see that Auntie has lost some of her traditional values such as religion. In the Laguna community christianity isn’t the religion focus, rather the white worlds focus. My questions with those portion of the book would be is where is the line drawn before you will be criticized for the white world beliefs? Why was his mom criticized mom then Auntie?
The stories told in Silko’s Ceremony are vivid narratives that allow readers to delve into understanding one’s identity fully. In the novel, Tayo struggles with identifying himself with his culture because of his mixed ancestry. Combined with returning from war, Silko portrays the different views of human experiences through his dreams, stories, and poems. One of the main concepts that are clear in the first half of the book is that Tayo fights to be visible as he is torn between two worlds (one that is white and one that is not). This is a recurring thread and a little bit into the novel Silko brings in the character of the ‘Night Swan’ woman who Tayo has relations with. She too struggles with her culture and recognizes that despite the hardship, one must not dismiss tradition. In her conversation with Tayo, she says, “They are fools. They blame us, the ones who look different. That way they don’t have to think about what has happened inside themselves… You don’t have to understand what is happening. But remember this day. You will recognize it later. You are part of it now” (92). It is clear through this passage that the woman believes them to not be the outsiders even though it may feel like it. What do you think the woman means when she says ‘You are part of it now”? Can this be interpreted as a collective understanding or as a call for individual agency?
Throughout reading Ceremony, there have been several connections and stories relating back to cattle and this sort of raising of animals that is then connected fairly blatantly to European science and methods. There are mentions, as us SD students would support, of cattle being like all other living things in that the separation of the cattle from the land for too long and them being kept in barns and corrals causes them to “lose something” (68). In looking specifically at European ideals, there was also an obvious mention of the issues caused by all this ‘new and valuable’ information from Western countries in saying that the problem of this new way of thought was that these books and this information was “written by white people who did not think about drought or winter blizzards or dry thistles, which the cattle had to live with” (69). This helps us understand the author’s point of view in colonization and Western knowledge. Later on in the book, Grandma went on to talk about how things were different back in her time and that “animals could talk to human beings and [that] many magical things still happened” – Tayo didn’t lose the feelings he had when Grandma would tell these stories (87). Despite all that was taught to Tayo in school, he remained true to the stories he heard as well as, it seems, the one’s he’s created – which doesn’t appear to be the same for Rocky in his beliefs. Rocky mentions, in relation to the cattle, that the books mentioned about raising cattle are “written by scientists” and that “they know everything there is to know about beef cattle.” He continues on to be rather hateful towards his own in saying “they never knew what they were doing,” even with being as close as his people are, with the land (70).
I am wondering if there is a connection between the reasons for Rocky’s death and his disbelief in the importance of traditional ways. Is there significance here and is it possible that the ‘reason’ for Rocky’s death is because of his abandoning of traditional knowledge systems? Does this further strengthen the author’s point of view in relation to colonialism? Is this a stretch in the dark, or are there other very deep connections between the characters and their doings to mention?
An unraveling motif in Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony is the importance of land for the identity of the Laguna people. Throughout his time at war, Tayo was separated from his homeland, and on page 8, Rocky acknowledges Tayo’s homesickness. While at war, Tayo develops an unexplained sickness, characterized by nausea and a sense of dread and emptiness, that is unable to be treated with Western medicine and is sent home. Later in this book, as Tayo assists Josiah in caring for cattle, his illness is explained. Through Josiah’s dialogue, the cattle act as a metaphor for Tayo after returning from war. “Cattle are like any living thing. If you separate them from the land for too long, keep them in barns and corrals, they lose something. Their stomachs get to where they can only eat rolled oats and dry alfalfa. When you turn them loose again, they go running all over. They are scared because the land is unfamiliar, and they are lost. They don’t stop being scared either, even when they look quiet and they quit running. Scared animals die off easily” (Silko, Ceremony, 74). As Ceremony progresses, it becomes evident that reintegrating himself with the land helps Josiah heal and regain his identity. “In a world of crickets and wind and cottonwood trees he was almost alive again; he was visible” (Silko, Ceremony, 104).
Since the colonization of the America’s, the land has been drastically altered to fit the cultures and economies of the colonizers. If indigenous Americans were to be returned to their lands, could the human-land connection be returned despite the transformation of land?
Locally, Boone has been the host of gentrification, as people who have lived in Boone their entire lives are forced to leave the area due to rising living costs or eminent domain. How does this impact the identity of the “locals”? How has the identity of Boone changed?
When reading Silko’s ceremonies, the first poem really sticks out to me especially after the class discussion. The poem talks about the creation of the universe and the world below. Stories are a large part of the book and especially the ceremonies that the stories told revolve around. The narrator talks about the Thought Woman and the story she is thinking about. I believe the story she is thinking about is the story written in the book. Based on what I have read, colonization and the loss of Indigenous land plays a major role. Additionally, violence plays a key role in this book leading to the cause of PTSD for Tayo. Another key factor within the book is weather and draughts that lead to the loss of agriculture especially corn. From my findings, use of ceremonies in Indigenous cultures bring the land and people together as one.
How do we incorporate ceremonies into our “modernized” lifestyle, bad or good?
Ceremony, by Leslie Silko, provides insight into the mind of an indigenous man who fights in the war. It is interesting to see this perspective as it is not mentioned much in US history classes and seemed like it only involved Americans, Germans, Japanese, and other western powers and it does not mention much about the colonized fight for the colonizer. I believe this is an interest point to explore. War effects Tayo much differently than most. Tayo sees dead people and immediately associates it with Josiah which shows that Tayo understands the ties between all of humanity as one single entity, or seeing everyone as equals completely and wholly. He also has an episode in the western hospital where he believes he is white smoke. This is important to note that the western answer to this problem is modern medicine and nothing very much spiritual at all. This I believe will be an important theme throughout the book as it is called “Ceremony”. Ceremony is something that is completely lost in modern western medicine and is replaced with drugs and other less spiritual forms of treatment. This is something that should be considered in treating mental illness and other issues because of the deep ties to indigenous culture and should not just be dismissed.
From the readings we have had so far, a huge theme or takeaway is the amount of struggle derived from white culture that is put on these natives living in America and the dominated white culture. We see the result of American War on the native characters in the book being Toyo and his friends. We see the way the drought effects their daily lives due to the reservation they have been placed. The poem on page 119 eludes to this reliance and struggle of native culture succumbing to the white culture. The poem talks of a child lost from his family, who wondered away to a bear den. The bear den could be the reliance on white culture, as more and more natives are wondering away from their native culture. “So, long time ago they got him back again but he wasn’t quite the same after that not like the other children”(p.120) This is a refrence to the problem of natives not bein the same culturally when they have experienced or accepted the dominate white culture. To what extent does white culture play on the influence of loss or gain of native self identity?
In this novel, changing ceremony is highly controversial; Betonie discusses how historic authenticity/accuracy is essential to his people and how they are skeptical of the alterations he makes to fit the context of their current society. On page 116, he states that “But long ago when the people were given these ceremonies, the changing began, if only in the aging of the yellow gourd rattle or the shrinking of the skin around the eagle’s claw, if only in the different voices from generation to generation, singing the chants. You see in many ways, the ceremonies have always been changing.”
Here he argues that ceremonies are dynamic by nature, supporting his argument that they should be able to alter them to fit the present issues. This idea reminds me of past theology classes I have taken, where we discussed how different religions circulated new doctrines/interpretations to aid the concerns of society. Although religion and ceremony differ in many ways, the connection can be argued that historic wisdom tends to mold to fit current concerns. This is what Betonie argues is necessary for the ceremony’s survival.
This is reflected in this quote, “I have made changes in the rituals. The people mistrust this greatly, but only this growth keeps the ceremonies growing.” (p. 116)
I agree that cultural relevance can keep traditions alive. People should not have to be restrained by original customs; embracing and intertwining newness into old systems can be liberating. How do you hold onto historic uniformity within your life, in a secular or spiritual context? If so, how could you expand your practice to be informed and evolved by society?
This quote reminded me of the conversation we had in class about the anthropologist that did not want to record the indigenous ceremonies due to their modern transformation and inclusion of advertisements. And prompted our discussion of imposing romanticized ecological consciousness on all native peoples rather than recognizing them as they exist in modern society. In what ways can the demand for cultural exactness and historical preservation contribute to tribalism?
A quote on page 115 reads: “We have all been waiting for help a long time. But it has never been easy. The people must do it. You must do it.” I believe that this quote encapsulates a major theme throughout this novel, one that underlines the injustices faced by indigenous groups as well as multi-cultural individuals. There is a collective sense of action and ignorance leading towards the injustices faced by these groups, yet, there has been a pressure on the individual to fight these systemic issues and injustices. This quote underlines a key issue regarding the dichotomy of thought regarding indigenous cultures and communities. There are hundreds of years of oppression regarding indigenous groups as a whole, yet there is an individual based focus regarding the rectification of these injustices.
The stories told in Leslie Marmon’s Ceremony often share a feeling of isolation and exclusion by the person featured in the story. Like many people who are mixed race or who belong to several cultures the people in these stories, most prominently Tayo. The feeling of not belonging anywhere is expressed especially strongly with Tayo since his adoptive family, namely his mother and grandmother always treated him coldly and differently from his adopted brother. The poor treatment that native american people face and the erasure of their culture in the stories gives rise to their need to heal from the corruption of their culture and themselves and bring in the use of ceremony as a method to heal. Two of the scenes that stood out to me were of when Tayo spoke to the medicine man about the hospital “That’s true.” the old man said, “you could go back to that white place.”– “But if you’re going to do that, you might as well go down there, with the rest of them, sleeping in the mud, vomiting cheap wine, rolling over women. Die that way and get over it.” – “In that hospital they don’t bury the dead, they keep them in rooms and talk to them.” (pg 113, & 114). This reflects the feelings Tayo felt in the hospital, his invisibility, his lack of humanity, and his feeling as if he weren’t truly alive. Tayo also feels this lack of self, and alienation from his own body several times in the story, only further proving his need to heal from this sense of corruption. Another scene that stood out to me was when Tayo was in a car shortly after undergoing his first ceremony “ We’ll give you a cure! We know how don’t we? – “Drink it! Drink it! It’s good for you! You’ll get better! Get this man to the cold Coors Hospital! Hurry up!” (pg 146 & 147). Once again the reader sees the difference between cultures, and the different methods of treatment, and healing. The mention of a hospital in this quote also stood out to me because of its connection to the earlier quote and the stark difference in these methods of healing. These comparisons just build upon the overall narrative of the need for a ceremony to heal the illness and corruption native american people face, and their daily struggles in a society that often rejects their very existence.
Ceremony is a book filled with life, whether about the actual creation of life, or just those experiencing it. In this book we are introduced with a poem depicting the creation of life from the view of an indigenous group and as the book continues on, we get the experience of something that is a prominent part in many natives lives and that is the impact white supremacy and the correlated erasure of their culture has on them. We are introduced to this concept through Tayo a World War ll veteran who is also indigenous. We experience his loss of his cousin Rocky and the haunting memories of war through the visualization of his uncles face in a crowd of Japanese soldiers. Ceremony to Tayo and very other indigenous people does not always look like a big celebration, sometimes it can be the simple act of praying. Tayo prayed for the cease of rain fall while fighting, which in my mind is like a quite ceremony. He then also goes on to talk about how dry it is back home and how that may correlate with his praying. This book conveys that there’s many connections in this world and that life can look very different on opposite sides of the planet. With this one example being a wet place and the other dry, but life still exists in both. With white supremacy being a big issue talked about in this book, what other ways will we learn white supremacy effects others? In what ways will white supremacy and culture effect Tayos healing process?
Throughout reading Ceremony, I was really interested in the relationship between Rocky and Tayo and I kept wondering what it would have looked like if Rocky had not died in the war. Rocky and Tayo had a somewhat unspoken relationship because of Tayo’s family history. Rocky was full Indian and Tayo is part Indian and part white. People always saw Rocky and Tayo as unrelated and completely separate. “They’re not brothers,’ she’d say, ‘that’s Laura’s boy. You know the one.’ She had a way of saying it, a tone of voice which bitterly told the story, and the disgrace she and the family had suffered” (60). Tayo was put on the outskirts of the family and community in Laguna and Rocky was the loved and successful child. I thought it was interesting how different the boys viewed the Indian traditions and culture. For example, when Tayo sees Josiah’s face on the Japanese body Rocky talks him out of that dream or vision. “Rocky had reasoned it out with him; it was impossible for the dead man to be Josiah, because Josiah was an old Laguna man, thousands of miles from the Philippine jungles and Japanese armies… He examined the facts and logic again and again, the way Rocky had explained it to him…” (7-8). Rocky focuses so much on fact and reason much like Western society does through science and technology. Another example of how Rocky was more invested in the Western culture was how signing up for the army was so important to him. He wanted to fight for America and had to convince Tayo to join who wanted to stay in Laguna and help there. Leaving Laguna hurt Tayo much more than it hurt Rocky. “We can do real good, Tayo. Go all over the world. See different places and different people. Look at that guy, the recruiter. He’s got his own Government car to drive, too” (66-67). What Rocky is saying is reflecting the values of Western society of globalization and colonialism as well as falling into the consumer society in reference to the car. Rocky was the one who died in the war and I wonder if this is metaphoric to his values of white society and that progress and expansion can only lead to destruction and death. Why did Rocky and Tayo see the world so differently? Why was Tayo more attached to a place where he wasn’t welcomed as much as Rocky? Would Rocky have died in the war if his values focused more on the culture and traditions of his own ancestry? I also wonder if Rocky had survived the war, if he and Tayo would have created a stronger relationship that would have helped Tayo find his identity within Laguna.
While reading Ceremony, one of the main ideas that has been apparent is the immense value that stories hold. This is seen from the very beginning of the book in one of the first poems when it says, “I will tell you something about the stories, [he said] They aren’t just entertainment. Don’t be fooled. They are all we have, you see, all we have to fight off illness and death. You don’t have anything if you don’t have the stories.” It also very often shows the contrast between Indian culture and the culture that many are accustomed to in the United States through the everyday life and actions of Tayo. It also details the ways that Indian culture may overlap with the more traditional cultures we associate with America. Another very interesting concept from this is the two different views of the enemy. Rocky did not seem to show much remorse regarding killing the enemy in war while Tayo clearly humanized the enemies. Two essential ideas came to mind when I observed this. The first part I found very interesting was the fact that Tayo was fighting for a country that oppressed and continued to oppress his people (though he is technically part White as well). This leads to the second idea which is the fact that he might empathize more with the enemy because of what has been done to his people. A major question I have from this reading is what actions can we take to better the relationship between and understanding of native cultures in the United States after our past treatment?
The stories, poems, and memories synthesized throughout the book Ceremony provide philosophical, Indigenous perspectives on ‘good vs evil’, ‘tradition vs progress’, and ‘rain vs drought’. Through her storytelling, Silko creates scenes in which the answers lie somewhere in the middle. For example, a dominant portrayal of dualism began with Tayo cursing the never ending rain when he was deployed. Yet, when he returned from war, he found his home in the midst of a drought. The following passage exemplifies Silko’s portrayal of how neither the rain nor drought should be viewed as completely good nor evil: “These dry years you hear some people complaining, you know, about the dust and the wind, and how dry it is. But the wind and the dust, they are part of life too, like the sun and the sky“ (42).
Another example of dualism, or lack of, can be found in the portrayal of Tayo’s mother as ‘shameful’ for assimilating aspects of her life to white culture. Her assimilation was particularly wrongful in the eyes of Auntie, who also happened to be a devout Christian and strongly encouraged her own son to move away from the reservation in order to pursue a college career with a football scholarship.
Since Tayo’s healing process has been a focal point of the story, how has Silko used his journey as a way to push back against dualistic ideologies? What are some points throughout his journey that highlight connectivity and growth?
Something that interested me was the interactions that our protagonist and his fellow Native American family and community members had with characters like the Night Swan and the people of Lagunas. The Night Swan was not white and many of the people that the novel focused on in Laguna were also not white; many of these characters were people of color that were forced into a lifestyle because of their race. The Night Swan shares how she had similar experiences to Tayo because she is also mixed, she said that people who are mean to others who look different are “fools. They blame us, the ones who look different. That way they dont have to think about what has happened inside themselves.” The Night Swan was forced into a life of sensual acts of dancing and sex work, she was looked down upon because of this. The people of Lagunas that were forced to live in poverty were also looked down upon. Something that these two groups of people have in common is that they were put into these positions because of eurocentric systemically racist systems that were working against them. My question is that how could the Native Americans in the novel that surrounded Tayo not understand that? Tayos family all looked down upon the Night Swan and the impoverished people of Lagunas, I wonder if they would still look down upon them if they knew them like they knew Tayo? I ask this because Tayos family is trying to help and sympathize with him because he fought in a white war that gave him PTSD. Could they not have the same sympathy for others in similar positions?
Lack of sight is a reoccurring theme in Ceremony. It is associated with sorrow and isolation, such as when Tayo describes himself as invisible in the depths of his depression in the VA hospital, or in how Grandmother’s blindness prevents her from understanding things about Auntie’s neurosises that Tayo recognizes, or how the blind mule is effectively trapped by the windmill due to it’s lack of ability to see other sources of water or food. However, lack of sight takes on a more positive connotation when the villainous Gambler is blinded by the Sun Man after his loss. Additionally, the novel sometimes has characters damaged by sight, such as when Tayo becomes emotionally overwhelmed when first seeing the inside of Betonie’s hogan. It could be argued that lack of sight it used as a metaphor for ignorance, and sight a metaphor for knowledge, but this line of reasoning does not hold up to the use of blindness in the poem of the Gambler and the Sun Man. What do you make of this?
On page 39, Silko says “They blamed themselves for losing the new feeling; they never talked about it, but they blamed themselves just like they blamed themselves for losing the land the white people took. They never thought to blame white people for any of it; they wanted white people for their friends. They never saw that it was the white people who gave them that feeling and it was white people who took it away again when the war was over.” But then on page 51 where Emo is giving his little speech about how they were basically taken advantage of by the military just for their man power, he states: “But they’ve got everything. And we don’t got shit, do we? Huh?” and “They took our land, they took everything! So let’s get our hands on white women!” Yet there they are, drinking too much beer at the bar trying to numb their memories and feelings of never truly belonging, never being recognized for the men that they are. Yet it is clear throughout this bar scene that Emo is proud to have been in the war fighting for America–it made him feel equal to the American white man. It seems that because Emo is proud of killing the Japanese soldiers and loving the smell of death he believes that he is better than Tayo and the others, as if he is closer to the white man than they are. So he honors them and wants to be at their level yet at the same time despises them and wants to ruin them. Do you think Tayo has these same feelings about the white people, or do you think deep inside he feels somewhat guilty because he is half white? Do you think he partially blames himself, too, for what the white people have done to the Indians?
This also reminds me of the irony of Tayo’s situation compared to Rocky, because he is much more loyal to the Indian culture and traditions than Rocky is (was), even though he is “half-breed.” Do you believe he is more loyal and attentive to Indian culture because of this deep down guilt that he feels for being partially white? As if it is a way of erasing his ethnic being and the shame that his mother (and himself, unwillingly) brought to the whole family?
I feel as if on page 61 Silko included the secluding of Tayo on purpose. She says this about Grandmaw “When she was alone with the boys, she kept Rocky close to her…She was careful that Rocky did not share things with Tayo, that they kept a distance between themselves and him”. I see this as a type of foreshadowing of how Tayo will live his life keeping his distance between himself from others since he was forced into isolation and neglect as a child. This only rendered the fact that he has to deal with having a double ethnicity. This follows him throughout the story especially evident in the hospital and other scenes. Is this neglect because his mother is not being responsible and not keeping culture so his grandmaw takes it on him and he continues to carry this pressure and neglect with him? Does this happen because she is focused on old ways and tradition and she feels it may be broken with Tayo?
In Silko’s Ceremony, there are many instances of physical interventions in the text and specifically the spacing between certain paragraphs. Such as on page 37, for example, when at one moment in the above paragraph there is a story being told of Emo in the bar, a large space in between paragraphs, and then a beginning of a seemingly new paragraph. How might this contribute to Silko’s ongoing intervention in colonial formations of storytelling? In what ways does the space signify that intervention and how might this then be applied to Indigenous epistemologies? Additionally, how does this intervention into Western formations of storytelling signify an intervention into the perception of time in literature?
Silko introduces the importance of animals and their role in personal growth. As also seen in the poem at the beginning, “Thought-woman, the spider”, animals hold meaning and symbolization. We see both the introduction to real animals in the story but also the use of animals in metaphors. What do animals symbolize in the novel? what is their importance
I also took note of the repeating theme of animals in the novel. I think the use of animals are there to show another factor that goes into the divide between Tayo and the white people in the beginning. He sees animals as sacred, and they see them as objects as stated on page 135, “…they grow away from the plants and animals. They see no life When they look they only see objects.” As the book moves along, as Tayo assimilates more into the culture of the white people, you can see at times, where he takes on this perspective and shifts his view of animals. I am curious as to see how the remainder of Silko’s work carries out in regards to this.
I am much more enjoying this book than the previous. Ceremony has an interesting ‘plot’. I think being prior military myself, I understand and relate to a lot of what Tayo is experiencing. What I do want to point out is how his ‘upbringing’ is what really defines him, not so much as his race or heritage. It seems so far that Tayo is ‘caught in between’ of a lot of stories. He seems to not fit in completely with his family (that raised him) with the demands of military life and how and who he relates to with his own heritage. I believe I read somewhere in the chapters where he was basically in a state of limbo. My question would be, what is the best way for Tayo to feel ‘whole’ or ‘acceptive’ or ‘complete’ for his life to have meaning? Should Tayo focus on his Native American heritage or his Caucasian heritage? Should he make a choice between the two based on his life’s experiences thus far?
One of the most interesting parts of Tayo’s story to me is the relationships between him, his Aunt and his mother. Particularly the blame and judgment that is put onto Tayo for his mother’s actions which have been perceived as shameful by the Laguna community. Tayo has carried that with him constantly, but as he meets other people who are different from those at home, like the woman at Lalo’s and Betonie in Gallup, it seems like that weight is slowly being lifted because of the perspective they provide of change being necessary and good. However, there is still the widespread opinion that as someone of mixed heritage he is a new category of Other who has to choose either one side or the other despite never fully fitting into either. This is a mentality that is still held onto now, and it makes me wonder if mainstream society is always going to hold onto such a dualistic and binary way of thinking, or if it is possible to deconstruct it. And if so, how?
What I am finding most fascinating about ceremony so far is the way the book was written. In the sense that the story is written through a story in traditional paragraph form and then intermittently telling the story through poems. In class we have gone through some of these poems and analyze them and what Silko is trying the portray through the poems. I think this is so interesting because it allows for the readers to view the story in another perspective and allow them to almost create our own perspective on what is going on. In class many different people have had different takes on different poems, all answers beings correct in their own way. Why do you think Silko takes this approach to writing Ceremony? Do you think writing only in traditional form or writing this way is impacts the story more? How does this relate to the ceremonies in the story?
Beginning with the four iterations of the novel, each separate in format, taking no certain pattern, Leslie Marmon Silko paints the picture, sets the the stage, and creates an outline of her storied novel. “Ceremony” takes us upon the right of passage of a young man by the name of Tayo, accompanied by his brother in arms, Rocky, past the fall of Josiah, his uncle, and onward seeking medical advice from two medicine men, advancing a cure not only from Toyo’s homesickness, but also for the resulting physical ailments ascribed to him from therein.
How do you think the book will unfold from here?
I seem to be reading this differently. What I am getting from the story is a man dealing with an extreme case of Post-Traumatic Stress mixed military separation anxiety. This is especially hard on Tayo because even in his own lands, he is an outsider. This second half, I can relate to. Military towns are just different, and a lot different than Boone. Given the timeframe in which Silko wrote this book (during the post-Vietnam War era) I am sure she got to study a lot of Veterans who were dealing with these situations. When Veterans leave the military, they go from a structured life, one where Brothers and Sisters often have their back no matter what (often in life and death situations) to being surrounded by people who not only do not understand what they went through but seem to always just be out for themselves with no regard for those around them. They go from being king of the world, to an afterthought. Tayo experienced this.
One thing I found interesting about the text Ceremony was Tayo’s struggle with his own identity. I found that not only was this shown through Tayo but also the relations between other natives and white people. One of the many examples of conformity and relationality throughout the text between the different groups of people on the land is seen on page 99 when Silko states, “Tayo smiled. Gallup was that kind of place, interesting, even funny as long as you were just passing through, the way the white tourists did driving down 66, stopping to see the Indian souvenirs. But if you were an Indian, you attended to business and then left, and you were never in that town after dark. That was the warning the old Zunis, Hopis, and Navajos had about Gallup. The safest way was to avoid bad places after dark.” (99). What struck me as interesting concerning the relations present in this section was the lighthearted, gentle response provoked by Tayo when driving through. The duality and ability within that relationship to be not only light-hearted but also being this while at the same time being a ‘bad place’. The attitude and remarks by the people and the seeming ability of people to understand and confront this change in the atmosphere not only show their strength and community ties but also their ability to delink from it when necessary. It seems like throughout the text this issue of confronting and relating with white people and within their world is something quite strenuous and although not stated, something that all of the characters in the book struggle with whether or not all of them show these struggles. For example Tayo or someone else like Auntie. What strength does this show in the Native American response (as shown by Silko) about their understanding of relationships with others occupying the land albeit in a bad way?
Silko emphasizes new aspects of the relationship between the traditional Laguna community and the modernized white world. This relationship has been portrayed as mostly destructive, especially for the Laguna people. War has robbed the Native Americans of some of their most promising young people (like Rocky) and reduced those who remain to drunken irresponsibility. Yet the flashback to the appearance of the army recruiter is a reminder that the destructive aspects of Caucasian society can initially appear as symbols of hope—even if they become destructive realities. Rocky, after all, joined the military not in order to kill other men, but because he wanted to “fly all over the world” as an air force pilot (60). My question is, can you think of any other symbols of hope that can become destructive realities?
Through this novel, I believe the central overarching theme is the oppression forced upon Indigenous people, communities, and other minority groups. Many of these injustices committed upon these people have been due to horrifying actions yet these groups face pressures to alleviate these injustices and systemic oppressions on their own. The novel says “We have all been waiting for help for a long time. But it has never been easy. The people must do it. You must do it.” (115) This portrays the lack of assistance received by these groups and how they feel as if they have no choice but to continue to fight these issues alone. This is still a pressing issue throughout the world today, how can this novel help us try and combat the injustices more successfully than in the past?
One theme that I noticed in this section of Ceremony was Tayo’s longing for connection to those around him and to the natural world. It is stated that Tayo has deep empathy for others, allowing him to feel how they feel without the use of words; and Tayo’s longing for a connection with Rocky is outlined when he is excited about enlisting in the army, not because he is excited about the army, but about travelling with and being more similar to Rocky. This can be seen when Tayo realized that he’s supposed to stay and help on the farm, but the feeling of letting Rocky leave him takes over; “‘No,’ Tayo said, feeling the hollow spread from his stomach to his chest, his heart echoing in his ears. “No.” Rocky walked on without him; Tayo stood there watching the darkness descend. He was familiar with that hollow feeling”(Silko, 67). I believe the poem about the fly and hummingbird is also strategically placed throughout this section because it personifies animals, showing the connection between humans and animals by giving the animals human traits. There is also something to be said about the hungry people in the poem and the lack of food and water on Tayo’s family farm, How the characters in the poem are on a mission to help, and Tayo feels guilty and wrong about leaving the farm and not helping.
My question is, Did Tayo have to go away to the army in order to discover that he is a key piece in the lives of his community and family, and is needed for the healing of his culture? Is there something more significant to be said about Tayo’s discomfort in following Rocky into the white, war-filled world, even though Rocky is his brother and a full-blood Native American whom he feels connected to?