I definitely feel like the book is getting more confusing and I find it difficult to understand both the time lines and the plot. Tayo in my mind obviously struggles with his own identity. I feel like his entire life has been laid out in front of him and that he’s been ‘told’ who he needs to be and how he should act instead of letting him find his own path. The ceremonies he’s participating in seem to engage him, but I feel like he’s looking for the easy fix, the “one answer” statement to help him and that is because of how he’s been brought up. I also feel like the longer he searches for ‘help’ the more he’s finding it hard to trust anyone because there isn’t one easy answer for him.
Per this week’s reading assignment, it begins with Betonie speaking, “There are no limits to this thing” (122). As the second medicine man visits to help cure Tayo of his ailment, a widespread sickness affecting the immune system, a poem begins on the same page. Describing the cultural lineage between natives, pagans, witches and white European settlers, it leaves no stone unturned in matters of connection to the natural world. Also, explaining the disparity and violence between each of them, what reasoning they may have, and the inescapable fear between each endeavor. After a brief narrative within the Chuska mountains of their journey, a second poem begins. Set in storytelling prose as well, describing the ceremony unto which intends to rejuvenate Tayo, tracing his past, planning and brewing a healing concoction, and gathering herbs “to restore this to him” (131). Utilizing chants and affirmations, dramatic depictions, animated and repetitive (132). Concluding with two pertinent and conflicting, and/or contradictory sentiments, “…walking back to long life” (133) and “…evil were still on him” (134). Jumping to page 204, eludes an expression of love to Josiah & Rocky from Tayo, again with a connection to the land, animals and insects found therein, stating of the “…vitality locked deep in blood memory…”. Lastly, a mention of the Trinity Site, where the first atomic bomb at White Sands had exploded three hundred miles away from their location, including the top-secret laboratory where it was built, in the Jemez Mountains there. My question is, given the current political climate, a recent past of the pandemic, how analogous is this story, first published in the United States of America in 1977, to today? Who are the present actors related to these characters, of what ethnicity would they be, and what progress has been made in regard to energy and weaponry since? What were the impacts of this story on our current time? Better yet, what previous event(s) transpired in history do you think led or contributed to the writing of this novel?
I have found multiple passages throughout the book that focus on eyes, whether they are Tayo’s eyes, Betonie’s eyes, or someone else’s. There are a few close together that focus on eyes when Tayo first meets Betonie. The first I noticed is on page 109 that reads, “Then Tayo looked at his eyes. They were hazel like his own. The medicine man nodded. ‘My grandmother was a remarkable Mexican with green eyes,’ he said”. The next is on page 112 which reads, “His eyes were shining then, and he was looking directly into Tayo’s eyes.” I feel like these moments show a connection between Tayo and Betonie. With the first quote, it seemed as though Tayo felt seen and validated by Betonie having green eyes, as that was something Tayo had always felt insecure and guilty about. Maybe the author is using eyes like the cliché of them being “portals to the soul” and is making it a theme throughout the book. If this is the case (where Tayo felt comfortable and validated by Betonie) do you think that had an effect on his healing while with Betonie?
In continuing reading Ceremony and the discussions we have had thus far in class, the relationship between witchery and the history of ceremonies as well as Indian culture is becoming more apparent. On page 177, Tayo’s perspective is seen through the quote, “if the white people never looked beyond the lie, to see that theirs was a nation built on stolen land, then they would never be able to understand how they had been used by the witchery; they would never know that they were still being manipulated by those who knew how to stir the ingredients together: white thievery and injustice boiling up the anger and hatred that would finally destroy the world: the starving against the fat, the colored against the white.” More of this same idea is presented on page 189, in saying that “it was the white people who had nothing” and that they are “never able to forget that their pride was wrapped in something stolen, something that had never been, and could never be, theirs.”
My question here, is in looking at witchery and the creation story of white people the witch presents earlier on in the book. It is clear that in tradition, stories and ceremonies have a great deal of power and are able to reinforce Indian culture and identity. I am wondering how little, if at all, Rocky believed in stories or ceremonies. My question last week related to whether or not Rocky’s death was related to the abandonment of his traditional culture, so it would make sense that both stories and ceremonies would go along with that. But then, could a ceremony or story have helped Rocky at any point in his life? Because he didn’t value his culture’s traditions as highly as he maybe should have, would a ceremony have helped him at any point anyways? Would he have agreed to any parts of the creation of people from witches, or that his people’s land was stolen at all?
A theme that I can’t quite wrap my head around is the continuous mentioning of witches in the book. We see the poem XV describing the witches, being some sort of evil beings. The metaphor of witches would be that of colonialism and imperialism, and specifically for Tayo’s case, white settlers. This poem talks of the killing of animals and gruesome killing of nature and land that the witches do. On page 228, Tayo understands why he heard Josiah and Rocky’s voice from the Japanese. He says “the lines of cultures and worlds were drawn in flat dark lines on fine light sand, converging in the middle of witchery’s final ceremonial sand painting.” From this passage, the witches final ceremony would be the drawing of lines on land. This could be a metaphor to the colonizers final goal was ultamatly to draw lines on a map to divide land into theirs and other countries, drawing lines on land. This passage is still very confusing and the book continuously become more complex in metaphors and meanings, but this would be my best guess in this context. Why had Tayo learned why he heard Rocky and Josiah’s voices from this explanation?
What is interesting about this passage is its extensive use of animals to further the story with the mountain lion on page 182 and the amount of details used to describe them. This is very important to the story and overall theme of the book that it is not an anthropocentric story as one might first think. It is the story of nature and how it exists around us and in us. Nature does not wait on us to make decisions or even really care about what we are doing. This is proved by the mountain lion having “no fear in its eyes”. Nature has its own mind and body and soul. All the animals in this part of the story really show that Tayo is not in control of them and he is more controlled by their actions. Does this reign true for the rest of the book or do you see it more as a story about Tayo and his struggles?
A specific poem I found interesting starts on page 157 of our reading (pg157-163). When we are reading about this Sun’s quest I think of Tayo. In this story we see common people such as I think the sun would be Tayo, the spiderwoman could possibly be Betonie, and lastly the clouds in the sky are described as if they were Josiah’s cattle. I think this poem is showing a better or more hopeful outlook for Tayos story we are developing. Such as Tayo seems to have better or more positive outlook on everyday life rather than drinking his emotions away.
In this week’s passage, Tayo crosses paths again with the woman he previously met after speaking with Betonie, who we come to find goes by the name Ts’eh. It is important to note that she distinguishes from Tayo that she goes by this compared to her longer Indian name. This brings up the connection to Tayo struggling with his identity in relation to the mixed cultural background he comes from. This woman becomes someone who is deeply loved by Tayo. He is attracted to her because she draws him closer to his Indian identity and allows him to forget about the ‘whiteness’ within him that he toward the end of the book is hunted down for by his so-called friends. Ts’eh serves as a symbol of revelation for Tayo and pushes him closer to the truth that those he has surrounded himself with are not as loyal as he believes. She says, “They walk this way. The doctors have medicine to quiet you. The others bring guns. Emo has told them you are crazy, that you live in a cave here and you think you are a Jap soldier. They are all afraid of you” (215). Her words come from a place of foreshadowing and warning. It is also said on the same page that, “this is the only ending they will understand.” Do you think that one’s story is defined from the moment of creation? Does one’s identity subject them to a different ending than others? Does this separate Tayo from allowing himself to truly discover his identity and path in life?
In this weeks readings, Tayo reflects on the unjust white civilization taking hold of land. On pages 168-170, Tayo is leaving the young woman’s home to continue the search for Josiah’s cattle towards North Top, he is also reflecting on his connection to the landscape. Tayo finds Josiah’s cattle on the other side of Floyd Lee’s fence which divides the land and segregates people and resources. What would the world look like if we didn’t have borders? Do you think it would look like a more socialist framework of living throughout the world? Would public ownership of resources and means of production lead to a more just civilization? Would the connection to land that Tayo describes foster care for the environment with an open-border society?
Bettany has shifted his ceremonies and his life to incorporate some aspects of white culture, understanding the necessity to be able to grow as “Things which don’t shift and grow are dead things. They are things the witchery people want” (126). Bettany’s unconventional ceremonies stem from his understanding of the increasingly complex nature of the Laguna people and the white men saying “you don’t write off all the white people, just like you don’t trust all the Indians” (128). Furthermore, Bettany argues against attitudes, like Emo’s, that carry hatred and violence towards white people, saying it is a trick of witchery. At the end of the book, Tayo is at a crossroads: either he can kill Emo or leave him alone. Emo chooses the latter, and is at peace with it. “‘California,’ Tayo repeated softly, ‘That’s a good place for him’” (260). The final story implies the fate of Emo. “It has stiffened with the effects of its own witchery. It is dead for now” (261). What does this metaphorical death mean for Emo? Do white people share the same fate?
As Tayo descends further and further into his mania, he becomes more and more in tune with the stories the landscape is trying to articulate to him. This mania is perhaps not mania in the sense of ‘losing one’s mind’ but as a confrontation to western understandings of existence and production of understandings. As he becomes further and further enthralled in his spiritual self, he thusly becomes alienated from his westernized version of himself and gains clarity and understanding of Indigenous ways of knowing. I am specifically referencing the equivocation of pollutants such as Uranium within the narrative of Ceremony in the last portion of the novel. On page 228 Tayo is moving through a landscape that has been decimated by an atomic bomb, he is reckoning with its effect and seems to become unfazed by this. He seems to have an understanding of it, maybe due to his military background or due to his confrontations of different ways of being that exists within him; but regardless he seems to be able to confront the existence of this “wasteland” through his new found resonation with the ceremony. This portion of the book seems to be a synthesis of these ways of being, as stated on page 229, “He cried the relief he found in finally seeing the pattern, the way all of the stories fit together – the old stories, the war stories, their stories – to become the story that was still being told”. This is incredibly evocative and raises the question of the place in which pollutants such as uranium have in Indigenous ways of being and spiritualities.
In our most recent reading of Ceremony this week, one of the parts that stuck out the most was when Tayo was looking for the cattle and approached Floyd Lee’s farm. Tayo realized he was wondering how the cattle may have gotten there rather than instantly believing they were stolen. He also realized that because Lee was white, he did not immediately accuse and that if it was an Indian’s or Mexican’s farm, he would have been ready to accuse in a heartbeat. This is a theme that seems to be present in the book and in life today because very often white people get the benefit of the doubt, even by people of other races/ ethnicities that white people have oppressed. Meanwhile, many people tend to not be hesitant to instantly believe negative accusations that are not about white people. Another part that really stood out to me was the poem at the end about witchery that ends with repeating “It is dead for now” four times. The idea of Tayo being cured is good, but the reality is that evil in the form of a deteriorating mental state or oppression from others can come back at any time and is never truly gone. The whole battle with evil and witchery throughout the book is representative of the fact that many things cannot be fixed in a day, and there is not a single right way to fix something. The question I have from this week is, how have white colonists been given the benefit of the doubt or faced less backlash as a result of their wrong actions throughout time, and do they tend to get off the hook easier?
On page 213, the quote talking about death, “There are much worse things, you know. The destroyers: they work to see how much can be lost, how much can be forgotten. They destroy the feeling they have for each other.” This reminded me of the story of the witches and how white people came to exist. To me, the description of what white people would do reflects the destroyer, and how they work for what can be lost. The evil that colonizers did to the Indigenous people, destroyed the feelings they have for each other, in the sense that they simply don’t watch out for their people anymore. They only care to destroy Indiegnous lives, and profit off stolen land. Additionally, the more that is destroyed, the destroyers “feel less and less, yet still hungering for more.” These quotes make me think of the genocide and assimilation of Indigenous people.
However, Tayo is told this and I think it’s more in reference to Tayos war experience. Tayo feels so much shame and guilt for surviving, while Rocky died. I think Tayo is told this in an effort to let him know that there is no logic to who survives and who doesn’t in a war. The destroyers wanted to destroy and there was nothing Tayo could do about Rocky dying in the war.
Is this parallel another addition to the theme of colonialism and white supremacy? How does confronting the pain of his ancestors help Tayo heal the pain of the war?
Throughout the book, Tayo’s stomach has played a large role in gauging his wellness and healing. At the beginning, he seemed to be vomiting constantly, as though there was something greater that he was trying to expel from himself- whether it be trauma, grief, guilt, the legacy of colonization, or otherwise. However, as it progresses and Tayo moves through these different ceremonies, the occurrences seem to become less and less. On page 142 though, Tayo describes himself as feeling faint and “wispy like a walking shadow,” it is clear that he is not completely well. This is also shown in other passages, like page 156 when he was “trying to vomit out everything- all the past, all his life” after drinking with his old friends Harvey and Leroy. This makes me think about how healing is a cyclical rather than linear process, and whether it is something that would ever be considered “complete” by modern/Western standards. Even by the end of the book, can Tayo be considered completely healed?
Tayo is still struggling with his reclamation of his identity as a native persons. While struggling Tayo experienced something that isn’t necessarily related to his Native struggle, but when written and analyzes it can be. That struggle starts around page 175 when Tayo is deciding to release cows that are fenced in. Prior to this personal struggle we get information about the fence and that is the white land owners post signs and get out messages in english and spanish showing they mean everyone. This is a broad visualization of the general native persons struggle and that is being free and utilizing land together. Land ownership and private property are traditionally a white mans idea and highlighting that this is happening was a good way to set up another personal struggle for Tayo. Tayo began struggling about whether he should cut the fence and he contemplated his relation to white man with this quote, “why did he hesitate to accuse a white man of stealing but not a Mexican or an Indian?” (pg 177). This quote highlights that Tayo is starting to wonder what his relationship to the white man is, has he been distrusting to his people this whole time, or has the white man engrained on him enough, and would committing this act of deviance be enough to reconnect him. Later down this page Tayo says he finally cuts the lie, that lie being the white mans lies. This is a symbolic time for him as its a step in freeing himself, that being acknowledgment and attempting to cast away his thoughts. After Tayo cuts the wire I felt like while reading this was a ceremony. Not all ceremonies are something written down and repeated frequently or even every 100 years, a ceremony can be something you do for a specific reason and theres usually a release of energy, a question answered, or a spiritual change. I think the question about whether Tayo was ready and strong enough was answered in this moment.
We can see throughout Ceremony that Tayo is moving closer to his culture through moments with nature and people. This move towards his culture is also helping him heal from the traumatic experiences he had in the war that has left him with intense PTSD. By moving closer to his culture Tayo is seeing the work of creators everywhere through direct experiences, rather than reading books in school like he did in white schools with Rocky. On page 96 Tayo is having a moment with the nature around them that makes him feel calm and opens his eyes, he thinks to himself that “the stark white gypsum dust makes a spotted pattern, and then he knew why it was done by the dancers: it connected them to the earth. He became aware of the place and where he was.” Another thing worth observing is how Rocky and Tayo differ so much, Rocky leans more towards white ways of living and thinking whereas Tayo, despite not being fully Indian, leans more towards Indian culture and ways of life. Rocky was the whole reason that Tayo went to war, because he wanted to follow him and he idolized him. I wonder if Tayo had not went to war with Rocky and lost him would Tayo have continued down a more eurocentric way of life in an attempt to follow Rocky? It seems that without Rocky, Tayo was forced to find his own path in life and heal his PTSD through connecting with his culture.
Throughout the book, Tayo underwent two main ceremonies that were integral to his healing journey. After the completion of the ceremonies, he learned how to reconnect with himself by implementing rituals throughout his daily life. For example, Tayo found himself in a time of need when a mountain lion paid him a visit on his journey to find his uncle’s cattle. He responded to the presence of the mountain lion through the following actions, “ he knelt and touched the footprints … and poured yellow pollen from Josiah’s tobacco sack into the cup of his hand. He leaned close to the Earth and sprinkled pinches of yellow pollen into each of the four footprints” (182). His encounter with a snake later in the story compelled him to act similarly, “He knelt over the arching imprints the snake left in the sand and filled the delicate imprints with yellow pollen (205)“. Regardless of the direct reasoning behind his actions, above all they signify a strengthening connection between Tayo and his surrounding environment. It is through the integration of ritual in his daily activities that he learns how to become in control of overcoming the evils of witchery that had made a devastating impact in the lives of himself, his friends, and his family. Would Tayo have experienced the same fate of Harley, Leroy, Pinkie, and Emo had he not learned of the power of ritual and reconnection? How are these actions effective in helping him reestablish a sense of control?
Throughout reading Ceremony, I have noticed how much the cattle mean to Tayo and how much they keep coming up in the book. On page 176 Tayo is looking for the cattle as they travel further south. “He would have only one chance to drive the cattle through the hole in the fence, and while he searched desperately for the opening, they could scatter in every direction.” There are many other times in the book where Tayo is searching for the cattle as they head south. My question is if these cattle are symbolic to Tayo trying to find his connection with the land and the people on the land? Is Tayo trying to find his own hole in the fence that will free him from his sickness? How do the cattle represent the struggles in Tayo’s life? Is Tayo so connected to the cattle because they connect him to Josiah?
As the book progresses there seems to be more of a role that the witches play. As the witch was telling the story, I was a little confused about some of the wording but thinking of the poem as an illustration of colonization helped me understand more. There is a large emphasis on nature within the poem and the book as a whole. Tayo uses nature to find his culture and connect things in nature back to society. Using nature and immersing himself within, it helped Tayo with his PTSD. If Tayo would not have gone to war, how much would his life have differed in regard to traditions and ceremonies of his culture?
There are so many themes that reside in the book as Silko creates lots of ways to create ways to see these they aren’t always the easiest to spot. The following in-class discussions help me understand the book better. I wonder if the themes that she creates are themes that aren’t just themes that Native Americans have gone through collectively or if were they a way to express to the audience in some ways of her personal life for the reason she calls this book her “ceremony”. I also see on page 114 where Tayo is telling Betonie that Josiah died while he was away at war and he kept seeing him. I see that this is why Tayo saw him as a dead soldier because he feels responsible for killing Josiah in that he chose to go to war instead of staying at home to help him. If he would have stayed at home he could have maybe been there for Josiah. This feeling of pressure seems to ware off around page 177 and so he begins to feel a connection to Josiah’s belongings that begin to help him: the clippers and the pollen pouch but he also feels a deeper connection to the land as well. Is this a breakthrough moment for Tayo?
It can be seen that Tayo’s experiences with the woman are repetitive, and they are all positive and memorable for him, to the point where he is dreaming of their interactions. They seem very natural, and it is as if they happen with no prompting at all from either party. For example on page 167, a new paragraph begins with, “He watched her face, and her eyes never shifted; they were with him while she moved out of her clothes and while she slipped his jeans down his legs, stroking his thighs”. I wonder if the woman is another reference to Tayo’s connection with earth and nature, as these interactions seem to occur rhythmically and spontaneously, just like natural events and how the wild cattle naturally move in the southwest direction. In this quote her eyes are also unchanging and are like an anchor, holding Tayo in the moment and grounding him in their connection. Is this woman a symbol of Tayo’s connection to nature and the earth? If so, why is she different from the other woman that Harley and Leroy picked up, and what are the key differences that make this woman so special and reminiscent of nature?
Later on in the book, Tayo seems much better after he has his ceremony with Betonie and he takes part in some of his own types of ceremonies. For example, his encounter with the woman before going to find the long lost cattle seems to prepare him but perhaps not completely. Tayo is confident at first and plans to take some rash actions but somehow anxiety seeps into his thoughts and he does not try to take the cattle in the middle of the day. When he does begin to steer the cattle back towards the direction of home, he is caught by two riders that are determined to race him down. Tayo falls off his horse in a pretty drastic way and the riders catch up to him. One seems to be more tolerable while the other has it out for him. Silko writes, “‘You better go back for the truck,’ the cowboy with the round face said. ‘ I think he might be hurt.’ ‘Shit! There’s nothing wrong with the son of the bitch! Let him ride behind the saddle with me.'” It is very clear how each views Tayo but what is the significance of including an encounter like this? Should there have been more encounters like this to show the treatment of Tayo and his people?
On page 169, Tayo exclaims the Dawn peoples’ sun song. In doing so Tayo could feel in a single moment the gathering of “all things together- the last stars, the mountaintops, the clouds, and the winds.” He celebrates this coming together of events in a symbolic way, a way that is reflective of his participation in the ceremonies that have allowed him to become closer with his culture and strengthens his personal relationship with nature. As the stories continue, you can clearly see Tayo’s transition and immersion into his culture.
Throughout “Ceremony”, the reading progressively dives deeper into Tayo’s connection to nature and as a theme overall. At the point that Tayo has the herefords corralled, the woman points out marks on the steers. Silko writes, “Rope burns left dark scabby welts in half circles. Strips of hide were missing around their fetlocks” (197). She is quite literally describing the conditions of the cattle, but there is more. The underlying purpose of the paragraphs on cattle roping is most likely the cruel infliction white culture has posed not only on steers, but Native Americans and nature as a whole. Silko describes cattle roping as a “sport” for the white man, nothing more. The disregard for the well-being of nature far extends in the rest of the reading as a result of white culture. At this point in the book, does Tayo distance himself from his white ancestry? Do you think it is a turning point for Tayo to return towards Native American values and tradition?
On page 144 we are introduced to Helen Jean, an Apache or Ute girl from Towac. We read about her initially from the perspective of the narrator and Tayo, but then there are about six pages dedicated to her point of view (it is still third person, but it’s the same style that is continuously done with Tayo throughout the book). The perspective change begins with: “She had been thinking about it that morning when they left Gallup,” on page 149. We also see a change in perspective/narration starting on page 99 with the little boy who lives in the arroyo in Gallup and deals with his mom leaving every night with men until eventually she doesn’t come back…as far as we know. This perspective starts with, “The best time to see them was at dawn because after the sun came up they would be hiding or sleeping inside shelters of old tin, cardboard, and scrap wood.” I believe it is from the perspective of Old Betonie as a child, but I could be wrong. What do you guys think? My main question, however, is why do you believe we see these perspective changes with (maybe) Old Betonie and Helen Jean, and not the others? Why not Leroy or Harley, or the Night Swan or Auntie?
Tayo certainly seems to struggle with finding a solid form of his identity. Throughout the story, Tayo becomes more and more in touch with the Indian people and the Indian side of his heritage. Through his experience through the ceremony to his relationships with Indian people who actively practice their culture. Tayo seems to have become more comfortable with his identity and who he is. At the same time, he seems to be at least in some ways a little more at peace with white culture. When on the run Tayo remarks the importance of the role his friends currently play in his process of completing the ceremony “He would rest there, and not think about the night before. He needed to rest for a while, and not think about the story or the ceremony. Otherwise, it would make him crazy and even suspicious of his friends; and without friends, he didn’t have a chance of completing the ceremony.” (pg 224) however when he wakes up to find them gone he feels betrayed and realizes that they weren’t his friends. However, it is interesting to see him rely on white people, even if for a moment, to help him complete the ceremony, a thing that is innately Indian and not white. At the same time, Tayo makes the distinction between white people and the “destroyers” “The destroyers. They would be there all night, he knew it, working for the drought to sear the land, to kill the livestock, to stunt the corn plants and squash in the gardens, leaving the people more vulnerable to the lies; and the young people would leave, go to towns like Albuquerque and Gallup where bitterness would overwhelm them, and they would lose their hope and finally themselves in drinking.: (pg 231) Later at one of the last scenes Tayo contemplates killing Emo for what he has done. He sees Emo and the others as destroyers but he comes to the realization that he’d only be continuing the path of the destroyers and promoting their witchery. In a way, this is the end of his ceremony. Tayo coming to the realization of what he is or isn’t and what he does and doesn’t stand for. Throughout the story, he has always been questioning himself and looking for guidance in who he is or what he should do. It seems with the end of this scene, for the first time, Tayo makes the decision for himself, by himself of who he is and what he will allow himself to do or not do. For the first time, Tayo doesn’t look for guidance on what to do, but rather decides for himself, and connects with his identity and who he is.
It is interesting to me how some of the passages in the book seem to be creation stories. I find that these stories are shown as dreams and flashbacks are ways of explaining the world and the reasons for the way things are to Tayo. In the passage of the witches creating the evil in the world that is presented through imperialism, it gives an explanation to a problem and helps Tayo shift the blame from himself to a higher power and voice. Maybe this the healing, Tayo needs, to find hope in a zoomed out understanding of the way things are and the root problems. It gives hope to possible ways to resist these negative powers. Is the healing ceremony not defined in one event but in the gained awareness by Tayo and the power that he seems to gain throughout the book by regaining control?
After reading through Ceremony, some quotes stuck out to me as I read. A quote from page 133 and 134. The first says “Following my footprints walk home following my footprints come home, happily return belonging to your home return to long life and happiness again return to long life and happiness”(133) and “When he passed through the last hoop it wasn’t finished they spun him around sunwise and he recovered he stood up the rainbows returned him to his home, but it wasn’t over. All kinds of evil were still on him”(134). What kinds of evil still hung over Tayo? Why didn’t the ceremony accomplish what he had wanted?
A theme that stuck out to me while reading ceremony comes from the quote ” The day I was born they saw the color of my eyes , and they took me from the village. the Spaniards in the town looked at me, and the catholic priest said, “let her die”. They blamed the root woman for this birth and they told her to leave the village before dark” (140). This section of the book reminded me of the theme of colonialism’s we have discussed throughout the semester. Specifically in Ghandi and Sankras movements on racism, this seems to be an idea we have come across in almost all of our readings so far, whether it is a large part of the story or not. I find this interesting because it can also be seem in the difference between Rockie and Tayos character in the story. Rockie is seen the the family, as the perfect Native American war hero. As we have read further into the story, I see a lot of what was originally viewed in Rockie in Tayo personality as well. Do you think Tayo should be classified as just as much on the perfect Native American as Rockie? Why or why not?
In class, we talked about themes surrounding the potentiality and totality of land. Throughout Ceremony the reader is set to see all the emotions and turmoil that take place across the land due to its relations. We see on page 220 when Tayo comes to one of his realizations at sunrise, “All things seemed to converge there: roads and wagon trails, canyons with springs, cliff paintings and shrines, the memory of Josiah with his cattle; but the other was distinct and strong like the violet-flowered weed that killed the mule, and the black markings on the cliffs, deep caves along the valley the Spaniards followed to their attack on Acoma. Yet at that moment in the sunrise, it was all so beautiful, everything, from all directions, evenly, perfectly, balancing day with night, summer months with winter. The valley was enclosing this totality, like the mind holding all the thoughts together in a single moment.” This quote to me shows the elaborate balance that everything at one point in time holds. Regardless of the evil and destruction in the book, this totality remains as if it had no other place to go.
In view from this perspective, marginal thinking and ideas that reflect dichotomies and further hate and destruction (and separation) are pushed back against in moments when Tayo has these realizations of interconnectedness. My question surrounding these themes is if they are particularly dangerous narratives. Could they be displacing blame or are they creating more agency and power for everyone affected by destruction as Tayo alludes to it in the story, or both?
Although the final few events depicted in Ceremony are shockingly violent, these events also represent a return to earlier stages of the book. Tayo almost killed Emo once, during an altercation in a bar. He is given a second chance to kill his enemy, and while he is strongly tempted to do so, ultimately he refuses. Killing Emo would only perpetuate the pattern of despair that Tayo has just escaped: “At home the people would blame liquor, the Army, and the war, but the blame on the whites would never match the vehemence the people would keep in their own bellies, reserving the greatest bitterness and blame for themselves, for one of themselves they could not save” (235). Were Tayo to kill Emo, he would be perceived in exactly this manner: as a victim of the “witchery,” as the opposite of the sensitive and confident man that he has transformed into over the course of Ceremony. My question is, do you think there could have been a way for Tayo to maintain his sensitive, confident composure?
In this week’s readings, Tayo has time to reflect on the unjust hold that white colonists have over the land. As he continues his search for Josiah’s cattle, he also has time to reflect on his connection with the land. When Tayo finds the cattle, they are separated by Floyd Lee’s fence, a land-dividing fence that segregates the people and the land’s resources. This scene made me think of all of the people that have lost their lives due to resources across borders. Do you think opening up borders could help people to foster better relationships and care for the environment?
The depiction of alcoholism in the novel plays a vital role. Tayo and his friends suffer from intense PTSD and often self medicate with alcohol to suppress their pains and sorrows. While his friends show anger, Tayo displays sadness. In the novel, he showed himself to be highly empathetic to those around him, and often picked up guilt from those he saw suffer. To further Tayo’s tribulations, he uses alchohol to soothe his feelings of self, to “help” navigate finding his identity as he is town between two worlds. Tayo finds sobriety necessary for him to build a better future and further his understanding of self. Silko having Tayo relapse was a great plot line because it shows the honesty of the disease. It also shows the determination in him to be better. Once he picks himself back up, he truly commits to the fact that he does not want to assimilate to the behaviors of the stereotype of war veterans. I think that him summoning this strength is a beautiful thing. This aspect of the novel shows the importance of growth, the hardships that come with change, and the importance of trusting one’s higher self.
I found the scene with the mountain lion to be a very important one. I felt as Tyo was expanding his connection with the earth and its species as he focused on his rituals. Moments such as that one changed Tyo and helped him connect to his culture. Do you think it helped Tyo?
Tayo struggles to discover his true identity in the face of the cultural conflict between his Native American heritage and the dominant white culture. Tayo is considered by himself and the people of his community to be a “half-breed,” and his identity is seen as being in between or incomplete. In an effort to help him repair his sense of self, his aunts and grandmother help him to reconnect to his Laguna Pueblo roots by teaching him the ceremonies and stories of their people. Tayo discovers the power of ceremony, understanding identity as a fluid and ever-evolving process that is crafted by himself and his connection to both the land and the people of his heritage. Why is it important for Tayo to reunite with his Laguna Pueblo roots? How does Tayo’s journey to reconnect with his heritage impact his understanding of identity? How does the land and his connection to it influence Tayo’s identity and his relationship to his heritage?
I found the poem “Law” to be very interesting. It refers to nature and ecological systems as law, and includes humans as part of these systems. It frames following these laws as a needed to survive and thrive, as a sort of filial allegiance. What are the commonalities between this mode of thought and the connections between humans and nature depicted in Ceremony?
SD 3800 Voices in Sustainable Development 
I definitely feel like the book is getting more confusing and I find it difficult to understand both the time lines and the plot. Tayo in my mind obviously struggles with his own identity. I feel like his entire life has been laid out in front of him and that he’s been ‘told’ who he needs to be and how he should act instead of letting him find his own path. The ceremonies he’s participating in seem to engage him, but I feel like he’s looking for the easy fix, the “one answer” statement to help him and that is because of how he’s been brought up. I also feel like the longer he searches for ‘help’ the more he’s finding it hard to trust anyone because there isn’t one easy answer for him.
Per this week’s reading assignment, it begins with Betonie speaking, “There are no limits to this thing” (122). As the second medicine man visits to help cure Tayo of his ailment, a widespread sickness affecting the immune system, a poem begins on the same page. Describing the cultural lineage between natives, pagans, witches and white European settlers, it leaves no stone unturned in matters of connection to the natural world. Also, explaining the disparity and violence between each of them, what reasoning they may have, and the inescapable fear between each endeavor. After a brief narrative within the Chuska mountains of their journey, a second poem begins. Set in storytelling prose as well, describing the ceremony unto which intends to rejuvenate Tayo, tracing his past, planning and brewing a healing concoction, and gathering herbs “to restore this to him” (131). Utilizing chants and affirmations, dramatic depictions, animated and repetitive (132). Concluding with two pertinent and conflicting, and/or contradictory sentiments, “…walking back to long life” (133) and “…evil were still on him” (134). Jumping to page 204, eludes an expression of love to Josiah & Rocky from Tayo, again with a connection to the land, animals and insects found therein, stating of the “…vitality locked deep in blood memory…”. Lastly, a mention of the Trinity Site, where the first atomic bomb at White Sands had exploded three hundred miles away from their location, including the top-secret laboratory where it was built, in the Jemez Mountains there. My question is, given the current political climate, a recent past of the pandemic, how analogous is this story, first published in the United States of America in 1977, to today? Who are the present actors related to these characters, of what ethnicity would they be, and what progress has been made in regard to energy and weaponry since? What were the impacts of this story on our current time? Better yet, what previous event(s) transpired in history do you think led or contributed to the writing of this novel?
I have found multiple passages throughout the book that focus on eyes, whether they are Tayo’s eyes, Betonie’s eyes, or someone else’s. There are a few close together that focus on eyes when Tayo first meets Betonie. The first I noticed is on page 109 that reads, “Then Tayo looked at his eyes. They were hazel like his own. The medicine man nodded. ‘My grandmother was a remarkable Mexican with green eyes,’ he said”. The next is on page 112 which reads, “His eyes were shining then, and he was looking directly into Tayo’s eyes.” I feel like these moments show a connection between Tayo and Betonie. With the first quote, it seemed as though Tayo felt seen and validated by Betonie having green eyes, as that was something Tayo had always felt insecure and guilty about. Maybe the author is using eyes like the cliché of them being “portals to the soul” and is making it a theme throughout the book. If this is the case (where Tayo felt comfortable and validated by Betonie) do you think that had an effect on his healing while with Betonie?
In continuing reading Ceremony and the discussions we have had thus far in class, the relationship between witchery and the history of ceremonies as well as Indian culture is becoming more apparent. On page 177, Tayo’s perspective is seen through the quote, “if the white people never looked beyond the lie, to see that theirs was a nation built on stolen land, then they would never be able to understand how they had been used by the witchery; they would never know that they were still being manipulated by those who knew how to stir the ingredients together: white thievery and injustice boiling up the anger and hatred that would finally destroy the world: the starving against the fat, the colored against the white.” More of this same idea is presented on page 189, in saying that “it was the white people who had nothing” and that they are “never able to forget that their pride was wrapped in something stolen, something that had never been, and could never be, theirs.”
My question here, is in looking at witchery and the creation story of white people the witch presents earlier on in the book. It is clear that in tradition, stories and ceremonies have a great deal of power and are able to reinforce Indian culture and identity. I am wondering how little, if at all, Rocky believed in stories or ceremonies. My question last week related to whether or not Rocky’s death was related to the abandonment of his traditional culture, so it would make sense that both stories and ceremonies would go along with that. But then, could a ceremony or story have helped Rocky at any point in his life? Because he didn’t value his culture’s traditions as highly as he maybe should have, would a ceremony have helped him at any point anyways? Would he have agreed to any parts of the creation of people from witches, or that his people’s land was stolen at all?
Hayden Hill
A theme that I can’t quite wrap my head around is the continuous mentioning of witches in the book. We see the poem XV describing the witches, being some sort of evil beings. The metaphor of witches would be that of colonialism and imperialism, and specifically for Tayo’s case, white settlers. This poem talks of the killing of animals and gruesome killing of nature and land that the witches do. On page 228, Tayo understands why he heard Josiah and Rocky’s voice from the Japanese. He says “the lines of cultures and worlds were drawn in flat dark lines on fine light sand, converging in the middle of witchery’s final ceremonial sand painting.” From this passage, the witches final ceremony would be the drawing of lines on land. This could be a metaphor to the colonizers final goal was ultamatly to draw lines on a map to divide land into theirs and other countries, drawing lines on land. This passage is still very confusing and the book continuously become more complex in metaphors and meanings, but this would be my best guess in this context. Why had Tayo learned why he heard Rocky and Josiah’s voices from this explanation?
What is interesting about this passage is its extensive use of animals to further the story with the mountain lion on page 182 and the amount of details used to describe them. This is very important to the story and overall theme of the book that it is not an anthropocentric story as one might first think. It is the story of nature and how it exists around us and in us. Nature does not wait on us to make decisions or even really care about what we are doing. This is proved by the mountain lion having “no fear in its eyes”. Nature has its own mind and body and soul. All the animals in this part of the story really show that Tayo is not in control of them and he is more controlled by their actions. Does this reign true for the rest of the book or do you see it more as a story about Tayo and his struggles?
A specific poem I found interesting starts on page 157 of our reading (pg157-163). When we are reading about this Sun’s quest I think of Tayo. In this story we see common people such as I think the sun would be Tayo, the spiderwoman could possibly be Betonie, and lastly the clouds in the sky are described as if they were Josiah’s cattle. I think this poem is showing a better or more hopeful outlook for Tayos story we are developing. Such as Tayo seems to have better or more positive outlook on everyday life rather than drinking his emotions away.
In this week’s passage, Tayo crosses paths again with the woman he previously met after speaking with Betonie, who we come to find goes by the name Ts’eh. It is important to note that she distinguishes from Tayo that she goes by this compared to her longer Indian name. This brings up the connection to Tayo struggling with his identity in relation to the mixed cultural background he comes from. This woman becomes someone who is deeply loved by Tayo. He is attracted to her because she draws him closer to his Indian identity and allows him to forget about the ‘whiteness’ within him that he toward the end of the book is hunted down for by his so-called friends. Ts’eh serves as a symbol of revelation for Tayo and pushes him closer to the truth that those he has surrounded himself with are not as loyal as he believes. She says, “They walk this way. The doctors have medicine to quiet you. The others bring guns. Emo has told them you are crazy, that you live in a cave here and you think you are a Jap soldier. They are all afraid of you” (215). Her words come from a place of foreshadowing and warning. It is also said on the same page that, “this is the only ending they will understand.” Do you think that one’s story is defined from the moment of creation? Does one’s identity subject them to a different ending than others? Does this separate Tayo from allowing himself to truly discover his identity and path in life?
In this weeks readings, Tayo reflects on the unjust white civilization taking hold of land. On pages 168-170, Tayo is leaving the young woman’s home to continue the search for Josiah’s cattle towards North Top, he is also reflecting on his connection to the landscape. Tayo finds Josiah’s cattle on the other side of Floyd Lee’s fence which divides the land and segregates people and resources. What would the world look like if we didn’t have borders? Do you think it would look like a more socialist framework of living throughout the world? Would public ownership of resources and means of production lead to a more just civilization? Would the connection to land that Tayo describes foster care for the environment with an open-border society?
Bettany has shifted his ceremonies and his life to incorporate some aspects of white culture, understanding the necessity to be able to grow as “Things which don’t shift and grow are dead things. They are things the witchery people want” (126). Bettany’s unconventional ceremonies stem from his understanding of the increasingly complex nature of the Laguna people and the white men saying “you don’t write off all the white people, just like you don’t trust all the Indians” (128). Furthermore, Bettany argues against attitudes, like Emo’s, that carry hatred and violence towards white people, saying it is a trick of witchery. At the end of the book, Tayo is at a crossroads: either he can kill Emo or leave him alone. Emo chooses the latter, and is at peace with it. “‘California,’ Tayo repeated softly, ‘That’s a good place for him’” (260). The final story implies the fate of Emo. “It has stiffened with the effects of its own witchery. It is dead for now” (261). What does this metaphorical death mean for Emo? Do white people share the same fate?
As Tayo descends further and further into his mania, he becomes more and more in tune with the stories the landscape is trying to articulate to him. This mania is perhaps not mania in the sense of ‘losing one’s mind’ but as a confrontation to western understandings of existence and production of understandings. As he becomes further and further enthralled in his spiritual self, he thusly becomes alienated from his westernized version of himself and gains clarity and understanding of Indigenous ways of knowing. I am specifically referencing the equivocation of pollutants such as Uranium within the narrative of Ceremony in the last portion of the novel. On page 228 Tayo is moving through a landscape that has been decimated by an atomic bomb, he is reckoning with its effect and seems to become unfazed by this. He seems to have an understanding of it, maybe due to his military background or due to his confrontations of different ways of being that exists within him; but regardless he seems to be able to confront the existence of this “wasteland” through his new found resonation with the ceremony. This portion of the book seems to be a synthesis of these ways of being, as stated on page 229, “He cried the relief he found in finally seeing the pattern, the way all of the stories fit together – the old stories, the war stories, their stories – to become the story that was still being told”. This is incredibly evocative and raises the question of the place in which pollutants such as uranium have in Indigenous ways of being and spiritualities.
*moving through a Uranium mine.
In our most recent reading of Ceremony this week, one of the parts that stuck out the most was when Tayo was looking for the cattle and approached Floyd Lee’s farm. Tayo realized he was wondering how the cattle may have gotten there rather than instantly believing they were stolen. He also realized that because Lee was white, he did not immediately accuse and that if it was an Indian’s or Mexican’s farm, he would have been ready to accuse in a heartbeat. This is a theme that seems to be present in the book and in life today because very often white people get the benefit of the doubt, even by people of other races/ ethnicities that white people have oppressed. Meanwhile, many people tend to not be hesitant to instantly believe negative accusations that are not about white people. Another part that really stood out to me was the poem at the end about witchery that ends with repeating “It is dead for now” four times. The idea of Tayo being cured is good, but the reality is that evil in the form of a deteriorating mental state or oppression from others can come back at any time and is never truly gone. The whole battle with evil and witchery throughout the book is representative of the fact that many things cannot be fixed in a day, and there is not a single right way to fix something. The question I have from this week is, how have white colonists been given the benefit of the doubt or faced less backlash as a result of their wrong actions throughout time, and do they tend to get off the hook easier?
On page 213, the quote talking about death, “There are much worse things, you know. The destroyers: they work to see how much can be lost, how much can be forgotten. They destroy the feeling they have for each other.” This reminded me of the story of the witches and how white people came to exist. To me, the description of what white people would do reflects the destroyer, and how they work for what can be lost. The evil that colonizers did to the Indigenous people, destroyed the feelings they have for each other, in the sense that they simply don’t watch out for their people anymore. They only care to destroy Indiegnous lives, and profit off stolen land. Additionally, the more that is destroyed, the destroyers “feel less and less, yet still hungering for more.” These quotes make me think of the genocide and assimilation of Indigenous people.
However, Tayo is told this and I think it’s more in reference to Tayos war experience. Tayo feels so much shame and guilt for surviving, while Rocky died. I think Tayo is told this in an effort to let him know that there is no logic to who survives and who doesn’t in a war. The destroyers wanted to destroy and there was nothing Tayo could do about Rocky dying in the war.
Is this parallel another addition to the theme of colonialism and white supremacy? How does confronting the pain of his ancestors help Tayo heal the pain of the war?
Throughout the book, Tayo’s stomach has played a large role in gauging his wellness and healing. At the beginning, he seemed to be vomiting constantly, as though there was something greater that he was trying to expel from himself- whether it be trauma, grief, guilt, the legacy of colonization, or otherwise. However, as it progresses and Tayo moves through these different ceremonies, the occurrences seem to become less and less. On page 142 though, Tayo describes himself as feeling faint and “wispy like a walking shadow,” it is clear that he is not completely well. This is also shown in other passages, like page 156 when he was “trying to vomit out everything- all the past, all his life” after drinking with his old friends Harvey and Leroy. This makes me think about how healing is a cyclical rather than linear process, and whether it is something that would ever be considered “complete” by modern/Western standards. Even by the end of the book, can Tayo be considered completely healed?
Tayo is still struggling with his reclamation of his identity as a native persons. While struggling Tayo experienced something that isn’t necessarily related to his Native struggle, but when written and analyzes it can be. That struggle starts around page 175 when Tayo is deciding to release cows that are fenced in. Prior to this personal struggle we get information about the fence and that is the white land owners post signs and get out messages in english and spanish showing they mean everyone. This is a broad visualization of the general native persons struggle and that is being free and utilizing land together. Land ownership and private property are traditionally a white mans idea and highlighting that this is happening was a good way to set up another personal struggle for Tayo. Tayo began struggling about whether he should cut the fence and he contemplated his relation to white man with this quote, “why did he hesitate to accuse a white man of stealing but not a Mexican or an Indian?” (pg 177). This quote highlights that Tayo is starting to wonder what his relationship to the white man is, has he been distrusting to his people this whole time, or has the white man engrained on him enough, and would committing this act of deviance be enough to reconnect him. Later down this page Tayo says he finally cuts the lie, that lie being the white mans lies. This is a symbolic time for him as its a step in freeing himself, that being acknowledgment and attempting to cast away his thoughts. After Tayo cuts the wire I felt like while reading this was a ceremony. Not all ceremonies are something written down and repeated frequently or even every 100 years, a ceremony can be something you do for a specific reason and theres usually a release of energy, a question answered, or a spiritual change. I think the question about whether Tayo was ready and strong enough was answered in this moment.
We can see throughout Ceremony that Tayo is moving closer to his culture through moments with nature and people. This move towards his culture is also helping him heal from the traumatic experiences he had in the war that has left him with intense PTSD. By moving closer to his culture Tayo is seeing the work of creators everywhere through direct experiences, rather than reading books in school like he did in white schools with Rocky. On page 96 Tayo is having a moment with the nature around them that makes him feel calm and opens his eyes, he thinks to himself that “the stark white gypsum dust makes a spotted pattern, and then he knew why it was done by the dancers: it connected them to the earth. He became aware of the place and where he was.” Another thing worth observing is how Rocky and Tayo differ so much, Rocky leans more towards white ways of living and thinking whereas Tayo, despite not being fully Indian, leans more towards Indian culture and ways of life. Rocky was the whole reason that Tayo went to war, because he wanted to follow him and he idolized him. I wonder if Tayo had not went to war with Rocky and lost him would Tayo have continued down a more eurocentric way of life in an attempt to follow Rocky? It seems that without Rocky, Tayo was forced to find his own path in life and heal his PTSD through connecting with his culture.
Throughout the book, Tayo underwent two main ceremonies that were integral to his healing journey. After the completion of the ceremonies, he learned how to reconnect with himself by implementing rituals throughout his daily life. For example, Tayo found himself in a time of need when a mountain lion paid him a visit on his journey to find his uncle’s cattle. He responded to the presence of the mountain lion through the following actions, “ he knelt and touched the footprints … and poured yellow pollen from Josiah’s tobacco sack into the cup of his hand. He leaned close to the Earth and sprinkled pinches of yellow pollen into each of the four footprints” (182). His encounter with a snake later in the story compelled him to act similarly, “He knelt over the arching imprints the snake left in the sand and filled the delicate imprints with yellow pollen (205)“. Regardless of the direct reasoning behind his actions, above all they signify a strengthening connection between Tayo and his surrounding environment. It is through the integration of ritual in his daily activities that he learns how to become in control of overcoming the evils of witchery that had made a devastating impact in the lives of himself, his friends, and his family. Would Tayo have experienced the same fate of Harley, Leroy, Pinkie, and Emo had he not learned of the power of ritual and reconnection? How are these actions effective in helping him reestablish a sense of control?
Throughout reading Ceremony, I have noticed how much the cattle mean to Tayo and how much they keep coming up in the book. On page 176 Tayo is looking for the cattle as they travel further south. “He would have only one chance to drive the cattle through the hole in the fence, and while he searched desperately for the opening, they could scatter in every direction.” There are many other times in the book where Tayo is searching for the cattle as they head south. My question is if these cattle are symbolic to Tayo trying to find his connection with the land and the people on the land? Is Tayo trying to find his own hole in the fence that will free him from his sickness? How do the cattle represent the struggles in Tayo’s life? Is Tayo so connected to the cattle because they connect him to Josiah?
As the book progresses there seems to be more of a role that the witches play. As the witch was telling the story, I was a little confused about some of the wording but thinking of the poem as an illustration of colonization helped me understand more. There is a large emphasis on nature within the poem and the book as a whole. Tayo uses nature to find his culture and connect things in nature back to society. Using nature and immersing himself within, it helped Tayo with his PTSD. If Tayo would not have gone to war, how much would his life have differed in regard to traditions and ceremonies of his culture?
There are so many themes that reside in the book as Silko creates lots of ways to create ways to see these they aren’t always the easiest to spot. The following in-class discussions help me understand the book better. I wonder if the themes that she creates are themes that aren’t just themes that Native Americans have gone through collectively or if were they a way to express to the audience in some ways of her personal life for the reason she calls this book her “ceremony”. I also see on page 114 where Tayo is telling Betonie that Josiah died while he was away at war and he kept seeing him. I see that this is why Tayo saw him as a dead soldier because he feels responsible for killing Josiah in that he chose to go to war instead of staying at home to help him. If he would have stayed at home he could have maybe been there for Josiah. This feeling of pressure seems to ware off around page 177 and so he begins to feel a connection to Josiah’s belongings that begin to help him: the clippers and the pollen pouch but he also feels a deeper connection to the land as well. Is this a breakthrough moment for Tayo?
It can be seen that Tayo’s experiences with the woman are repetitive, and they are all positive and memorable for him, to the point where he is dreaming of their interactions. They seem very natural, and it is as if they happen with no prompting at all from either party. For example on page 167, a new paragraph begins with, “He watched her face, and her eyes never shifted; they were with him while she moved out of her clothes and while she slipped his jeans down his legs, stroking his thighs”. I wonder if the woman is another reference to Tayo’s connection with earth and nature, as these interactions seem to occur rhythmically and spontaneously, just like natural events and how the wild cattle naturally move in the southwest direction. In this quote her eyes are also unchanging and are like an anchor, holding Tayo in the moment and grounding him in their connection. Is this woman a symbol of Tayo’s connection to nature and the earth? If so, why is she different from the other woman that Harley and Leroy picked up, and what are the key differences that make this woman so special and reminiscent of nature?
this was chesney ^^^
Later on in the book, Tayo seems much better after he has his ceremony with Betonie and he takes part in some of his own types of ceremonies. For example, his encounter with the woman before going to find the long lost cattle seems to prepare him but perhaps not completely. Tayo is confident at first and plans to take some rash actions but somehow anxiety seeps into his thoughts and he does not try to take the cattle in the middle of the day. When he does begin to steer the cattle back towards the direction of home, he is caught by two riders that are determined to race him down. Tayo falls off his horse in a pretty drastic way and the riders catch up to him. One seems to be more tolerable while the other has it out for him. Silko writes, “‘You better go back for the truck,’ the cowboy with the round face said. ‘ I think he might be hurt.’ ‘Shit! There’s nothing wrong with the son of the bitch! Let him ride behind the saddle with me.'” It is very clear how each views Tayo but what is the significance of including an encounter like this? Should there have been more encounters like this to show the treatment of Tayo and his people?
On page 169, Tayo exclaims the Dawn peoples’ sun song. In doing so Tayo could feel in a single moment the gathering of “all things together- the last stars, the mountaintops, the clouds, and the winds.” He celebrates this coming together of events in a symbolic way, a way that is reflective of his participation in the ceremonies that have allowed him to become closer with his culture and strengthens his personal relationship with nature. As the stories continue, you can clearly see Tayo’s transition and immersion into his culture.
Throughout “Ceremony”, the reading progressively dives deeper into Tayo’s connection to nature and as a theme overall. At the point that Tayo has the herefords corralled, the woman points out marks on the steers. Silko writes, “Rope burns left dark scabby welts in half circles. Strips of hide were missing around their fetlocks” (197). She is quite literally describing the conditions of the cattle, but there is more. The underlying purpose of the paragraphs on cattle roping is most likely the cruel infliction white culture has posed not only on steers, but Native Americans and nature as a whole. Silko describes cattle roping as a “sport” for the white man, nothing more. The disregard for the well-being of nature far extends in the rest of the reading as a result of white culture. At this point in the book, does Tayo distance himself from his white ancestry? Do you think it is a turning point for Tayo to return towards Native American values and tradition?
On page 144 we are introduced to Helen Jean, an Apache or Ute girl from Towac. We read about her initially from the perspective of the narrator and Tayo, but then there are about six pages dedicated to her point of view (it is still third person, but it’s the same style that is continuously done with Tayo throughout the book). The perspective change begins with: “She had been thinking about it that morning when they left Gallup,” on page 149. We also see a change in perspective/narration starting on page 99 with the little boy who lives in the arroyo in Gallup and deals with his mom leaving every night with men until eventually she doesn’t come back…as far as we know. This perspective starts with, “The best time to see them was at dawn because after the sun came up they would be hiding or sleeping inside shelters of old tin, cardboard, and scrap wood.” I believe it is from the perspective of Old Betonie as a child, but I could be wrong. What do you guys think? My main question, however, is why do you believe we see these perspective changes with (maybe) Old Betonie and Helen Jean, and not the others? Why not Leroy or Harley, or the Night Swan or Auntie?
Tayo certainly seems to struggle with finding a solid form of his identity. Throughout the story, Tayo becomes more and more in touch with the Indian people and the Indian side of his heritage. Through his experience through the ceremony to his relationships with Indian people who actively practice their culture. Tayo seems to have become more comfortable with his identity and who he is. At the same time, he seems to be at least in some ways a little more at peace with white culture. When on the run Tayo remarks the importance of the role his friends currently play in his process of completing the ceremony “He would rest there, and not think about the night before. He needed to rest for a while, and not think about the story or the ceremony. Otherwise, it would make him crazy and even suspicious of his friends; and without friends, he didn’t have a chance of completing the ceremony.” (pg 224) however when he wakes up to find them gone he feels betrayed and realizes that they weren’t his friends. However, it is interesting to see him rely on white people, even if for a moment, to help him complete the ceremony, a thing that is innately Indian and not white. At the same time, Tayo makes the distinction between white people and the “destroyers” “The destroyers. They would be there all night, he knew it, working for the drought to sear the land, to kill the livestock, to stunt the corn plants and squash in the gardens, leaving the people more vulnerable to the lies; and the young people would leave, go to towns like Albuquerque and Gallup where bitterness would overwhelm them, and they would lose their hope and finally themselves in drinking.: (pg 231) Later at one of the last scenes Tayo contemplates killing Emo for what he has done. He sees Emo and the others as destroyers but he comes to the realization that he’d only be continuing the path of the destroyers and promoting their witchery. In a way, this is the end of his ceremony. Tayo coming to the realization of what he is or isn’t and what he does and doesn’t stand for. Throughout the story, he has always been questioning himself and looking for guidance in who he is or what he should do. It seems with the end of this scene, for the first time, Tayo makes the decision for himself, by himself of who he is and what he will allow himself to do or not do. For the first time, Tayo doesn’t look for guidance on what to do, but rather decides for himself, and connects with his identity and who he is.
It is interesting to me how some of the passages in the book seem to be creation stories. I find that these stories are shown as dreams and flashbacks are ways of explaining the world and the reasons for the way things are to Tayo. In the passage of the witches creating the evil in the world that is presented through imperialism, it gives an explanation to a problem and helps Tayo shift the blame from himself to a higher power and voice. Maybe this the healing, Tayo needs, to find hope in a zoomed out understanding of the way things are and the root problems. It gives hope to possible ways to resist these negative powers. Is the healing ceremony not defined in one event but in the gained awareness by Tayo and the power that he seems to gain throughout the book by regaining control?
After reading through Ceremony, some quotes stuck out to me as I read. A quote from page 133 and 134. The first says “Following my footprints walk home following my footprints come home, happily return belonging to your home return to long life and happiness again return to long life and happiness”(133) and “When he passed through the last hoop it wasn’t finished they spun him around sunwise and he recovered he stood up the rainbows returned him to his home, but it wasn’t over. All kinds of evil were still on him”(134). What kinds of evil still hung over Tayo? Why didn’t the ceremony accomplish what he had wanted?
A theme that stuck out to me while reading ceremony comes from the quote ” The day I was born they saw the color of my eyes , and they took me from the village. the Spaniards in the town looked at me, and the catholic priest said, “let her die”. They blamed the root woman for this birth and they told her to leave the village before dark” (140). This section of the book reminded me of the theme of colonialism’s we have discussed throughout the semester. Specifically in Ghandi and Sankras movements on racism, this seems to be an idea we have come across in almost all of our readings so far, whether it is a large part of the story or not. I find this interesting because it can also be seem in the difference between Rockie and Tayos character in the story. Rockie is seen the the family, as the perfect Native American war hero. As we have read further into the story, I see a lot of what was originally viewed in Rockie in Tayo personality as well. Do you think Tayo should be classified as just as much on the perfect Native American as Rockie? Why or why not?
In class, we talked about themes surrounding the potentiality and totality of land. Throughout Ceremony the reader is set to see all the emotions and turmoil that take place across the land due to its relations. We see on page 220 when Tayo comes to one of his realizations at sunrise, “All things seemed to converge there: roads and wagon trails, canyons with springs, cliff paintings and shrines, the memory of Josiah with his cattle; but the other was distinct and strong like the violet-flowered weed that killed the mule, and the black markings on the cliffs, deep caves along the valley the Spaniards followed to their attack on Acoma. Yet at that moment in the sunrise, it was all so beautiful, everything, from all directions, evenly, perfectly, balancing day with night, summer months with winter. The valley was enclosing this totality, like the mind holding all the thoughts together in a single moment.” This quote to me shows the elaborate balance that everything at one point in time holds. Regardless of the evil and destruction in the book, this totality remains as if it had no other place to go.
In view from this perspective, marginal thinking and ideas that reflect dichotomies and further hate and destruction (and separation) are pushed back against in moments when Tayo has these realizations of interconnectedness. My question surrounding these themes is if they are particularly dangerous narratives. Could they be displacing blame or are they creating more agency and power for everyone affected by destruction as Tayo alludes to it in the story, or both?
Although the final few events depicted in Ceremony are shockingly violent, these events also represent a return to earlier stages of the book. Tayo almost killed Emo once, during an altercation in a bar. He is given a second chance to kill his enemy, and while he is strongly tempted to do so, ultimately he refuses. Killing Emo would only perpetuate the pattern of despair that Tayo has just escaped: “At home the people would blame liquor, the Army, and the war, but the blame on the whites would never match the vehemence the people would keep in their own bellies, reserving the greatest bitterness and blame for themselves, for one of themselves they could not save” (235). Were Tayo to kill Emo, he would be perceived in exactly this manner: as a victim of the “witchery,” as the opposite of the sensitive and confident man that he has transformed into over the course of Ceremony. My question is, do you think there could have been a way for Tayo to maintain his sensitive, confident composure?
In this week’s readings, Tayo has time to reflect on the unjust hold that white colonists have over the land. As he continues his search for Josiah’s cattle, he also has time to reflect on his connection with the land. When Tayo finds the cattle, they are separated by Floyd Lee’s fence, a land-dividing fence that segregates the people and the land’s resources. This scene made me think of all of the people that have lost their lives due to resources across borders. Do you think opening up borders could help people to foster better relationships and care for the environment?
The depiction of alcoholism in the novel plays a vital role. Tayo and his friends suffer from intense PTSD and often self medicate with alcohol to suppress their pains and sorrows. While his friends show anger, Tayo displays sadness. In the novel, he showed himself to be highly empathetic to those around him, and often picked up guilt from those he saw suffer. To further Tayo’s tribulations, he uses alchohol to soothe his feelings of self, to “help” navigate finding his identity as he is town between two worlds. Tayo finds sobriety necessary for him to build a better future and further his understanding of self. Silko having Tayo relapse was a great plot line because it shows the honesty of the disease. It also shows the determination in him to be better. Once he picks himself back up, he truly commits to the fact that he does not want to assimilate to the behaviors of the stereotype of war veterans. I think that him summoning this strength is a beautiful thing. This aspect of the novel shows the importance of growth, the hardships that come with change, and the importance of trusting one’s higher self.
I found the scene with the mountain lion to be a very important one. I felt as Tyo was expanding his connection with the earth and its species as he focused on his rituals. Moments such as that one changed Tyo and helped him connect to his culture. Do you think it helped Tyo?
Tayo struggles to discover his true identity in the face of the cultural conflict between his Native American heritage and the dominant white culture. Tayo is considered by himself and the people of his community to be a “half-breed,” and his identity is seen as being in between or incomplete. In an effort to help him repair his sense of self, his aunts and grandmother help him to reconnect to his Laguna Pueblo roots by teaching him the ceremonies and stories of their people. Tayo discovers the power of ceremony, understanding identity as a fluid and ever-evolving process that is crafted by himself and his connection to both the land and the people of his heritage. Why is it important for Tayo to reunite with his Laguna Pueblo roots? How does Tayo’s journey to reconnect with his heritage impact his understanding of identity? How does the land and his connection to it influence Tayo’s identity and his relationship to his heritage?
I found the poem “Law” to be very interesting. It refers to nature and ecological systems as law, and includes humans as part of these systems. It frames following these laws as a needed to survive and thrive, as a sort of filial allegiance. What are the commonalities between this mode of thought and the connections between humans and nature depicted in Ceremony?