the way to rainy mountain essay

First edition The Way to Rainy Mountain (1969) is a book by Pulitzer Prize winning author N. Scott Momaday. It is about the journey of Momaday's Kiowa ancestors from their ancient beginnings in the Montana area to their final war and surrender to the United States Cavalry at Fort Sill, and subsequent resettlement near Rainy Mountain, Oklahoma. The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday, a unique blend of history, folklore, and poetic memoir, was published in 1969. It takes the reader through author N. Scott Momaday’s own journey of discovering his Kiowa background and identity. The journey is told in three separate voices: The first voice, the ancestral voice, tells about the Kiowa by using oral traditions and myths; the second voice is a historical commentary; and finally, the third voice is Momaday’s poetic memoir of his experiences. All three voices together teach about the Kiowa’s origin, beliefs, traditions, morals, and conflicts. Not only does the journey recounted in this book help Momaday better understand his ancestry, it also teaches about the Kiowa tribe’s history. The uniqueness of this text, however, has been an issue for some readers; they claim it is confusing to follow and discombobulating. Others find it easier to understand by reading each individual voice consecutively instead of alternating from one voice to another as the book is written. The Way to Rainy Mountain continues to be an entry point to Kiowa history and a way to open discussions about what constitutes any history of a people. Contents 1 Momaday 2 History of the Kiowa 3 Reception 4 References Momaday[edit] Navarre Scott Momaday was born February 27, 1934, in Lawton, Oklahoma, to Alfred Momaday and Natachee Scott. The family lived on Navajo, Apache, and Pueblo reservations in New Mexico and Arizona where his parents taught school. Momaday earned a bachelor’s degree in political.
In The Way to Rainy Mountain N(avarre) Scott Momaday tries to reunite himself with his American Indian (Kiowa) heritage by embarking on a journey to Rainy Mountain in Oklahoma where he would then visit his late grandmother’s grave.  Momaday holds degrees from both the University of New Mexico and Stanford University and is a professor of English at the University of Arizona.  Although Momaday is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, critic, and academician, it is this critic’s opinion that Momaday has left the reader disappointed with his flow of writing and has possibly lost his ability to connect with his readers because he fails to describe his feelings in detail, especially for a nostalgic writing.              For example, Momaday begins his essay with a detailed and descriptive review of Rainy Mountain, description that engages the reader.  “Great green and yellow grasshoppers are everywhere in the tall grass, popping up like corn to sting the flesh ,” wrote Momaday (814).  While this sentence is a wonderful example of his gifted ability to be descriptive, when Momaday tries to paint the reader a picture of his grandmother as a child, he travels off the path by giving the reader a history lesson when he mentions, “ the Kiowas were living the last great moment of their history” (814).  As the reader, I was eagerly awaiting some description of his grandmother as a child, not the Kiowa’s disposition on war or their surrender to the soldiers at Fort Sill.  I was left with numerous questions: “Was she a curious child? Was she tall or short?  Thin? Did she have many gifts? What was she like as a child?” Momaday, early in his essay, confessed, “I want to see in the reality what she had seen more perfectly in the mind’s eye, and traveled fifteen hundred miles to begin my pilgrimage” (815).  A pilgrimage has been said to be a spiritual quest for some kind of moral importance. .
The Way to Rainy Mountain Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to help you understand the book. This study guide contains the following sections: This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion on The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday. In The Way to Rainy Mountain, Momaday traces his ancestral roots back to the beginning of the Kiowa tribe. While Momaday seems to have always known about his ancestry, the death of his grandmother prompts a deeper and more personal exploration of his family background. In order to get as close as possible to his roots, Momaday returns to his Grandmother's house where the spirit of the Kiowa tribe is very strong. The book provides the reader with a series of oral stories from Kiowa tradition written down. The stories link together to narrate the entire life span of the Kiowa tribe from beginning to end. Momaday also provides explanatory information for the stories. Each story is followed by a short account of the factual event the story is based upon. Together the stories and the facts work to create a complete picture of the Kiowa way of life. The stories explain the world as the Kiowa saw it. Kiowas were very tied to the earth. Their personal history maintains that the tribe came into being by entering the world through a hollow log. Additionally, the Kiowa were a tribe of hunters very dependent on the buffalo for their existence. Without the buffalo the Kiowa could not survive and when the buffalo herds died out, so too did the Kiowa. The Kiowa had other strong beliefs. They maintained a ritual Sun Dance that revolved around a buffalo sacrifice and prayers to Tai-me. Tai-me is said to be a sort of savior figure for the Kiowa. When the Kiowa were facing difficult times Tai-me came to the tribe and led them to a better life. Most members of the Kiowa tribe who remembered the.