Intended to be read aloud, The Way to Rainy Mountain is a beautiful flow of stories, from the oral tradition of the Kiowas. The Kiowa are a nomadic people, best known as Plains Indians, buffalo hunters, and close allies to the Comanches. This is as much as many people know about the Kiowa Indians. The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday tells a deeper story: the story of Kiowa history, legend, culture. In the preface, Momaday says, "I was first told these stories by my father when I was a child. I do not know how long they had existed before I heard them. They seem to proceed from a place of origin as old as the earth." These are stories that have been part of an oral tradition in Kiowa culture as long as memory serves; stories that were passed on to Momaday from his father.
The Way to Rainy Mountain is told in three different narrative voices. The first is the voice of Momaday's father, the traditional, ancestral voice. This voice is the primary story-teller. The second voice is a historical commentary. The third voice is Momaday's personal voice recounting relevant scenes from his own life. Again, these stories are meant to be read aloud, and I found myself reading several of the stories aloud to myself, and it is indeed the appropriate way for these to be read.
A review of this book would be incomplete without an appreciation of Al Momaday's (N. Scott's father) striking illustrations that accompany many of the stories in the book. Printed in black and white, each illustration deservedly consumes one entire page. The illustrations of this book made an emotional impact, as much as the stories, if not more. I resist from saying they detracted from the stories, as they seem obviously meant to be accompaniments to the stories, but if I am honest, more than once I did not feel the full impact of the story until I saw the illustration. Simple as they are, they are also powerful, much like the stories themselves.
Take the time to read this book slowly, to gain better understanding of a culture so often overlooked, or simply read to discover something new. This book is well-worth the read.
Can I borrow it?
ReplyDeleteIs there any particular theme to the stories and personal accounts, or are they randomly chosen as a broad example of the oral story culture of the Kiowa?
Each story has it's own theme, however, they are in no way random and the stories do flow together to tell the story of the Kiowa people as they actually progressed through time, over the American plains. The stories are divided into three sections: The Setting Out, The Going On, and The Closing In, respectively. The first section deals with creation and tells of how the Kiowas came into being in the world through a hollow log, and then tells the story of how the Kiowa split into two different tribes. The first section is the beginning. The stories of the second part are mostly about life on the plains, domestic issues and such. The third and final section of stories starts out with a recount of the fight at Palo Duro Canyon and the slaughter of 800 horses after the Kiowas surrendered, then the stories progress into more modern times with the author telling stories of his father and his own growing up.
ReplyDeleteYes, you may borrow the book when you like. It is one that was generously given to me recently by Dr. S.