Ceremony

I think this is supposed to be about political commentary, but I'm not positive. I also think the most interesting part of the section comes when Tayo finally finds Josiah's cattle on that white guy's ranch. Tayo is really surprised to find that a white man, Floyd Lee, is the one who stole the cattle. He actually and inherently believes that Native Americans are morally inferior to white people. This speaks volumes to how confused Native Americans are in general about their relationship with white people. In fact, it is the white man who is the real culprit, destroying Native American culture. Hopefully Tayo realizes that he has done nothing wrong and has actually been wronged himself. Yeah.

oh geez, I don't remember the topic...

For some reason, I can't seem to find the assigned blog topic in my notes, and I can't seem to find it in this blog either. So I'm just going to say some random stuff about this weekend's passage.

First off, the passage with Tayo confronting the mountain lion was interesting. The way that Tayo reaches out and talks to the lion without any fear shows that he has finally abandoned the white influences on him, as the whites would probably have just cowered in fear or shot the lion, as they attempt to do later. While earlier, science teachers and Christian priests told him how things were, this time, he follows his Native American traditions and communicates with nature. Later on, when the mountain lion saves him from being taken captive by the Texan mercenaries, I think it shows that nature has accepted Tayo.

However, I do not think Tayo hates the whites. Rather, I believe that he simply realizes their folly and sees that while some Indians fear and want to be like the whites, the whites are just deceived by those witches into following their destructive ways, just like the Indians were. Although I can't really explain why Tayo wants to kick the whites into the Atlantic Ocean without hating them :/

conflict

The thing that really stood out to me were the lines on page 232 -
"They have their stories about us- Indian people who are only marking time and waiting for the end. And they would end this story right here, with you fighting to your death alone in these hills."
I think that it really shows the conflict and the contrast in the beliefs and views of the Native Americans and of those of the Whites. The Whites kind of have their own view of the Native Americans and choose to use what they think of them as an overruling opinion for all. These stories of the Native American people, culture, and traditions are not something that end or are just simply forgotten, but to the Native Americans they are the values that last and transcend time, passed on from generation to generation.

The rainstorm and river are my brothers...

Oh Emma! I knew you'd make a Pocahontas reference! But in this case I absolutely agree with you. I also found the nature imagery in this section to be particularly beautiful - I loved the image of "blurred boundaries between the earth and the sky." (207) But something I was particularly struck by was Tayo's relationship with living things. Tayo sings to a Mountain Lion and cursers the hunters for trying to kill it. He brushes off snow laden trees with care, so the branches won't break. He seems to truly value every living thing, something I think is a very Native American ideal. As Tayo begins to come to terms with his identity, he begins to see that is the white men who are at fault, because they are the ones destroying the land he cares for so deeply. "He lay there and hated them. Not for what they wanted to do with him, but for what they did to the earth with their machines, and to the animals with their packs of guns and dogs and their guns."(203) In this section Tayo is able to distinguish his feelings towards whites as those of hatred.

Ceremony reminds me of "Colors of the Wind"

In last night's reading, there is an insane amount of nature imagery. When reading, I didn't feel like this was just Silko trying to beautify the writing. I instead feel like all the nature-details are through Tayo's eyes. He's the one who sees the snow and the grass and the deer and the mountains and the sky - their colors and smells and sounds. By following Tayo, all of our senses are truly tuned into nature. This is so representative of the Native American culture; unlike others, they notice, admire, love, and - most importantly - respect nature. The whites, on the other hand, see nature as something to own. It's territory to claim. It's land to take over. It's money. In this reading, much of Tayo's anger appears. The whites came in and stole land they never had and never will have rights to. They took something that isn't theirs to take. Tayo here shows that the white people don't understand the land and can't own it. But, then I wonder: is he also saying the Native Americans can't own the land? Does the land rightfully belong to the Native Americans (because they were there first) or does it belong to no one? The line that struck me as especially significant is found on page 221, "As far as he could see, in all directions, the world was alive." Perhaps what Silko is saying here is this: nature is something we should revere and take care of, but it's not something any group of people can claim and own.

(To those who don't get my title... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkV-of_eN2w)