A Note on "The Closing In" Disillusionment and the Fall of the Kiowa

The last part of N. Scott Momaday’s “The Way to Rainy Mountain” is full of
images of loss and death. Death for the Kiowa’s did not come only physically
but culturally as well. As the opening story to “The Closing In,” Momaday
illustrates a danger for the two brothers who are captured by the chief if
the Utes. At first, one might think the end for the brothers was
inescapable. . The men were being tested both by the qualities they
exemplified as well as physically when asked to walk across the greased
heads of the buffalo. However, the signs of loyalty and humility, as well as
their physical endurance saved the brothers’ lives. I feel that Momaday
tries to foreshadow the Kiowa’s decline as a people through this story. This
is the first instance where there is a risk and an attempt against them.
In the next chapter, XX, a sudden death is documented. This time a horse
dies after it is turned away by the hunter. The horse was so accustomed to
striking that when the hunter pulled him away, the shame was so great that
living was not an option anymore. Again, I see this as a reflection of the
Kiowa people. Perhaps the Kiowa’s decline was in part due to their own
disillusionment and shame that in turn caused their fall.

Momaday is not completely disillusioned as he provides moments of hope.
He remarks on the power nature has as a medicine and for healing people.
These instances are few, but they help to sustain the culture of the people.
Momaday also mentions the sun-dances. In the last part, he comments on
the decline of knowledge. As more people died, the loss of tradition also
expediated and forms of knowledge quickly vanished. But, through
ceremonies like the sun-dances and oral tradition the history of the
Kiowas lives on. Every great civilization meets its fall at some point
but its preservation remains as long as stories continue to be told.

Seeing Mistakes From All Directions *The Closing In*

There were two main themes that I took away from "The Closing In." First
was that people make mistakes or don't live up to expectations. The second
is vision and looking at something from all viewpoints. Each story has at
least one of these themes and usually it is one or the other.

In XIX, both brothers made mistakes of getting caught by the Utes. Even
though they escaped due to perseverance, I doubt it was out of their
control completely. The buffalo hunt in the winter of 1879 did not live up
to the expectations of feeding the tribe. Also, in XX the man did not live
up his horse's expectations of sorts because he felt fear while the horse
did not (a rare occurrence of the animal being superior to man). Mammedaty
made a mistake of shooting his arrow and missing the intended horse and
instead killing another horse.

The theme of vision is relevant in most of the other stories. Momaday
talks about about New Mexico and how he "truly and intimately, in every
season, from a thousand points of view." Momaday also speaks of
Mammedaty seeing a little boy nearby, but then checking for the boy
and not seeing him. Finally, Momaday writes that he believes "a man
ought to concentrate his mind upon the remembered earth." Also, he
talks about the grave where the woman in the beautiful dress is and being
able to see in the direction it is. However, all of these things to do with vision
are actually not seen by the person at the time. They are not really stories,
but more remembrances.

Why would Momaday choose to end his book with a sad theme and a theme
involving the unknown and unseen? He started the "The Going On" with a
very inspirational tale, so why did he not just continue with it?

~A.L.

A Note on "Right and Wrong" in *Rainy Mountain*

"The going on" was written much differently from "the setting out". While
"the setting out" was mainly about the Kiowa's history and old stories of
creation, "the going on" focused more on the tribe's outlook on life and how
one should live it. To be honest, "the going on" really kind of pissed me
off. I mean, maybe it was because I am a girl or because I am not a big fan
of conniving plots and sneaky schemes, but the morals of the Kiowa did not
please me at all (if they can even be called morals). From the beginning of
the twelfth story to the eighteenth, there was one moral that resounded
throughout the chapter - wit and cunning.

XII. This first story talked about a couple who were suspicious of all the
meat their child was bringing outside. When the "enemy" walked in, he
admitted to originally planning to kill them, but the food kept him and the
others from murder. The "enemy" asked for food for all of them and would
show mercy in return. The couple, however, did not agree. They smartly
planned an escape and ended up watching their enemies burn to death.

My first reaction to this story was that it was totally messed up - very
different from all the fairy tales and stories I read as a child (okay, I
still read them sometimes). Fairy tales usually went like this: A poor,
revolting creature would ask a prince or princess for something. The
princeor princess would of course be reluctant and refuse with a cold
heart. Thecreature turns out to be magical and casts a curse on the
prince or princesswho learns their lesson and become kind, showing
mercy to those who were in need of it. Long story short, kindness
was rewarded. In this case, however, intelligence and suspicion
was rewarded. The family's reward for their genius plot? Hearing
their enemies scream to their flaming deaths.

XIII. The story following wasn't all that just either. Although the story
starts out innocently with a background on the awesome arrow-making
powers of the Kiowa, it quickly divulges into a man and his wife in a tipi.
He catches something at the corner of his eye and tells his wife in their
language to speak normally. He finishes the arrow and pretends to practice
it, all the while asking if the enemy was a Kiowa and should respond now.
When no response came, the man shot the arrow through the "enemy's"
heart.

Alright, so this story wasn't as messed up as the first one of this chapter,
but nonetheless totally cruel. First of all, it is assumed the person
outside is an enemy. Second of all, he was killed without a word - what if
he was a saint? A Samaritan? Or worse, ME?! I would have had no method
of understanding them, protecting myself, or even begging for my life (which
would end in an instant). My heart would bleed to death and that would be
it. Again, the Kiowa only pride the smart man and his ingenious tactics.
It's not even about the stupid arrow anymore, it's about the hunter and his
brilliant instinct to kill.

So it really makes me question what was right or wrong in their society?
What is different about our society's morals?
Does it make us right? And them wrong? Or the other way around?
Did we have a right to impose our "right" values onto their culture?

And don't even get me started on how they treated the "evil" women...

~C.C.

p.s. I didn't mean to offend anyone, if I did.

A Note on the Ancestral Voice in *Rainy Mountain*

The folklore told through the voice of his father in "The Setting Out"
is the Kiowa's ancient story regarding the beginning of their people.
Although the stories seem far-fetched with talking dogs and a
grandmother spider, the stories' content is very significant as it
ultimately embodies their cultural beliefs and lifestyle. For instance,
before the Kiowa tribe had horses, the dogs played a crucial part in
their transportation. Comanche Ten Bears remarks, "When we first
knew you...you had nothing but dogs and sleds" (Momaday 21). As
a result, dogs are regarded in the Kiowa society and incorporated
into their folklore as they lead a band of warriors or bring a Kiowa
man to safety.

Branching off from "The Setting Out", the folklore stories told in
"The Going On" are more directed towards revealing morals that
address issues such as trust, enemies, and proper behavior
(particularly for the females). In the stories addressing the Kiowa's
enemies, the passages adapt a violent tone that end with the demise
of their enemies due to the aggressive responses by the Kiowa families.
Other folklore stories emphasize on the proper behavior for the Kiowa
females by instilling fear of bad behavior through the negative
consequences  of being bold, being selfish, and leaving one's spouse.
The morals in the folklore,  then, may function in shaping or modifying
the behavior of the Kiowa people.

From the wide array of folklore stories in the Kiowa tribe, why does
Mamoday select these particular folklore stories in conjunction with the
other passages from the other voices? For me, his selections of folklore
stories weave into the historical and personal voices through a common
thread and provide recurring themes. Why does Mamoday number his
passages as well?

~J.L.

Ingenuity and Myth-Building in *Rainy Mountain*

After reading “The Going On” in Scott Momaday’s The Way to Rainy
Mountains one cannot help but notice the tremendous amount of talents,
skills, and personal intuitions that the Kiowas possessed. In this segment,
Momaday draws from folk tales, historical commentary, and personal
recollections in order to demonstrate to the reader how the Kiowas were
able to rise to be the dominant tribe of the land.
   The author begins by describing a tale in which a Kiowa man refuses
to trust his enemies based on a personal intuition that they were out to
deceive him. He killed them for the sole purpose of guaranteeing the
survival of him and his family; it did not matter to him whether or not
the enemies would in fact deceive them. In another instance, a group of
young Kiowas turned back from their journey following the summer sun
because they saw a group of monkeys following them overheard. The
mere unfamiliarity with the creatures was enough to turn them away.
Once again, the guarantee of survival was the overlying factor in their
decision to retreat after spending months riding in pursuit of eternal
summer.
   Similar stories are presented which demonstrate the incredible skills
that helped keep the Kiowas alive. I mean, who could forget the tale of
the arrow maker who tricks his enemy that he is unnoticed right before
shooting him in the heart or the man who had one chance to kill the iron
bull and save his life and succeeded? Through examples Momaday was
able to portray the Kiowa as men of skill, men of instinct, and men of nature
and it was through their incredible abilities that they were able to “go
on” with the difficult lives that they lived and prevail.

~A.A.

A Note on *The Way to Rainy Mountain,* “The Setting Out”

Composing this book in the Native American autobiographical form automatically produces a unique, American Indian tone. We learn of the Kiowa, just as they learned of their people themselves, through telling of stories, history, and personal reflection. This form creates an illusion of acceptance into a Kiowa tipi, listening to elders at a fire. The stories become personal, allowing a greater affectation and understanding of the Kiowa people.

Momaday juxtaposes myth, factual Kiowa history, and his own personal reflection in each section. Each component is related through a word, animal, inanimate component of nature, or an idea. The three parts draw from one another, yet also enhance each other; an influence and compliment.

These components represent the identity of the Kiowa people. As we have learned from Brumble and reading the introduction to The Way to Rainy Mountain, the Native Americans constantly told tales of personal accomplishment and mythology. Momaday recounts how the landscape the Kiowa’s crossed and their experiences, which occurred before his grandmother’s birth, still “lay like memory in her blood.” Their mythology, history, and personal events were incorporated within, interwoven into the flesh, rather than written upon external materials. In order to assert their connection to one another and keep their culture alive, stories were repeated enough to become part of each person and thus live on within them. Identity as a member of any tribe means that one carries the tribe’s mythology and history entwined with their own personal history.

~E.D.

Voice and Momaday's Triadic Structure in *Rainy Mountain*

Scott Momaday shows three different storylines about the Kiowas people
on each page. One storyline tells the ancient tale of how man and the
Kiowas came to be. The second storyline describes the recent history and
customs of the Kiowas. The third storyline follows the first person life
experiences of Scott Momaday as a Kiowas Indian himself.

The first storyline tracks what seems like a classic Kiowas folk story,
one meant to entertain little children. There’s a story about how they
got their Kwuda, “coming out” name, how they came out of a log. Momaday
describes a story of a hunter being saved from a bear by a dog. There’s
also a story of a woman who gets taken by the sun to be his wife.

The second storyline is more factual about how the Kiowas conducted
themselves. They are a people who hunt by circling their prey and
converging on the center. And they are told to be a people who don’t
cultivate the land, they are hunters and have never been agricultural.

The third storyline gives us a view of Momaday’s perspective. After
describing the way the Kiowas hunt Antelope, he reflects upon his
experience when he was scared of antelope who were ambling near him.
Remarking after the facts he reveals about the Kiowas being a solely
hunting tribe, he remembers a time where he saw a man eating a raw
calves liver.

One must question why Momaday has chosen to separate the reader’s
attention in three directions, all at the same time. On page 30 and 31,
he divides the pages into three completely different subjects. One is a
fable about a boy with a spider grandmother, another describes how
important horses are to the Kiowas, and the third subject is about
Momaday’s memory of swimming in the Washita River. Why not separate
the storylines into different sections of the book? I am curious about his
intentions with this stylistic choice.

~D.H.