Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Albuquerque, N.M. : University of New Mexico Press, 1976, c1969.
Description
Fiction. Mythology. HTML: The Way to Rainy Mountain recalls the journey of Tai-me, the sacred Sun Dance doll, and of Tai-me's people in three unique voices: the legendary, the historical, and the contemporary. It is also the personal journey of N. Scott Momaday, who on a pilgrimage to the grave of his Kiowa grandmother traversed the same route taken by his forebears and in so doing confronted his Kiowa heritage. It is an evocation of three things in particular: a landscape that is incomparable, a time that is gone forever, and the human spirit, which endures. Celebrating fifty years since its 1969 release, this new edition offers a moving new preface and invites a new generation of readers to explore the Kiowa myths, legends, and history with Pulitzer Prizeâ??winning author N. Scott Momaday.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Treeseed
The Kiowa, known among themselves as Kwuda and also Tepda, were once, along with their allies the Commanche, fierce fighting lords of the southern plains and master horsemen. There are roughly 17,000 of them left and their reservation is in Oklahoma but they are not native to that region having
One of the most famous modern sons of the Kiowa is N. Scott Momaday who in addition to writing this book received the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for his book, House Made of Dawn. He is a Professor of English at the University of Arizona.
I enjoyed The Way to Rainy Mountain because it took me inside the Kiowa consciousness however briefly. This book communicates its wisdom on an emotional level. It speaks more to the right brain, than the left. It conveys by way of subtleties of perspective rather than facts, although it uses certain carefully selected facts to embellish the artful nuances of the narrative.
As a Kiowa, Momaday has the benefit of the inside track of first hand observations and first-person accounts from elderly relatives who lived according to the old traditional ways. Published in 1968, this book was written at a time when it seemed even to Momaday that the Kiowa were defeated, their golden age having ended somewhere around 1833, existing in decline until around 1875 and finally dwindling to the struggles of only around 5,000 survivors. Today's outlook is brighter and young Kiowas are once again taking up the ways of their grandfathers and grandmothers and the traditions are being restored, however, at the time of the writing of this book that was not the case and so the tone of Momaday's writing is conveyed with words in the past tense. It is a looking back, a reflective view but also the tale of personal journey.
This is a very short book than can be read in the space of an hour or so. It is illustrated with large black wood-cuts made by Momaday's father, Al Momaday. It is told in chapter form, or in the form of little tales almost in the style of the old oral teaching tales. Each entry is numbered and contains three individual but related parts. The first part is from Momaday's father's voice, from the ancestors' oral tradition. The second part is from a historical perspective. The third part is Momaday's personal feelings, recollections, questions, and observations relating to the first two parts. It tells the Kiowa creation story, illuminates their most important myths, rituals and beliefs and examines the Kiowa spirit.
Momaday is a talented and poetic writer with an ability to set tone and to create vivid images that I find most enjoyable. Here is a sample of his evocative style: "In New Mexico the land is made of many colors. When I was a boy I rode out over the red and yellow and purple earth to the west of Jemez Pueblo. My horse was a small red roan, fast and easy-riding. I rode among the dunes, along the bases of mesas and cliffs, into canyons and arroyos. I came to know that country, not in the way a traveler knows the landmarks he sees in the distance, but more truly and intimately, in every season, from a thousand points of view. I know the living motion of a horse and the sound of hooves. I know what it is, on a hot day in August or September, to ride into a bank of cold, fresh rain."
This book is small and short but in its brevity it manages to create a mood that transports. It illuminates in minimalist terms a profound, intangible quality of spirit as it is found uniquely among the Kiowa. It manages in a most mysterious way to convey distinction, to illustrate the inner foundation of the outer characteristics of this people and their history. It is not a history book but it is a reconnoitering, one that like the gaze of a man surveying the plains from horseback in the midday glare, shadowed by his hand above his brow, penetrates far into the distance and assists him in his journey. It is a personal story with intimate reflections and at the same time it is legacy...transcendent and made available to us all.
For me this book is one of those aesthetic pleasures, like the drinking of tea from a fragile porcelain cup. It is defined in part by its simplicity but treasured for its richness and the refinement of its impact.
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come from the mountains beyond the source of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers. They eventually migrated onto the Great Plains. Like other tribes of the Great Plains they have a rich body of mythos, a spiritual vision of themselves replete with ceremony and sacrifice such as the Sun Dance and they have suffered greatly at the hands of white expansionism and racism. One of the most famous modern sons of the Kiowa is N. Scott Momaday who in addition to writing this book received the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for his book, House Made of Dawn. He is a Professor of English at the University of Arizona.
I enjoyed The Way to Rainy Mountain because it took me inside the Kiowa consciousness however briefly. This book communicates its wisdom on an emotional level. It speaks more to the right brain, than the left. It conveys by way of subtleties of perspective rather than facts, although it uses certain carefully selected facts to embellish the artful nuances of the narrative.
As a Kiowa, Momaday has the benefit of the inside track of first hand observations and first-person accounts from elderly relatives who lived according to the old traditional ways. Published in 1968, this book was written at a time when it seemed even to Momaday that the Kiowa were defeated, their golden age having ended somewhere around 1833, existing in decline until around 1875 and finally dwindling to the struggles of only around 5,000 survivors. Today's outlook is brighter and young Kiowas are once again taking up the ways of their grandfathers and grandmothers and the traditions are being restored, however, at the time of the writing of this book that was not the case and so the tone of Momaday's writing is conveyed with words in the past tense. It is a looking back, a reflective view but also the tale of personal journey.
This is a very short book than can be read in the space of an hour or so. It is illustrated with large black wood-cuts made by Momaday's father, Al Momaday. It is told in chapter form, or in the form of little tales almost in the style of the old oral teaching tales. Each entry is numbered and contains three individual but related parts. The first part is from Momaday's father's voice, from the ancestors' oral tradition. The second part is from a historical perspective. The third part is Momaday's personal feelings, recollections, questions, and observations relating to the first two parts. It tells the Kiowa creation story, illuminates their most important myths, rituals and beliefs and examines the Kiowa spirit.
Momaday is a talented and poetic writer with an ability to set tone and to create vivid images that I find most enjoyable. Here is a sample of his evocative style: "In New Mexico the land is made of many colors. When I was a boy I rode out over the red and yellow and purple earth to the west of Jemez Pueblo. My horse was a small red roan, fast and easy-riding. I rode among the dunes, along the bases of mesas and cliffs, into canyons and arroyos. I came to know that country, not in the way a traveler knows the landmarks he sees in the distance, but more truly and intimately, in every season, from a thousand points of view. I know the living motion of a horse and the sound of hooves. I know what it is, on a hot day in August or September, to ride into a bank of cold, fresh rain."
This book is small and short but in its brevity it manages to create a mood that transports. It illuminates in minimalist terms a profound, intangible quality of spirit as it is found uniquely among the Kiowa. It manages in a most mysterious way to convey distinction, to illustrate the inner foundation of the outer characteristics of this people and their history. It is not a history book but it is a reconnoitering, one that like the gaze of a man surveying the plains from horseback in the midday glare, shadowed by his hand above his brow, penetrates far into the distance and assists him in his journey. It is a personal story with intimate reflections and at the same time it is legacy...transcendent and made available to us all.
For me this book is one of those aesthetic pleasures, like the drinking of tea from a fragile porcelain cup. It is defined in part by its simplicity but treasured for its richness and the refinement of its impact.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Sean191
Read this in college 8 years ago... I recall parts were interesting, but I ended up actually writing a term paper against teaching it because I thought it was weak overall. The professor actually agreed with my rationale. I'm afraid I can't remember what that rationale was at the moment, but I
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should still have a copy of that paper somewhere. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheLostEntwife
I was introduced to N. Scott Momaday's unique book in a class this semester where we discussed the overlying themes and message of The Way to Rainy Mountain.
Told in a three part process through myth, historical, and personal journey, Momaday relates the oral traditions and his own connection to the
This is a deceptively small book, filled with quite a bit of white space, but do not let it fool you. It's rich in message, history, and myth - recording oral tradition that, before, was just one generation away from dying. And even then, it's a fragment of what could, if not already has been, be lost.
I've read this book three times, the first in a linear fashion - myth to myth, historical to historical, personal to personal. The second in the way it is written, horizontally. And the last way thoughtfully, drawing connections throughout the book, tracing themes, investigating ideas, researching as I went. I recommend all of these ways in order to attempt to understand all of the importance of Momaday's message.
Told in a three part process through myth, historical, and personal journey, Momaday relates the oral traditions and his own connection to the
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Kiowa people. They journeyed from Montana to their final settlement in Oklahoma over centuries of time, and in three sections (not counting the beautiful introduction and epilogue), he recounts their origin stories, the passing movement of the tribe, and finally the narrowing of the culture as it was eliminated through the diecide of the Tai-me.This is a deceptively small book, filled with quite a bit of white space, but do not let it fool you. It's rich in message, history, and myth - recording oral tradition that, before, was just one generation away from dying. And even then, it's a fragment of what could, if not already has been, be lost.
I've read this book three times, the first in a linear fashion - myth to myth, historical to historical, personal to personal. The second in the way it is written, horizontally. And the last way thoughtfully, drawing connections throughout the book, tracing themes, investigating ideas, researching as I went. I recommend all of these ways in order to attempt to understand all of the importance of Momaday's message.
Show Less
LibraryThing member ASUOWC
20th century American American Indian American Indians American literature anthropology biography fiction folklore history illustrated Indians Kiowa Kiowa Indians legends literature memoir myth mythology myths Native American Native American literature Native Americans non-fiction novel poetry read
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religion spirituality to-read Show Less
LibraryThing member m.belljackson
N. Scott Momaday weaves his gentle words and observations of nature
in balance with historical facts and often in contrast
with the violent, murderous, and shameless episodes of U.S. soldiers and his own Kiowa ancestors.
Al Momaday's illustrations are perfectly evocative.
Readers may well be inspired
in balance with historical facts and often in contrast
with the violent, murderous, and shameless episodes of U.S. soldiers and his own Kiowa ancestors.
Al Momaday's illustrations are perfectly evocative.
Readers may well be inspired
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to search out George Catlin's incredible paintings of Kotsatoah and Mammedaty! Show Less
LibraryThing member AngelaLam
Great story about the history and personal journey of Momaday to honor his grandmother, a Kiowa Indian.
LibraryThing member psalva
Momaday frames the history and legends of the Kiowa people through the lens of his own pilgrimage, in honor of his grandmother, from Yellowstone to Rainy Mountain in Oklahoma. It’s a moving book which examines the power of language and spoken word, deals with grief and loss, and ultimately is a
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preservation of story. Because Momaday weaves his personal history and family interactions among the legends of his people, all of the tales gain more weight and life, each reflecting upon the other. It’s a thing of beauty. Show Less
LibraryThing member SandyAMcPherson
While evocative of a mythopoeic beginning of the Kiowa ancestral history, the narrative didn't flow very clearly. There were confusing passages that seemed to repeat earlier histories but set later in time. However these drawbacks didn't obscure the strong imagery of these peoples lives and the
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very real journey taken to arrive in the southern plains. This story also provided reminiscences of Momaday's childhood and memories of a beloved grandmother and a livelihood lost in a modern world. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1969
Physical description
88 p.; 24 cm
ISBN
0826304362 / 9780826304360
Other editions
The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday (Paperback)
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