Blog 6: The Way To Rainy Mountain

The Great Outdoors

          The settings, and stories of historical settings, of N. Scott Momaday's "The Way to Rainy Mountain" are described in such detail that they become the most important part of the story, and reveal a deep connection and reverence to nature and the land.  With a sense of awe, Momaday describes Rainy Mountain, "To look upon that landscape in the early morning, with the sun at your back, is to lose the sense of proportion.  Your imagination comes to life, and this, you think, is where creation was begun."  (Momaday 1465)  This description hints at a belief that life comes from the land, and I get a sense that he loves the land in the same way that most people love their parents, grateful for life, guidance, and knowledge.  With an equally reverent tone, Momaday tells of how the Kiowas came to the plains, "Descending eastward, the highland meadows are a stairway to the plain.  In July the inland slope of the Rockies is luxuriant with flax and buckwheat, stonecrop and larkspur.  The earth unfolds and the limit of the land recedes. [..]  The Sun is at home on the plains.  Precisely there does it have the certain character of a god."  (Momaday 1466)  This story is about the Kiowas and their pilgrimage to be as close to their god as possible, and as they reach the plains, Momaday's description gets more and more focused on the beautiful and lush surroundings, making their new home/land a heaven on earth.  One of the Kiowas oldest rituals, the Sun Dance, is no longer performed, but an elder woman, Ko-sahn, remembers the last one, and one of the key components was land, "The old woman had a bag full of earth on her back.  It was a certain kind of sandy earth.  This is what they must have in the lodge.  The dancers must dance upon the sandy earth."  (Momaday 1473)  The land is of such importance to the Kiowas that even dirt had many different categories and was so important as to be crucial in rituals, revealing a deeply symbolic connection to all of the land.  Even though this is a story about a man dealing with the death of a loved one, her death becomes secondary to the landscape, the memories and knowledge she left him of the land, and the void left by her in the land.

          I can relate to this connection with nature, because, growing up in northeast Wisconsin I spend/spent a lot of time outdoors, developed a healthy respect for nature, and truly value my time and memories there.  Just about everything life needs comes from nature: food, water, shelter, light, warmth, and I believe that we should all do what we can to take care of nature the way nature takes care of us, by not littering, putting out camp fires, and generally trying to leave nature the way you found it.  I also believe that it's important to remember that nature is in charge.  No matter how well you plan, weather, wildlife, or natural disasters can ruin anything.  So, plan for the worst, and hope for the best.  I have never associated my love of the outdoors with a religious design, but nature is a great place to unwind, relax, and forget all of your troubles.  Everything just sort of washes away with the breeze and the birds and the crackle of a fire or the lap of water on a beach.  

          I think the U.S. is doing a better job in recent years in acknowledging and teaching a more realistic version of our history to students, especially at the college level.  When I was in grade school I was led to believe that slavery and manifest destiny weren't all that bad.  I later found out that they were both filled with physical, psychological, biological, emotional, and cultural warfare.  Native and African Americans weren't just beat, they were destroyed on every human level and everything was taken from them.  Even though I do think we are doing a better job recognizing these parts of our history, we still have a ways to go, as evidenced by the story we discussed in class of the sacred native mountain that is going to be leveled during the mining process.  I just couldn't believe this story when I heard it.  How can a company be allowed to destroy a peoples monument?  Comparing it to a non spiritual "white" monument, what would Americans have to say if someone decided to scrap out the Statue of Liberty?  I bet an awful lot.

Works Cited:

Momaday, N. Scott. "The Way to Rainy Mountain." 1969. 1865-Present. Ed. Nina 
     Baym. 8th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2013. 1463-1473. Print. 
     Vol. 2 of The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 2 vols.