The way to rainy mountain Momaday N. Scott

1. The way to rainy mountainMomaday N. Scott

2. About the author- --- Momaday N. Scottwho is wholly absorbed in his Native Indian culture throughout his life. • He was born with an Indian origin • He spent his childhood in several Indian reservations and developed intense interest and passion in the Indian culture and tradition • His career centers around the Indian culture and tradition • His works are informed of the Native Indian traditions

3. Prof. Momaday lifelong journey • 1934 born in Lawton, Oklahoma. • 1935 moved to Arizona • 1958 graduated from the University of New Mexico and taught on the Apache reservation at Jicarilla • 1963 earned a doctorate and taught at the University of California at Santa Barbara • 1969 moved to the University of California at Berkeley • 1973 left Berkeley for Stanford • since 1982 taught at the University of Arizona

4. Primary works • House Made of Dawn,1968 • The way to Rainy Mountain,1969 • Angle of Geese and other poems ,1974 • The Gourd Dancer,1976 • The Names: a memoir,1976 • The Ancient Child,1989 • In the Presence of the Sun,1992

5. “The Indian world is full of aesthetic values, art. My father was an artist, a painter, and he taught painting to the children at Jemez Pueblo. They exhibited all over the world. They became famous for their art. He once said to me, ”You know, Scott, I have never known an Indian child who couldn‘t draw.“ I believe that. I haven’t either. That seems intrinsic somehow. That‘s a real part of the Indian world, this love of symmetry and composition. It’s a great thing. That has been important to me as well. Indian people have a strong sense of humor. It‘s not easily understood by other people, but it’s there and I love that. That‘s been a part of my life too.” ------Momaday N. Scott

6. General History of North American Indian

7. Before the Discovery of the New Land • The origin of the American Indians • The general situation of north American Indians • The nine culture areas of north American Indians

8. The origin of American Indians Ancestors: nomadic hunters of Asian Mongoloid over Bering Straight land ice bridge during last glacial period(最后一次冰川期14—4万年以前）

9. The general situation of north American Indians • The approximate population: 1millon • 240 tribal entities • Over 500 languages

10. Contact with European whites • Spanish policy • French policy • English policy

11. Nine culture areas of north American Indians • Subarctic • Northwest coast • California • Western plateau

12. US Indian policies • Removal period(1820-70) • Assimilation Era(1870-1934) • The Dawes Act(1887) • The Indian New Deal of 1930s • 1950s “termination” of some reservations • 1970s “self-determination”

13. Kiowa People • Briefing • History • Current Tribal Issues

14. Introduction • Plains-dwelling Tribe • Language Family: Tanoan-Kiowan • Name: The term Kiowa, meaning ‘the principal people’ is derived from Kaigwa, by which the Kiowa were commonly known • Location:Southwest Oklahoma • Population:Approximately 1,800 in early 1700s 10,000 today

15. History • Emergence (?—1700) • Evolution (1700-1850s) • Decline (1850s-1950s)

16. Emergence (?—1700) • Western Montana • Hard Life

17. Evolution (1700—1850s) • Black Hills • Horse

18. Evolution • Buffalo • Vast Territory

19. Decline (1850—1950s) • Gradual loss of land 1835 The Kiowa sign the Treaty of Fort Gibson, promising peace with fellow Indian tribes and the U.S. government 1853 The Kiowa sign the Treaty of Fort Atkinson, Promising peace with the U.S 1865 The Kiowa agree, under violent protest, to settle on a reservation south of the Arkansas River. 1868 The Kiowa are assigned to a reservation in Oklahoma. 1901-1906 Kiowa reservation is severed into individual allotments

20. Decline • Deprivation of Sun Dance • Near Extinction of buffalo

21. Current Issues • 1968 Kiowa Tribal Council is formed • Living standard • Education • Culture

22. Sun Dance

23. Kiowa Sun Dance

24. Decision Making • Tai-me keeper was inspired by a dream • Messengers were sent out to instruct tribal members of the time and place

25. Six Days of Preparation • Tai-me keeper rode throughout the camp to give instructions & two men were selected to find the Y-shaped fork • Killing of the buffalo • A mock battle & dances performed by the Calf Old Woman Society • Building of the Sun Dance lodge • Buffalo hunting ceremony

26. Four Days of Dancing • Dancing began at sunset on the sixth day • Dancers, drummers & singers all decorated • Making offerings to Tai-me & Sun Dance ended • A large social dance ending with the buffalo dance

27. The Logic of Sun Dance • The Plains Indians perception of the world • The dilemma • Sun Dance as a solution of the conflict between viewing the buffalo as wise and powerful, even closer to God than humans & having to kill and eat them to survive • The sacrifice of dancers is also a way of returning something to nature

28. The end of Sun Dance • The government outlawed Sun Dance in 1904 • Reasons • Sun Dances of certain tribes were too cruel • Sun Dances reflected a worldview different from the whites, so the whites curbed it as a way of converting the Plains Indians

29. Devils Tower • Located in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. • It rises dramatically 1,267feet (386m) above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,112feet (1,558m) above sea level. • First declared United States National Monument, established on Sep 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt. • The Monument's boundary encloses an area of 1,347acres (5.45km2). • In recent years about 1% of the Monument's 400,000 annual visitors climb Devils Tower, mostly through traditional techniques.

30. Pre-class questions: • 1 How do you understand the title of the lesson? • 2 Which rhetorical speech is repeatedly used in this lesson to achieve the fixed effects? • 3 How many sections can you divide the lesson into? • 4 Tell the students what difficulties they will face in understanding the lesson. • 5 How does Momday begin his essay? Why does he begin this way? • 6 How is the essay organized? How does the author combine the telling of his grandmother’s story with his exploration of the history of his Kiowa ancestors? • 7 What is the mode of writing of this piece? Is it descriptive or narrative? How do the descriptions serve the purpose of the writing? • 8 In several places the author describes the landscape in detail. Why is the land so important for him in the exploration of his racial and tribal heritage? • 9 How does Momaday end his essay? Why does he end it this way/

31. Detailed study of the text • Para. 1 • 1. What is the role of the first paragraph? • The opening paragraph of the essay is a lyrical description of the author‘s ancestral land, which plays a key role in his exploration of his Kiowa identity. The land is crucial for Momaday because the migration of his people took place here. The land is the visible embodiment of the tribal history. The old days are gone forever. The Kiowa warriors are dead. The culture has almost disappeared. What remains is the land which is the visible embodiment of their people's past. By directly involving himself with the landscape of his ancestors, the author is able to identify more closely with them and relive their experiences in his imagination more vividly.

32. ... and in summer the prairie is an anvil's edge. • (1) In summer the earth of the prairie is extremely hot and hard. • (2) An anvil is an iron or steel block on which metal objects are hammered into shape. • Here the word anvil is used metaphorically.

33. Loneliness is an aspect of the land. • Loneliness is a major quality of this landscape. As we can see, the depiction of the land is injectedwith the author's own emotions and imagination, bringing out the spirit of the place. • The author emphasizes loneliness perhaps because this quality enables one to concentrate one's mind on the earth.

34. All things in the plain.., in the eye... • "in the eye” • The word eye is used in the singular to mean man's power of seeing or observing. • eg. --to have your eye on something: to have noticed something • --- not to see eye to eye: to disagree with someone • ---to have a good eye for something: to be good at noticing and recognizing what is attractive, valuable • ---to my eye: in my opinion • --more than meets the eye: more complicated than it seems to be at first

35. Para. 2 • Function of Paragraph 2 • The author explains his purpose of his visit to Rainy Mountain: to be at his grandmother's grave. • This paragraph serves as a transitional • infirm: weak or ill especially because one is old

36. Para. 3 • Main idea of Paragraph 3 • This paragraph sums up the history of the Kiowas as a Plains Native culture--the golden time and the decline in their history.

37. But warfare for the Kiowas... rather than of survival... • (1 Warfare was important for the Kiowas more because of their militant tendency than because of their need for survival. The Kiowas often fought just because they were good warriors, because they fought out of habit, character, nature, not because they needed extra lands or material gains for the sake of surviving and thriving. • (2) preeminently: much more important

38. Word study :disposition • A particular type of character which makes someone more likely to behave or react in a certain way; temperament; an inclination, tendency. The word disposition is used to refer to the normal or prevailing aspect of one's nature. • eg. • He had a cheerful disposition. • He had a disposition to quarrel.

39. Word study: matter • a matter: a decision, a situation, etc. • eg. • a matter of disposition: 处于本性，由于习惯 • a matter of opinion: a question of different views • a matter of life and death： an extremely serious or dangerous situation that could end in death • a matter of time：used to say that something will definitely happen sooner or later • a matter of taste： depending on your taste, your judgment • a matter of seconds: only a few seconds

40. Paragraph 4 • main idea : • This paragraph is about how the Kiowas migrated from western Montana and how the migration transformed the Kiowas. Like Paragraph 3, this part uses the author's grandmother's story as a focal point, but quickly moves on to the story of the Kiowa people. • The use of words like "she belonged to the last culture" and "her forebears" smoothes the transition.

41. it was a long journey toward dawn.., golden age. • They moved toward the east, where the sun rises, and also toward the beginning of a new culture, which led to the greatest moment in their history.

42. Not least, they acquired the sense of destiny, therefore courage and pride. • (1) not least: last but not least, equally important • (2) destiny: fate; an inevitable succession of events as determined supernaturally or by necessity, implying a favorable outcome

43. No longer were they slaves to... priests of the sun. • (1) inversion for emphasis. • (2) slave: a person who is completely dominated by some influence, habit, person, etc. • Note the preposition used with it is "to", not "of". • eg. She doesn't want to be a slave to fashion. • (3) lordly, (adj.) haughty, like a lord. • The word "lordly" echoes the word "pride". And it is contrasted with the word "slave". • (4) priests of the sun: pious believers of the Sun Dance religion

44. From one point of view.., from a sunless world. • Discussion: • (1) What does the old prophecy refer to? • (2) What does the sunless world refer to? • (3)Explain the meaning of the sentence in your own words.

45. Para 5 • What is the role of Paragraph 5? • In this paragraph, the author returns to his grandmother again. Since she is the immediate reason for him to come to Rainy Mountain, she is the link between the author and his ancestors.

46. I wanted to see in reality.., my pilgrimage. • (1) Note the contrast between "in reality" and "in the mind's eye". • (2) the mind's eye: in imagination. Aho had never been to places like the Black Hills, but she had seen them quite well in imagination, for she had heard so much about them from the older generations. It is through the oral tradition that the Kiowa cultural heritage has been handed down from generation to generation.

47. (3) pilgrimage: a journey made by a pilgrim, especially to a shrine or holy place; any long journey to a place of historical interest. For Momaday, the journey is indeed to a holy place, a place where his ancestors lived and thrived in their golden age.

48. Summary & Assignments • 1. Summary of each section • to make the students aware of the thoughts and ideas offered by the author and make the students know what we should learn from the lesson. • 2.Assignments: