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Lonna Blake
Dr. Joan Kennedy
English1302
10 February 2009
The Journey of Life
The essay “The Way to Rainy Mountain,” written by N. Scott Momaday in 1969,
recaptures the life of the Kiowa tribe who controlled the open range from the Smokey Hill River
to the Red River, from the headwaters of the Canadian, to the fork of the Arkansas hundreds of
years ago. This essay tells of stories told by his departed grandmother Aho, who belonged to the
last culture to evolve in North America (Momaday 309). She had memories of hardship and wars
that his ancestors endured in the past. She also kept these stories alive throughout her life with
legends, myths and narrative accounts that she often told the family. Momaday’s purpose of the
story is to let others know that even through hardship, good results can emerge. He gives many
excellent examples of lessons to be learned. His thesis in paragraph five asserts: “though my
grandmother lived out her long life in the shadow of the Rainy Mountain, the immense landscape
of the continental interior lay like memory in her blood” (310). He also expresses, even though
she may not have witnessed any of the battles, myths or migration in person, it transformed her
into the person she is now through the power of memory of storytelling, which was passed down
to her from her ancestors.
It was fascinating that Momaday decided to take the fifteen hundred mile trip to Rainy
Mountain that his people experienced so many years ago. The way to Rainy Mountain was a
long and hard one for the Kiowa people. Through the Black Hills to the Washita River he
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stopped at historical land markers such as Devil’s Tower and pondered all the fantastic events
that took place, which his grandmother spoke of so many times. Despite the hardship, they
became stronger along the way, learning new skills, and adapting a new religion. So in a way
these hardships helped them survive the new upcoming American changes. Momaday’s way to
Rainy Mountain also taught him how to appreciate his ancestors even more because they were
traveling by horse-back or by foot. He realizes the land must have been very difficult to tolerate.
They had to learn to survive during blizzards and scorching summers, also how to hunt and to
cultivate what the land could grow in different climates. Certainly, Momaday also appreciated
the beauty of the land that shows how majestic and delicate it really can be at times, to see the
sunset and sunrise or to take in the view the same way Kiowa did so many years ago. It must
have been wonderful to recapture these memories at the actual sites. The journey gave him a
greater understanding of the long pilgrimage undertaken by the Kiowa and a mental picture of
the places described by his grandmother. The grandmother’s journey was a journey of the mind.
She learned of the great pilgrimage through the stories and memories of others. They took on a
form that was quite believable to her, though she had never experienced them in person.
It was interesting that Momaday captured the resilience of his grandmother and tribe,
although so many harsh things happened to the tribe in the past. A wonderful example of an
unforgettable incident that would be difficult to let go occurred when the Fort Sill soldiers
stopped them from performing the traditional sacred event of the sun-dance. Momaday notes,
“Forbidden without cause the essential act of their faith, having seen the wild herds slaughter and
left to rot upon the ground, the Kiowas backed away forever from the tree” (311). He also states
that “his grandmother was there, without bitterness, and for as long as she lived, she bore a
vision of deicide” (311).
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It seems like all of the journeys in the story end at Rainy Mountain. For Momaday, his
journey finishes at his grandmother’s house and grave. He looks back once to see the Rainy
Mountain, and that is the end of his journey. For his grandmother her journey ends where it
began at the Rainy Mountain. She was born there, was able to witness the last Sun Dance of the
Kiowa there, and died there. For most of us, we know our Rainy Mountain from the beginning to
the end of the journey, but it is important to know the way we arrived and departed with our
Rainy Mountain.
,
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Works Cited
Momaday, N. Scott. "The Way to Rainy Mountain." Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for
Readers and Writers. Eds. John Schib and John Clifford. 3rd ed. New York: Bedford/ St.
Martins, 2006, 308-312.