Symbol and Structure in Native American Literature: Some Basic Considerations Author(s): Paula Allen Source: College Composition

and Communication, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Oct., 1973), pp. 267-270 Published by: National Council of Teachers of English Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/356851 . Accessed: 11/10/2011 10:59
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in American and Symbol Structure 2qative Some Literature: BasicConsiderations

PAULA ALLEN cated, specialized persons who are privy to the philosophical, mystical and literary wealth of their tribe. Much of the literature that was in their keeping, engraved perfectly and completely in their memories, was not known to the general run of men and women. Because of this, much of that literature has been lost as the last initiates of particular societies died, leaving no successor. Most importantly, Indian literature is not similar to western literature because the basic assumptions about the universe on which that literature is based differ greatly from those on which western literature is based, even at the level of folklore. This difference has confused nonIndian students for centuries, because they have been unable or even unwilling to grant this difference and proceed in terms of it. For example, the two cultures differ greatly in terms of the assumed purpose for the existence of literature. The purpose of Native American literature is never one of self-expression. The "private soul at any public wall" is a concept that is so alien to native thought as to seem absurd. The Native does not celebrate his ability to feel emotions, for he assumes that all people are equally able to do so, making his expression arrogant, presumptuous and gratuitous. He seeks, in his songs, ceremonies, legends, myths and tales to embody and even to manipulate reality, to bring the isolated private self into harmony and balance 1Myth is used in its meaning as a sacred with the public reality, to verbalize his are generally central to any culstory. Myths sense of the majesty and reverent mysture's system of religious and ethical belief. of a culture. Its can be best understood in significance terms of its culture, and its purpose is meaningful only when the cultural assumptions it is based on are understood and accepted. It is not much of a problem for the person raised in the culture to see the relevance, the level of complexity or symbolic significance of his own culture's literature. He is from birth familiar with the assumptions that underlie both his culture and its literature. Intelligent analysis in this circumstance becomes a matter of defining smaller assumptions peculiar to the locale, idiom or psyche of the writer. The study of non-western literature poses a problem for the western reader. He naturally tends to see alien literature in terms that are familiar to him, however irrelevant they may be to the literature he is reading. Because of this, students of American Indian literature have applied the terms "primitive," "savage," "childlike," or "heathen" to Indian literature. They have labeled its literature "folklore," even though the term specifically applies only to that part of it that is the province of the general populace. The great mythic1 and ceremonial cycles of the Indian peoples are neither primitive in any meaningful use of the term, nor are they necessarily the province of the folk; much of the material on the literature is known only to eduLITERATURE

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tery of all things, and to actualize, in language, those truths of being that give humanity its greatest significance and dignity. His art is married to the essence of language itself, for through language he seeks to share his being in that of the community and to share in the communal awareness of the people, the tribe. In his art he communicates with his greater self and with all that is around him, and in this way expresses that concept of being that is the fundamental and sacred spring of his life: that all life is a circle of being and that all things belong within it. Moreover, he does not content himself with simple preachments of his truth but, through the sacred power of utterance, seeks to shape and mold, to direct and determine the forces that surround and govern his life and the life of all. There is an old Keres song that says: I add my breath to your breath That our days may be long on the Earth; That the days of our people may be long; That we may be one person; That we may finish our roads together. May my father bless you with life; May our Life Paths be fulfilled.2

more clearly in that white Americans divide the cosmos into natural and supernatural with man belonging to neither, being neither purely animal nor purely spirit. They are further separated from what surrounds them by virtue of the conviction that animals do not share in what they designate as supernatural, and vice versa. That is, whites discuss the supernatural as though it were apart from men, and discuss the natural as though men were apart from it. This necessarily forces English-speaking people into a position of alienation from that world which is around them. This isolationism is entirely foreign to American Indian thought. At base, every story, every song, every ceremony tells us that we are part of a significant, living whole and that all parts of that whole are related to one another by virtue of their participation in the wholeness of Being. Thus, incidentally, perhaps the most cruel thing that has been done to the Native child is forcing him to become monolingually English-speaking, thus forcing upon him that very sense of powerlessness, isolation and alienation from the source of Being that so plagues and destroys his oppressors. In Native American thought, God is the All-Spirit, and other beings are also And in this way it tells how we must view ourselves and our songs if we are Spirit-more spirit than body, more spirit to approach either properly. Breath is than intellect, more spirit than mind. The life, and the intermingling of breaths is circle of life is a non-physical thing-being the purpose of good living. It is in es- that moves and knows, just as we husence the great principle on which all mans live and know and just as our productive living must rest, for relation- brothers-trees and rocks, birds and ships between all the beings of the uni- beasts, herbs and grass, reptiles and inverse, our father, must be fulfilled so that sects-live and know. Because of this basic assumption, it is clear that Thunder our life paths may also be fulfilled. So we see that there is a fundamental and Wind, Rain and Snow are related to difference of position toward the nature us as well, for they are alive; that is, they of reality between American and Indian are intelligent manifestations of the cultures; this difference may be seen Great Intelligence from which they arise. Thunder is a special aspect or power of 2Kenneth Wells, unpublished manuscript. the Great Power One, and so is the huQuoted with permission of Mr. Wells. This old man race. And because of this truth, Laguna song is a medicine song, and is properly attributal to the people. unity can be preserved in the hearts of

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men and understood in such a way that the arbitrary divisions of divine and worldly, natural and unnatural, spiritual and material do not occur. It was this sense of the unity of things that led Chief Joseph to say: The earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it is. . . . The country was made without lines of demarcation,and it is no man'sbusiness to divide it.... The earth and myself are of one mind. The measure of the land and the measure of our bodies are the same .... Do not misunderstandme, but understandme fully with referenceto my affectionfor the land. I never said the land was mine to do with it as I chose. The one who has the right to dispose of it is the one who created it. I claim a right to live on my land and accord you the privilege to live on yours.3 This idea permeates all Native American thought and is manifested in all aspects of Native American life. It should not be surprising, then, that it is also an important element in symbol and structure in Native American literature, so that to "make lines of demarcation" between one form and another is seriously misleading. Songs and tales are part of a great whole, most perfectly contained in the great Ceremonial cycles. The literature of the people is a great wheel; one part may touch the ground now, another part touching later. It is the motion of the wheel that reveals its significance, and it is the movement of the whole body of the literature that gives its true meaning to us. To Native people, words are sacred. They contain much Power. Thus the native treats them with a kind of regard that is alien to western people. It is by virtue of this Power that humans participate in the ongoing processes of the Universe. Thus, the Native's sense of lan3This is attributed to Chief Joseph and appears on a poster-picture of him.

guage is different from the white poet's sense. The latter uses words for the ideas and emotions they will evoke in his reader, while the former uses words in order to reveal, augment or direct his power as well as to communicate something to his fellows. Some of the literature is directly composed by a person; tales and certain kinds of songs fall into this category. Others are given to a person. He does not create them, but they are bestowed on him by some power who acts as agent for the All Spirit, the Great Power One. These include ceremonies, healing songs and the like, and they are capable of working wonders. Native American thought is essentially mystical in nature. Its distinguishing characteristic is a kind of magicalness, a belief in the fluidity or plasticity of things. This concept is derived from the central assumption that Native American thought is based on. Things are not thought of as inert but as viable and aware, subject to processes of growth and change as a necessary adjunct to their aliveness. Since all that exists also lives in the most meaningful sense, and all that lives grows and changes according to certain patterns, change can be effected under certain conditions and according to certain laws. These conditions and laws are called ritual and magic by westerners. The Native people know them as walking in a sacred manner, owning sacred power, and ceremony. In a sense, all that exists is perceived as symbolic to the Native; it is this that has given currency to the idea of the Indian as one who is close to the earth. And he is close to our Mother, but not as a savage or a child, but as a human person who sees the Earth as alive, like him. He sees this livingness in non-physical terms, in terms of the spirit, and this gives rise to a mystical sense that is an ineradicable part of his being. Symbols are mystical statements about the world

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COLLEGE COMPOSITIONAND COMMUNICATION mony is based on the basic harmony of the old way, the basic sense of unity among all things that flows like a clear stream through the songs and stories of the people of the Western Hemisphere. This sense, I think, is clearly embodied in these words spoken by an old man, long ago: There are birds of many colors-red, blue, green, yellow-yet it is all one bird. There are horses of many colorsbrown, black, yellow, white-yet it is all one horse. So cattle, so all living things-animals, flowers, trees. So men: in this land where once were only Indians are now men of every colorwhite, black, yellow, red-yet all one people. That this should come to pass was in the heart of the Great Mystery. It is right thus. And everywhere there shall be peace.5 So said Hiamove more than fifty years ago. It remains for scholars of Native American literature to look at this literature from the point of view of its creators. From this vantage only can the richness, complexity and profound beauty of a people's hearts be fully appreciated; only in this way can we learn the lessons of the past-the essential lessons of respect for all that is. GraduateStudent Universityof New Mexico
5Natalie Curtis, recorder and editor, The Indians' Book (New York: Dover, 1968), p. x.

we live in and are taken as completely factual and evident to all who have eyes to see. This attitude is embodied in this Crazy Dog Society song: I live, but I will not live forever. Mysteriousmoon, you only remain, Powerful sun, you alone remain, Wonderful earth, you remain forever.4 The statements are not metaphorical in the sense of personification, for no Indian would take his perception to be the basic unit of consciousness in the Universe. That is, the song does not personify moon, sun and earth in speaking directly to them. It might be said instead that they have created the person of humanity; that is, the Universe has personified us. The capacity to see all things in terms of their spirit or power allows the formation of a complex symbolic system. In this system all parts possess significance in terms of themselves and of the whole they belong to. It is because of this complexity that the interpretation of this literature is so difficult that it was a matter left to the priests and initiates of a tribe. Yet even in its complexity, Native American literature possesses a harmony and unity peculiar to itself. This har4Quoted in Kiowa Years, written by Alice Marriott (New York: Macmillan, 1967). This song was owned by the Crazy Dog Society of the Kiowas.

BLACK DIALECT
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