Silko, Leslie. Ceremony
Bird, Gloria. "Towards a Decolonization of the Mind and Text: Leslie Marmon Silko's "Ceremony"

Decolonization of the American Indians has caused a loss of many things to them; not only has their culture been demeaned, but redifined through the colonizers point of view. By forcing upon them an entirely new idea of life, religion, history, and language, their identities have been shifted, skewed, and forgotten. What's worse than this, is the idea that it can in fact be forgotten, their their culture is something that can be lost.

It is not only he loss of such things that cause strife for people such as Gloria Bird, it is the idea that this decolonization has weakened the connection between the people and their history. With the infiltration of European cultures, many have either voluntarily, or in Bir'ds case unwillingly, been sepereated from the stories and traditions of their people. This is a struggle we see within many characters in Ceremony. For Rocky and Aunti, the idea of blending with the European colonizers is ideal. For Tayo, it is something that must be fought against in order to redeem himself and his people.

Ceremony

Given what you have read so far (esp. the Pueblo stories, the Hopi film, and Silko essays), what connections can you draw between the first few pages (the poems) of Ceremony and these materials?

The Poem Ceremony is tightly connected to Silko's essays and the Pueblo stories. The poem is explaining the importance of stories. In Silko's essays, she relays the same message, that stories are the core of everything; without them, they have nothing. The Pueblo stories that we read are an example of this. These stories explain where they came from, why things are, and basically every aspect of their lives. They tie the Pueblos and their history together. For them, they are more than entertainment, which was a point worth making many times for Silko. They are spiritual, historical, and a necessary part of life.

Carefully re-read the pages that involve the old medicine man, Ku’oosh, p. 31-34. Explain the significance of how Ku’oosh speaks, chooses words, and of his point about the fragility of the world.

Ku'oosh's words are used to explain the fragility of the world. While talking to Tayo, he has a story behind each word, which not only explains his point, but illustrates it. Each word, he explains, is connected to another; they each rely on a history and meaning. The fragility of everything is explained by his words, and the way in which he presents them is an embodiment of that. By relating the the reason for each word, it connects everything in an unmistakable truth.

There is a lot of evidence in Joy Harjo's "She Had Some Horses" that leads us to believe that this is in fact a female speaker facing and reconciling inner conflicts. For instance, she refers to things in opposites: "horses who had no names" and "horses who had books of names. Again, she speaks of "horses who whispered in the dark" against "horses who screamed". This play with opposition works with the overall context of the poem to suggest that this is someone struggling with two seperate parts of his/her whole being. The 'She' the poem speaks of is dealing with the feelings she has toward men, religion, and herself.

There were several points while reading this poem that I got the sense that Hajo may have some man issues. The line about the "male queens who made them afraid of themselves" suggests that the author doesn't neccesarily like the way men treat a lot of women, and how men can make women feel. Again, she speaks of "horses who tried to save her, who climbed in her bed at night and prayed as they raped her." For me, it seems that Hajo, or the speaker, is trying to get across this idea of man having some kind of power of women and their emotions, and its not good. In this last line, it's talking about men saying that they're good for her, and that they want what makes her happy, but in the end the women just get screwed. (sorry for that horrible pun, I couldn't resist)

I believe that Hajo has some political points hidden in this poem, as well. Based on the struggle the subject has with "horses who got down on their knees for any savior", and "waited for resurrections," It seems as though the speaker has some conflict with the idea of religion, and how people practice it and why.

As far as what the horses themselves represent, I can see how they are genderless spirits.
Sometimes they signify men, sometimes the "she", sometimes a mass of people. The horses don't have any limitations as to what they can represent, therefore have a spirit-like nature to them. It's the idea of these things and people that are being represented, not the material aspects.

Welcome, one and all

'Ello, welcome to my blog! I hope there will someday be something in here worth reading!