MASARYKOVA UNIVERZITA V BRNĚ PEDAGOGICKÁ FAKULTA KATEDRA ANGLICKÉHO JAZYKA A LITERATURY N. Scott Momaday´s House Made of Dawn as a Landmark in Native American Literature Diplomová práce Brno 2007 Vedoucídiplomové práce: Vypracovala: Mgr.PavlaBuchtováBc.HanaKonečná 1 Prohlášení Prohlašuji,že jsemdiplomovouprácizpracovala samostatněa použila jen pramenyuvedené vseznamuliteratury. Souhlasím,abypráce bylauloženanaMasarykověuniverzitěvBrněvknihovněPedagogické fakultyazpřístupněnakestudijnímúčelům. Declaration Iherebydeclare that IworkedonthethesisonmyownandthatIusedonlythesources mentionedinthe bibliography. Iagreewiththisdiplomathesis beingdepositedinthelibraryoftheFacultyofEducationat theMasarykUniversityandwithits beingmadeavailableforacademic purpose. …………………….. 2 Acknowledgments HerewithI wouldlike tothankMgr.PavlaBuchtová,whocommentedonmywork,forher kindhelpandvaluableadvices thatshe providedmethroughoutthe thesis. Moreover I wouldverymuchliketothankMr.AlfredSchwabwhoprovidedmewithan exhaustivelectureonNativeAmericans,guiding methroughtheIndianmissions inSan Antonio.Last butnot leastIwouldliketomentionthat Iam deeplyindebtedtomyemployer, without permissionof whom mystudieswouldnotevenbe possible. 3 Contents: 1.INTRODUCTION 1.1.IntroductoryWord 1.2.TheTerm“NativeAmerican” 2.THEHISTORY OF NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE 2.1.Native AmericanLiterature till the20 th Century 2.2.TheBeginningof NativeAmericanNovel 3.HOUSE MADEOF DAWN,THEBREAKINGPOINT IN NATIVEAME RICAN O NOVEL 3.1.Native LanguageUsage 3.2.Natural WorldImages 3.2.1.TheLandscapeofthe NightChant 3.2.2.GoodandEvilBearers 3.2.3.Animals 3.3.Storytelling 3.4. Native AmericanBeliefsandRituals 4.CONCLUSION 4 1.INTRODUCTION 1.1. Introductory Word In1969N.ScottMomaday(Kiowa) wonthePulitzerPrizeforFictionanAmericanaward regardedasthehighestnationalhonorinliteraryachievements 1 -forhis House Madeof Dawn ,anovelabout ayoungNativeAmericanwhoseekstodiscoverhistribalidentityinthe Euramericanworld.Forthefirst timeinthehistoryofwhiteAmericanliterature,a pieceof workbya NativeAmericanwriterreceivedcriticalacclaim . Momaday’sworkappearedsimultaneouslywitharebirthof politicalandsocial consciousness onthe partof NativeAmericans 2.Duringtheearly1970sthetruthabout theconditions on nation’sreservationswasexposedandpublicized byNative Americanactivists,andthus America’sgeneral public becameinvolvedinthe plightofitsnativecultures.Thegeneration of NativeAmericanscomingofageinthe late60sandearly70swasthe firstone toreceive a substantialeducation.Inaddition,the projectofhistoricalrevisionism,whichattemptedto documentfromanative perspective thehistoryoftheinvasionandcolonizationofthe North Americancontinent(the periodreferredtoas the WildWestinparticular);waslaunched (“NativeAmericanRenaissance”). Bydescribingastruggle forfindingpersonal identity,Momadaynamedtheissue that the NativeAmericancommunityfacedinthesecond partofthe twentiethcentury.Asaneffectof thetechnological revolution,Native Americanshave beenuprooted,again,fromtheir soil. Theyhave becomedisoriented,and,asaconsequence,alienatedtosocalled“landethic”. Manyofthemsufferedakindof psychicdislocationofthemselves intimeandspace.Native Americansenseofthenaturalorderhas becomeunreliable.Abel,themainprotagonistofthe 1 The Pulitzer Prize is administered by Columbia University in New York City. Apart from literary works it awards the achievements in print journalism and musical composition (“Pulitzer Prize”). 2 The best known of all Indian Power groups was the American Indian Movement (AIM) which was formed by a group of Chippewas in Minneapolis in 1966 to protest alleged police brutality (Mintz). 5 novel,leavesthereservationbecauseofthe WorldWarIIandthen,after servinga prison sentenceformurder,the RelocationProgram(whichwasanattempt bytheBureauofIndian Affairstoaccelerate the integrationof NativeAmericansintothemajorityculture). Inwritingthenovel,whichwasfirst conceivedasaseriesof poemsandthenreplannedasa bookofstories,MomadaydrewonhisownchildhoodexperiencesofgrowingupatJemez Pueblothroughtheera of WorldWarII.There aredetailsinthenovelwhichcorrespondto author’sreal-lifeoccurrences,e.g.the portrayalofAbelwhichisacompositeofthe boys whomMomadayknewatJemez.Theydiedyoungviolently,orsurvivedandare livingunder theRelocationProgram inLosAngeles,Chicago,orDetroit(“HouseMadeofDawn”).The actualgeographicallocationsaswell asKiowaandNavajobeliefsandcustomsarealso personallyinspiredelementsin House Madeof Dawn asMomadaypartlyspenthis boyhood onthe Navajo,ApacheandPuebloreservationsoftheSoutwest. Theleavingofanative place,either becauseof warorotherreasons,inevitablyhadtocause physicaldisruptionoftribaltraditions.However,House Madeof Dawn isnotacasual story aboutawar veteranwhosuffers psychologicaldamage becauseof participatinginthe warfare.Inthenovel ,Momaday combineshis personalobservationswithhisimagination, somethinghisfather toughthimtodothroughhisKiowaancestralhistory.Itmight besaid that thenovel,apartfromdepictingtheharmfuleffectsof NativeAmericandisplacement, recognizesthe powerofwordinNativeAmericanoratureandattemptstotransform itintothe writtenform. Inearlyperiods,Native Americanliteraturewas basedonoraltradition,thatis,tellingof stories,singingofsongs,makingof prayers andchanting.Naturally,there weredifferences fromoneculturalareatoanother.In House Madeof Dawn therearehistoriesofKiowa, NavajoandPueblopeoplescombined.BeingborntoEnglishspeakingparents,one-eight Cherokee butseveneightsEuroAmericanmother,andKiowafatherwhosesecondlanguage wasEnglish,MomadayappropriatedtheEnglishlanguageas hismothertongue.However, setinhisearlyageinRainyMountainCreekinOklahoma Momadaywasthoroughlyrooted intheKiowacultureofhisfather´sfamily. InmythesisIwill betouchingontheaspectswhichledthewayforthe breakthroughof NativeAmericanliteratureintothemainstreamAmericanone.Iwill researchinto 6 Momaday´sattempttotransformthe original NativeAmericanoratureintowrittenliterature (moreoverusingtheEnglishlanguageandcontextasamedium)tofosterthecontinuanceand renewalofit,being,as Momadaysays,agenerationfromextinction.I willalsoexplore the modernistfeaturesofthenovelandimpactitmighthavehadonfurthergenerationsof Native Americanwriters. 7 1.2. The Term “Native American” FirstandforemostIwouldliketoclarifytheterminologyusedtonamethenative peoplesof Americasinmydiploma work,since there issomecontroversythatsurrounds thetermsin use.Theseare: NativeAmericans,AmericanIndians,Indians,Amerindians,Amerinds,or Indigenous,AboriginalorOriginalAmericans.InCanada,thenative peoplesareknownas First Nations.Nosingle termhas beenuniversallyaccepted. Todaythemostfrequentlyusedterm“NativeAmerican”was “originallyintroducedinthe UnitedStates byanthropologistsasa moreaccuratetermfor theindigenous peopleofthe Americas,asdistinguishedfromthe peopleofIndia[…].Becauseofthe widespread acceptance ofthisnewerterminandoutsideof academiccircles,some people believethat ´Indians´wasoutdatedoroffensive.”(“NativeAmericannamecontroversy”).Fromthe NativeAmericanwriter´s,namelyGeraldVizenor´s,pointofview,theterm“Indian”isa convenient word.However,headds,“it isaninventednamethatdoesnot come fromany native language,anddoesnotdescribeorcontainanyaspects oftraditionaltribal experience andliterature[…].The nameisunbidden,andthenativeheirsmust bearanunnatural burden tobesochristenedintheirownland.”(Vizenor1995:1) Nevertheless,someofthesocalledNativeAmericanshave notapprovedtheterm.They claimitasimposedbythegovernmentwithouttheirapproval.Furthermore,someofthem questionthe term because,theyargue,“it serves toease theconscienceof´whiteAmerica´ withregardtopastinjusticesdonetoAmericanIndians byeffectivelyeliminating´Indians´ fromthe present”(“NativeAmericannamecontroversy”).Theyprefer“AmericanIndian”to “NativeAmerican”,whichisa termthatwasalsousedtonamethe NationalMuseumofthe AmericanIndianinWashington,D.CopenedinSeptember2004. Itmight besaidthatthe terms“NativeAmerican”,“Indian”,and“AmericanIndian”areused interchangeablynow.Workingwithacademicsources,Ihavefoundoutthat“Native American” prevails.ThatiswhyIhavedecidedforitsusagewithinmypaperalthoughIwill accept thetermswhichareusedinthesources Iciteor paraphrase(e.g.“Indian”usedby Momadayin House Madeof Dawn ).Inmyopinion,peoplefromanyethnicgroupgenerally 8 wishtobecalledbythe nametheygivethemselves,intheirownlanguage.This preference,I think,hasgainedimportancerecentlyasameansofavoidingethnicdiscrimination.Therefore thegeneral terms mentionedaboveonlycover thenamesoftribessocommonlyusedtoday. Andthatis whyIhavealsodecideduponstatingthetribaloriginnexttothe propernamesof the NativeAmericanwriters. Inconclusion,myattempttochoose anoncontroversialterminologyfornative peoplesof Americasalsonecessarilyentailsconsideringthe questionwhoqualifies asa Native Americanand,consequently,whoqualifies asa NativeAmericanwriter.Asitisdescribedin The RememberedEarth(ananthologyof NativeAmericanwriters),today NativeAmerican peoplefall intooneormoreofthefollowingcategories:genetic,cultural,andsocial.People areclassifiedbytheirtribe,family,orthegovernmentas“full-bloods”,“half-bloods”,“one- fourths”,“one-eighths”,andsoon.Thisis thegeneticdistinction.Culturally,a personis characterizedintermsofwhereheorsheisfrom,whohisor her peopleareandwhat their waysoflife,religion,andlanguagearelike.Socially(thereisaratherfineline betweenthis andtheculturalcriterion),a personis judgedas NativeAmericanbecauseofhowhe orshe viewstheworld,i.e.his orherviewsaboutland,home,family,culture,etc.Andastheauthor oftheanthologyconcludeshiscategorization,“thus,tomost NativeAmericans today,itisnot merelyenoughthata personhavea justifiableclaimtoIndianblood,but