The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday

The Way To Rainy Mountain was written in 1967 by N. Scott Momaday, who acquired his Ph.D. at Stanford University, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969, and received the National Medal of Arts in 2007. While events such as the Space Race and Vietnam War raged on, The Way to Rainy Mountain’s tranquil and nostalgic tone is helpful in reminding Americans of the beauty of their land, and of the hardships of the Native Americans. Momaday describes the land on which his family’s tribe, the Kiowas, lived before his time in order to appeal to Americans. The author mainly focuses on his grandmother’s house, which he visits following her death, and the stories she used to tell about life with the Kiowas. Figurative language, especially imagery, personification, similes, and alliteration, are frequent in this paper. The descriptive word choice and recurrent rhetorical devices are valuable strategies attributes for keeping the audience attentive and showing the beauty that his ancestors saw in the land before it was taken away from them. It is evident that Momaday’s audience is adult Americans due to the fact that, although the paper is overall informal, there are sophisticated words here and there. In addition, the author references landmarks in the United States, such as Palo Duro Canyon and the Smoky Hill River familiar only to Americans, specifically from the Midwest; therefore, Momaday targets citizens of the United States, educating them on his culture and the beauty of the Earth that his family sees. I believe that the author accomplished his goal in proving his purpose because, while keeping readers entertained with his figurative language, Momaday also includes information on how innocent Kiowas “surrendered to the soldiers at Fort Sill” in order to save themselves, and “were imprisoned” (Momaday 314) by said soldiers. N. Scott Momaday successfully opened Americans’ eyes to the beauty and sadness in the soil of the country.

Native Americans’ Lost Land

Sam B. Hilliard, a Louisiana State University geography and anthropology professor, created these maps. The images show how much of United States territory used to belong to Native Americans, and illustrates the amount of homes the Native Americans lost due to new settlers.

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/07/21/animated-map-shows-loss-western-tribal-lands-1784-124688