Kimo's Essay # 9

Kimo Gray
14.11.08
English
Mr.Salsich

Finding My Rainy Mountain

No matter who you are, or where you come from, everyone has a past. In the short story ‘The Way to Rainy Mountain,” by M. Scott Momaday, he tells the story of the Kiowa tribe, who lived on Rainy Mountain on the present plains of Oklahoma, and the hardships they had to endure. He also speaks of tradition, and the life the Kiowa’s lived, how they grew, how they told stories of old. Looking back on a story that tells of a tribe long gone and the importance they still have today, I believe that the message of this story is to accept your own culture, and to celebrate your past.
TS When we think of the past, we see nothing but old wounds long healed and forgotten if not for those tiny scars; when we think of tradition we think of jack-o-lanterns and November feasts; when we think of nature we think of the outside world, one that is too far for us to attempt to reach. SDI Momaday spoke about the hardships of the past and how inadequate those struggles seem to us in our daily lives; we do not appreciate our ancestors. CM Though we have not endured close to the pain they had, we must remember that they got us where we are today. CM “However tenuous their well-being, however much they had suffered and would suffer again, they had found a way out of the wilderness,” writes Momaday. CM Our ancestors, however distant they may seem, should be commemorated and respected, for if we respect our ancestors today, maybe our own descendents will smile about us. SD2 Tradition: “The handing down of beliefs, statements, legends, customs, and information from generation to generation,” as defined by Dictionary.com. CM Momaday also speaks of tradition, of the Kiowa’s worshiping of the sun, and the many festivities they would hold come summertime; they were a people full of tradition. CM Tradition is something that also seems too overlooked these days, but if we all care a little bit more, tell a few more stories of old, then the beauty of tradition will never die. SD2 The Kiowa’s, being a warrior tribe, fought a constant battle with nature, “[On Rainy Mountain] winter brings blizzards, hot tornadic winds arise in the spring, and in the summer the prairie is an anvil’s edge.” CM In our day and age, we are not fighting a battle against nature, but rather one to preserve it; we have lost touch with nature, but are trying emphatically to protect it and respect it. CM Though we find roots with our ancestors, we hold even deeper roots with nature and the earth itself; therefore nature truly is the foundation of existence. The Kiowa’s lived a life full of all these things, and they have proved that with respect for life, comes great contentment and appreciation.
There is so much to learn from our past, but in this day and age it seems like everyone has only an ostensible respect for the past, no one has the time to honor their ancestry, or to just share an old story. The past is not something to be eulogized, but rather, something to be exalted; it is a journey through time that brings awareness to the little things in life. Much like Momaday with the Kiowa tribe, I myself have somewhat lost my noble ancestry, forgotten my value for tradition, and omitted my touch with nature. I know with strength and determination I can regain these things, and just like the Kiowa’s, “Acquire the sense of destiny, therefore courage, and pride.”

FAST Words= BOLD
Three Action Sentence= Italics
Quotes= Underlined