Dec 16, 2009
The Ancient Child | The Ancient Child
At a glance:
- Author: N. Scott Momaday
- First Published: 1989
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: The 1980’s
- Setting: San Francisco, the Oklahoma Plains, and the Navajo lands
- Principal Characters: Locke Setman, Grey, Billy the Kid, Kope’mah, Lola Bourne, Bent Sandridge, The bear boy
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: Self-discovery, Mythology or myths, 1980’s, West, U.S., Native Americans or American Indians, Legends, Painting or painters, San Francisco, Visions, epiphanies, or revelations, Westerns, Outlaws
- Locales: San Francisco, CA, Indian Reservation, Oklahoma
The Novel
This story of a Native American’s search for identity alternates scenes from the lives of
the two main characters, Set and Grey. Interspersed among these scenes are tales from Kiowa myths
and Western legends, each with relevance to the main characters’ quest for identity.
Early in the novel, Grey watches over the deathbed of her ancient grandmother,
Kope’mah. She dreams of the legendary outlaw Billy the Kid, and imagines herself as his lover
and companion. She is at this time also growing gradually aware of her powers as a medicine
woman.
Set, in...
[The entire page is 3171 words long]
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