The Names: A Memoir stands apart from conventional autobiographies, offering a unique approach and focus. Instead of adhering to a chronological narrative, Momaday crafts his writing to capture the essence of experiences. By traversing a cultural continuum of his personal and ancestral experiences, he weaves imaginative recreations that deeply resonate.

The Power of Naming

Naming, for Momaday, serves as a crucial means of identifying and highlighting the defining characteristics of both situations and individuals. Through this memoir, Momaday nurtures a mythic familial and tribal consciousness by naming significant events that forge their unique spirit. His active participation in these life experiences doesn’t necessarily place him at the center of each event, reflecting his adherence to Native American beliefs in the universe’s timelessness and the essential connection between the physical and spiritual worlds.

Dual Purposes of the Memoir

Momaday’s memoir fulfills dual objectives. Firstly, by embracing the collective memory as a listener in the oral tradition, he perpetuates his people's heritage. Secondly, he extends this heritage to others, translating oral traditions into written form, thereby enlarging the tribe's cultural footprint. As he shares his memories, they seamlessly integrate with the reader's own, becoming a part of their consciousness.

A Journey Through Memory

In his exploration of a photograph of his grandfather, Mammedaty, who passed away two years before his birth, Momaday vividly relives the Sun Dance giveaway. In his mind's eye, he sees a young boy leading a black horse into the ring for Mammedaty, fully immersing himself in the sensory experience. While this event seems impossible within the constraints of the physical universe, it becomes a tangible reality in the metaphysical realm.

Visual Symbolism as a Catalyst

Momaday employs visual symbolism to elevate levels of awareness, a technique central to his writing's effectiveness. Detailed depictions of landscapes, animal behavior, and the traits of the elderly are presented in a synesthetic manner, evoking similar responses in readers. The genealogy of his family encourages others to explore their own histories.

The Timelessness of the Universe

Momaday succinctly reaffirms the timeless nature of his universe with the assertion, “Notions of the past and future are essentially notions of the present.” Family trees, he observes, are reflections rather than extensions of the individual self. By naming and defining himself, he brings a sense of physicality to the process of self-discovery, allowing a stream-of-consciousness flow unhampered by conventional punctuation. The boundaries he places upon his creation of self are limited only by his ideas.

Completing the Circle

In the memoir’s epilogue, Momaday returns to the symbolic origin of his Kiowa identity—the hollow log through which the Kiowa emerged into the world—thus closing the metaphysical circle. This return signifies a deeper understanding and acceptance of his cultural roots and identity.