The Names
The literature of the 1970s was marked by a deep exploration of ancestral roots and a renewed focus on regional American writing. N. Scott Momaday’s work, The Names, brings these themes to life through a poetic exploration of his childhood within the Southwestern Indian communities. This memoir transcends a simple recounting of facts and becomes an imaginative journey in which Momaday seeks to understand his past and identity, creating a complex portrait of an artist as a young man.
Names and Identity
In The Names, Momaday begins with a declaration: “My name is Tsoai-talee. I am, therefore, Tsoai-talee; therefore, I am.” This name, given to him by the Kiowa storyteller Pohd-lohk, is more than an identifier; it is the source of his life, much like a river’s source. Tsoai-talee, meaning “Rock-Tree Boy,” ties Momaday to the Kiowa past and the sacred site of the Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, known to his people as Tsoai. Through this name, Momaday is bound to the cultural tapestry of the Kiowas and their sacred history.
The Role of Tradition
The pivotal moment of Momaday’s infancy was his introduction to the Devil’s Tower, a sacred place for the Kiowa people. His parents took him there before he could comprehend its significance, ensuring his connection to their cultural legacy. Old Pohd-lohk later formalized this link by naming him, thus anointing him as a keeper of the Kiowa storytelling tradition. This act was not merely a naming; it was a continuation of a cultural lineage through story and memory.
The Structure of The Names
Momaday’s memoir is structured into four sections, each capturing a distinct period of his growth from infancy to young adulthood. The book unfolds more like a novel than an autobiography, revealing the formation of a mind influenced by diverse people and experiences. This duality, blending his identity as both an artist and a Native American, provides the work with its unique depth and resonance.
Ancestors and Influence
The opening section of The Names portrays Momaday’s early years leading up to his naming ceremony. It highlights his mixed heritage: on his mother’s side, a lineage of Kentucky frontiersmen with some Cherokee ancestry, and on his father’s side, a pure Kiowa lineage. The convergence of these two distinct ancestries in Momaday’s birth creates a sense of destiny, uniting two cultures within him and shaping his consciousness as a writer.
The Power of Imagination
While some passages in the memoir are imaginative, they serve to blur the line between fact and the truth of imagination. Momaday values the artistic impact of truth over factual accuracy, creating a tapestry of reflections that capture the essence of his formative years. These reflections, or "bright reflections," include pivotal moments such as his naming ceremony and the realization that childhood perceptions fade with time.
Culture and Dual Identity
The second section of the book reflects Momaday's early childhood, a period when he began to develop the traits that would define his adult self. Surrounded by both European and Native American cultures, he absorbed myths and legends from his mother and his father’s Indian heritage. Although English was his primary language, this cultural duality enriched his life and work.
Family Influence
Significant figures in this section include Momaday’s grandmother and uncle, each imparting important life lessons. His uncle, a portrait of the struggling Indian unable to adapt, contrasts with his grandmother, whose acceptance of her identity provides her with stability and comfort in the world. This theme of identity and self-acceptance is revisited in Momaday’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, House Made of Dawn, where similar dynamics are explored.
Adolescence...
(This entire section contains 881 words.)
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and Self-Discovery
During his early adolescence at Hobbs Air Force Base in New Mexico, Momaday experienced a world of adventure amidst the backdrop of World War II. This period marked the development of his imagination, nudging him toward an artistic path and helping him discover his unique self. A profound moment during this time was an epiphany that united past, present, and future in a mystical understanding of time and space.
The Jemez Pueblo Experience
Momaday's spiritual home during his youth was the Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico, where his parents worked as teachers. Despite the decline of its traditions, Jemez instilled in him a profound sense of place and an appreciation for Native American culture. His connection to the land of Jemez deeply influenced his writing, creating a bond between his existence and the landscape, each becoming part of the other.
Transition to Maturity
The memoir culminates in Momaday’s transition from the world of his childhood to one of maturity, symbolized by his departure to complete his education in the East. A near-fatal incident on a mesa forces him to confront his mortality, marking the end of his youthful innocence. This moment becomes a metaphor for the passage into adulthood, a new beginning where imagination and identity converge.
Ultimately, The Names is a testament to the power of imagination in shaping identity. Momaday’s mother’s decision to embrace her Indian heritage parallels his own journey to understand himself as both an artist and a Native American. Through this imaginative act, Momaday not only recounts his past but also solidifies his place within the cultural continuum of his ancestors.
Style and Technique
The artistry of N. Scott Momaday's The Names: A Memoir is a compelling tapestry of history, personal narrative, and cultural exploration. Momaday delves into his roots by weaving together the legacy of his European and Native American heritage, thus creating a multidimensional portrayal of identity. This memoir is as much an exploration of the self as it is a homage to the landscapes and stories that shaped him.
The Conception of The Names
In the late 1960s, N. Scott Momaday envisioned a nonfiction work that would encapsulate the American landscape through his personal experiences and the history of the Kiowa tribe. As a man with a rich cultural background—his father being a full-blooded Kiowa and his mother of mixed English, French, Cherokee heritage—Momaday sought to reconcile his place within these diverse traditions. His journey of self-discovery included visits to significant historical sites, communion with tribal elders, and participation in sacred rituals, all of which helped shape his first nonfiction book, The Way to Rainy Mountain. Encouraged by his editor, Momaday embarked on crafting The Names, an autobiography that would reflect the complexities of growing up as an Indian in America.
Structure and Themes
Momaday organizes The Names into a prologue, four distinct parts, and an epilogue, creating a cyclical narrative that mirrors the Kiowa creation myth. The prologue introduces the Kiowa emergence story from an underground realm via a hollow log, setting the stage for the intertwining of myth and personal journey. Mirroring this beginning, the epilogue finds Momaday retracing the Kiowa migration path, imagining the presence of the buffalo, ancestral storytellers, and deserted camps. Through this narrative framework, Momaday crafts a synchronicity between racial history and his autobiographical account.
A Chronological Tapestry
The memoir's four parts trace Momaday's life from infancy in Oklahoma through his formative years on Navajo and Pueblo lands. His nonlinear storytelling technique seamlessly interlaces past and present, creating a "cotemporality" where time's boundaries blur. This aspect allows Momaday to explore personal and collective memory in a fluid, evocative manner.
A Unique Genre Blend
The Names defies categorization into a single literary genre. Instead, it is a mosaic of brief narratives, family photographs, landscape imagery, poetry, dialogues, myths, and genealogies. Each element serves to interweave familial and tribal chronicles with the author's personal quest, presenting a complex portrait of identity negotiation.
Part 1: Ancestral Lineage
The first part of The Names brings forth Momaday's European ancestry, particularly their settlement in Kentucky, and parallels his mother's exploration of her Cherokee roots with his own journey into his father's Kiowa heritage. Through vivid recollections and photographs, Momaday introduces a host of ancestors, including Pohd-lohk, the man who bestowed upon him his Indian name, Tsoai-talee. This name symbolically integrates him into the tribal narrative, affirming his cultural identity and connection to the sacred landscape.
Part 2: Memories of Childhood
In the second part, Momaday reflects on his upbringing in Navajo country while maintaining an ever-present connection to Oklahoma. These landscapes merge within his imagination, illustrating the duality of his cultural inheritance. The poignant story of Uncle James, whose life was marred by alcohol, serves as a sobering reminder of the challenges facing Native Americans caught between tradition and modernity. This narrative underscores the importance of crafting a personal myth to navigate a life straddling two worlds.
Part 3: Intersecting Worlds
The third part revisits Momaday's early years in New Mexico during World War II, a period when modern American culture—movies, music, sports—merged with his native history of Kiowa warriors. He candidly shares the internal conflicts he faced in harmonizing his contemporary life with his tribal origins. His stream-of-consciousness writing style vividly embodies the mental and emotional processes underpinning his identity formation.
Part 4: Formation in Jemez Pueblo
The final section explores Momaday's adolescence among the Jemez and Navajo communities, highlighting the profound influence of this spiritually and culturally rich environment. Through evocative depictions of community life and the majestic landscape, Momaday captures the essence of a place that became integral to his identity. The narrative concludes with a symbolic journey from innocence to experience, leaving him armed with a strong sense of self, deeply rooted in tradition.
Throughout The Names, Momaday artfully constructs a narrative that is both intensely personal and universally resonant, illustrating the intricate weave of individual and cultural identity through the medium of myth, memory, and landscape.
