“the Way to Rainy Mountain, Autobiography or Bibliography?

I have often listened to the arguments of scholars and traditionalists of our tribe argue the point of written and oral history. Many of the younger members wanted to write the stories down so they would not get lost and the elders and traditionalists wanted the stories to be told according to protocol like in the past. The stories of N. Scott Momaday (Momaday) are those of the oral history and in them the lessons passed on to him by his “Aho”. He mixes that of the history with the scientific views of James Mooney and his own experiences and “facts” he had collected over time that put an autobiographical spin on the book.

There is an oral history that is described as truths in many different cultures. In the Frog Lake Massacre of our Cree tribe to hear it told by the government it was a resistance. To hear it told by the traditionalists it was an act of survival and the shooting of the superintendent an accident. There are stories of how our tribe came to be and all of our ceremonies told at a certain time of the year and only by those that have the right to do so.

Momaday shares his stories as though he would share his experiences and tries to reinforce the beliefs through the eye witness accounts of James Mooney. The history that he also shares is that of his grandpa. The grandpa’s stories are told to further reinforce his cultural beliefs and a strong sense of relation in each story.

Other stories that have been told are stories of my great great grandfather Chief Big Bear sitting in Stony Mountain Penitentiary. It was said that he used to be able to walk around outside and the guards would put him back in his cell but he would do it again. It is a memory that appears to be my own as if I were there. I like to think that by sharing these stories Momaday would like us to have a sense of that memory belong to each of us.

Momaday’s journey becomes our journey and how he came to know each instance in his travels through his experiences. One cannot...