Ceremony & Wisdom Sits in Places - Essay Example

"Ceremony" & "Wisdom Sits in Places" Question One In his book Wisdom Sits in Places, Keith Basso investigates how people in the Western Apache think about their geography. His urge to carry out this investigation grew out of suggestions by the chairman of the Whites Mountain Apache. The chairman advised him to come up with Apache maps with Apache names and places. Throughout his writing, Basso interrogated human attachments to place. He attempted to bring out the relationship between place and identity; the connection between place and human dispositions. In this book, Basso also argues that places can be identified with sacred stories and ancestors. According to Basso (83), landscape connects sacred names and stories of ancestors to everyday life. He suggests that people tend to speak about strong place-names. Basso argues that place-names is not mere telling of stories but is adopted in Western Apache as a kind of shorthand during conversation. Using names enables individuals to remember about places and the story about them. In the book, Lola conversation serves as a perfect example of how places connect people to historical meanings. In the conversation, Lola explained “We didn't speak too much to her... that way she could travel in her mind... we gave her clear pictures with place-names. So her mind went to those places, standing in front of them as our ancestors did long ago. That way she could see what happened there long ago... perhaps (she could) hear our ancestors speaking'(83). This reveals the fact that place-names of Western Apache are firmly embedded in the historical and moral meaning or imagination. Basso believes that there exist reciprocal relationship between people and landscape by which people and communities get connected to voice of their ancestors. The author believes that place-names enable people to develop mental pictures and images of Western Apache or any other geographical location. As such, this evokes stories and events of the past. In essence, this affirms the significance and validity of moral values and principles used in the ancient days (86). Basso argues that geographical features and names of places can function as stories that impart moral values to new generations. For instance, when an individual makes a mistake in the society, he/she is brought to a landscape that was named after an event occurred. Consequently, this would help remind the person who has committed mistake of the important morals of that event, which they can apply them to their lives. Basso argues that place naming is critical on the grounds that landscape is an instrument in human living. Names of places or geographical features such as mountain are used when teaching people about moral values because they are believed to be sacred. A Mountain is sacred because it is a hub of most natural resources. Western Apache have a close relationship with geographical features especially land because of the belief that land should be taken care of in order to improve the lives of people (90). Even though the book has had significance meaning to human life, it has certain shortcomings. Martin Ball is one of the scholars who sharply criticised Basso’s book Wisdom Sits in Places. Ball argues that Basso failed to represent the emic Western Apache view of places. He did not write directly on sacred lands in the Western Apache as the way they are being dealt with today. Basso also failed to include geographical locations where certain spiritual events occurred. Basso knew that Western Apaches would claim that these landscapes are sacred. As such, this claim is distinct from considerations of a sacred landscape connected to certain group of people in Western Apache (100). Question Two Tayo is the main character in Leslie Marmon Silko’s novel, Ceremony. Having returned from World War II, Tayo must cope up with life and come to terms with himself. As Silko indicates, Tayo is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder that has had far-reaching negative effects on his physical growth and development. The disorder has also affected him emotional having survived through hard times as prisoner of war in a foreign country. Tayo must undergo through ceremonies in order to enable him adjust to the new environment. Tayo is torn between Pueblo and white culture. He is a young Native American who has been a prisoner of the Japanese for a long time. During this period, he almost succumbed to horrors of captivity. As the author reports, Tayo must go through some ceremonies in order to cure him from certain conditions. This is confirmed by the following passage in page 1 of the novel: Ceremony I will tell you something about stories, [he said] They aren't just for entertainment. Don't be fooled They are all we have, you see, all we have to fight off illness and death (Silko 1). One of these conditions is lack of peace of mind. Tayo survived the Bataan Death March World War II. The experiences during this war have stolen his peace of mind. Tayo memory is similar to colored threads that were used by his grandmother to sew baskets. Therefore, it is critical that he undergoes ritual ceremonies as he struggles recover the peace of mind. While he was in America, Tayo interacted with people from American culture. In the process, Tayo lost his identity and relations with Laguna Indian people. According to Silko (21), Tayo felt as if his personality was knotted and tangled, and his attempts to restore it were futile. All his efforts to compose himself and reenter into the society merely snag. His efforts to come terms with the new environment or society have not bear fruits. As such, there is need for him to be subjected to ceremonies so that he can have peace of mind and be able to relate with others well in the society (Silko 20). Silko believes that the World War II did a lot of damages to the young generation of Pueblo. Instead of giving them a new life, the war negatively changed their lives. In America, Tayo was influenced to engage in alcohol consumption. He later became a part of pattern of drinking, a behavior that has never been witnessed among young Indiana. Tayo is suffering from alcohol related sicknesses that have not find medication in the United States. One of the conditions that Tayo is likely to be suffering is alcohol addiction. The ceremony would possible help him change this behavior. This is confirmed by the following passage in which Emo tells: We went into this bar on 4th Ave., see, me and O'Shay, this crazy Irishman. We had a few drinks, then I saw these two white women sitting all alone. One was kind of fat She had dark hair. But this other one, man, she had big tits and real blond hair. I said to him "Hey buddy, that's the one I want. Over there." He said, "Go get'em, Chief." He was my best drinking buddy, that guy He'd watch me see how good I'd score with each one (Silko 27). In this novel, Silko portrays natural world and its features to have far-reaching impact on ceremonies in society healing process. An individual is required to ride into mountains, where he can be able to view the world differently. The natural world helps to renew one’s knowledge of the powers that aided past heroes in similar quests. Natural world is useful in eradicating fear among the affected individuals. It is believed that the natural world connects individuals with his/her people. Works Cited Basso, Keith. Wisdom Sits in Places. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996. Silko, Leslie. Ceremony. New York: Viking, 1977. Read More