Running On The Land

N.Scott Momaday is often regarded as a cultural pioneer and his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel House Made of Dawn brings a slant of light to Native American literature.His writings often have strong local flavor and tribal color.Tribal history,traditional culture,religious belief,natural lifestyle and ecological ideology are elaborated in his novels.As a Native American writer who has many years’ living experience on the reservation,Momaday shows deep love and great concern to the land,which influences his writing to a large extent.Besides,Momaday has a keen eye on the cultural identity crisis faced by the young generations of the Native Americans.Both House Made of Dawn and The Ancient Child narrate the return of the disoriented and alienated Native Americans.There are many similarities between the structures of the novels.The two novels both begin and end with a running scene.By far,most studies on running are mainly limited to the sport field in which running is often related with digression,escapism and resistance,while few scholars relate running to literary interpretation.In general,running plays a unique and important role in Native Americans’ traditional life and culture.Momaday reinvests running in Native American ceremonies and legends with new meaning.At the end of his novels,running at dawn is often interpreted as a ceremony to pay respect to the dead and to regain rebirth and harmony.Running at night is often regarded as a ceremony to restore connection with nature and universe,as well as to regain integrity and power.Both ceremonies demonstrate Momaday’s concern toward the Indian generations and their traditional culture.Nevertheless,running might as well suggests some negative information.To some extent,running signifies the runners’ temporary escape and resistance when confronted with the outer changes and challenges.While considering the urban Native Americans’ situation in Abel and Set’s time,temporary escape from the white-dominant cities is also a preparation for them to seek reconciliation with the outer world in the future.If a man wants to join the world,he must first be a wholesome and integrated person with a root or an identity,or he will be lost among the crowds.This thesis attempts to make an analysis about the role of running in Momaday’s novels.Running not only serves a ritual which brings about revival and restoration of spirit and culture,but also implies the runners’ temporary escape and resistance against the white-dominant society.This thesis consists of five parts.Introduction begins with a literature review followed by the general idea,significance and structure of the thesis.Chapter One probes running in the history of Native and Non-native American literature.In Native American literature,running often relates with tricks,freedoms,healing and restoration reflected in Coyote,trickster,Centaur and rituals.In Non-native American literature,especially in the western literature,running is often related with sport,religion,life journey,masculinity,romantic attraction,escape and resistance.Chapter Two explores the role of running as a ritual of rebirth.Running is not only a ceremony to pay respect to the death of the Indians,but also a healing ceremony.Running not only enables Abel and Set to restore their connection with land,but also helps them regain the memory of tribal traditional culture and realize the return of their lost integrity and identity.Chapter Three analyzes running as a temporary escape.The protagonists’ return implies their escape from the complicated outer world and their resistance to join it.But their escape and resistance is temporary,because it is also a preparation for them to enter the outer world in the future.The Conclusion part makes a summary of the role that running plays in Momaday’s novels.Although Momaday does not suggest an easy and feasible way for Native Americans to assimilate into the dominant society immediately,his main characters’ return to the Native land implies a preparation for them to reenter the dominant culture and society in the future.