The Way to Rainy Mountain
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The Way to Rainy Mountain (1969) is a book by Pulitzer Prize winning author N. Scott Momaday. It is about the journey of Momaday's Kiowa ancestors from their ancient beginnings in the Montana area to their final war and surrender to the United States Cavalry at Fort Sill, and subsequent resettlement near Rainy Mountain, Oklahoma.
The book is divided into three main parts: The Setting Out, which consists of early Kiowa legends and anthropological studies on the Kiowa people. The second part, The Going On, continues with the theme of Kiowa mythology, and discusses the origins of Tai-me and the Sun Dance Ritual. The last section, the Closing In, describes the end of the Kiowa golden age and has a lot to do with the death of the Kiowa culture.
Each chapter is also divided into three parts. The first consists of the mythological stories of the Kiowas, the second focuses on the actual history of the Kiowa tribe, and the third part is the author's own observations from when he retraced the long journey to Rainy Mountain his ancestors had taken. As the book draws to an end, these parts start to combine, the mythology becomes more historical, the history becomes more personal, and the personal tales become more mythological.
