Ceremony is a novel by Leslie Marmon Silko, a writer of Laguna Pueblo descent. It was published by Viking Press in 1977. The title Ceremony is based on the oral traditions and ceremonial practices of the Navajo and Pueblo people. The book helped secure Silko a MacArthur “genius” grant in 1981.
Plot
Ceremony follows Tayo, a half-Pueblo, half-white veteran, after his return from World War II, where he was stationed in the Pacific. He returns with P.T.S.D., tormented by the knowledge that the United States government used him and other Native men for its war, giving those lucky enough to survive nothing in return.
His white doctors diagnose him with "battle fatigue," today known as post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition to Tayo's story in the present, the novel flashes back to his experiences before and during the war. A parallel story narrates a legendary episode in which the Pueblo nation is threatened by a drought as punishment for listening to a practitioner of "witchery". In order to redeem the people of the nation, Hummingbird and Green Bottle Fly must journey to the Fourth World to find Reed Woman.
Tayo struggles with the death of his cousin Rocky, who died during the Bataan Death March, and with the loss of his uncle Josiah, who died while Tayo was at war. After several years at a military hospital, Tayo is released by his doctors who believe he will do better at home. While staying with his family, Tayo can barely get out of bed and self-medicates with alcohol. He drinks with his fellow veterans—Harley, Leroy, Pinkie, and Emo. They discuss their resentment from fighting in a white man's war with nothing to show for it. It is revealed that Tayo once stabbed Emo with a broken bottle because Emo was bragging about taking the teeth of a slain Japanese soldier.
Meanwhile, the Laguna Pueblo reservation suffers from a drought, an event which mirrors the legend. Looking to help Tayo, his grandmother summons a medicine man named Ku'oosh. However, Ku'oosh's ceremony is ineffective against Tayo's battle fatigue because Ku'oosh can't understand modern warfare. He sends Tayo to another medicine man named Betonie, who incorporates elements of the modern world into his ceremonies. Betonie tells Tayo about the Destroyers who are bent on destabilizing the world, saying that Tayo must complete the ceremony to save the Pueblo people.
Believing himself to be responsible for the drought, Tayo sets out to keep a promise he made to Josiah to round up Josiah's stolen cattle. While riding south after the cattle, he meets a woman named Ts'eh, whom he sleeps with for a night. He eventually finds the cattle on the property of a wealthy white rancher. Tayo cuts through the ranch fence but is discovered by the ranch's employees. The tracks of a huge cougar, heavily implied to be a form of Ts'eh, distract them. Tayo escapes. Ts'eh and her brother help Tayo trap the cattle in an arroyo so he can drive them back to the pueblo.
The next year, Tayo reunites with Ts'eh, and spends an idyllic time with her until Tayo's drinking buddies return for him. After a night of drinking, Tayo realizes he cannot complete the ceremony while drunk and abandons the others after sabotaging their truck. Later that night, Emo tortures Harley near the site of the Trinity nuclear test, trying to lure Tayo out to settle their score. In contrast to their past confrontation, Tayo decides not to fight. A fight ensues among the other men that results in the deaths of Harley and Leroy.
Tayo goes back home to the pueblo and tells the elders he has completed the ceremony by recovering the cattle, abstaining from violence, and meeting a spirit woman in the form of Ts'eh. Meanwhile, in the mythic parallel story, Hummingbird and Green Bottle Fly find Reed Woman in the Fourth World. In each storyline, the act of ceremonial reunion brings an end to the drought, and the Pueblo are saved. Emo is banned from the reservation after killing Pinkie, and Tayo lives a content life tending to his herd of cattle.
Characters Tayo, World War II veteran of Laguna Pueblo and Anglo descent Betonie, mixed-blooded Navajo healer Ku'oosh, Laguna kiva priest Uncle Josiah, confidant to Tayo who died while Tayo was deployed Ts'eh, a highly spiritual woman whom Tayo loves Rocky, Tayo's cousin; died during the Bataan Death March Harley, friend to Tayo and fellow World War II veteran Old Grandma, family matriarch and believer in the Pueblo religion Auntie, Rocky's mother who also raised Tayo; Catholic convert who rejects the Pueblo religion Laura, known primarily as "Little Sister"; Tayo's mother and sister to Auntie Uncle Robert, Auntie's husband Emo, Tayo's fellow veteran with a grudge against him Pinkie, veteran and follower of Emo The Night Swan, girlfriend of Uncle Josiah whom Tayo later sleeps with Ulibarri, cousin of the Night Swan from whom Josiah purchases the cattle Helen Jean, a native woman who spends time with Harley and Leroy
Timelines Peter G. Beidler and Robert M. Nelson of the University of Richmond argue that the novel is composed of six timelines:
The main timeline Tayo and Rocky's boyhood Tayo and Rocky's early manhood Tayo and Rocky's enlistment and deployment in WWII Tayo's return to the pueblo The mythic action of Spider Woman, Hummingbird, Green Bottle Fly, and Reed Woman, as well as the witchery and the Destroyers
Main Timeline
C. 1922: Tayo is born. 1941: Tayo and Rocky enlist and are sent overseas. Harley, Emo, and Leroy are at Wake Island. Josiah dies on the pueblo. Tayo and Rocky are taken prisoner April–May 1942: Rocky is wounded, and dies during the Bataan Death March; Tayo curses the rain and the flies, and ends up in a POW camp. Drought begins in New Mexico July 16, 1945: Trinity Site Test in New Mexico, first atomic bomb test. 1945–1948: Tayo is in veteran's hospital mental ward; Tayo is sent home and begins adventures in Dixie bar with Harley, Leroy, Pinkie and Emo. May 1948: Tayo is lying in bed, sick at his Auntie's house. Harley arrives on a burro and convinces him to go and get a beer. Ceremony with Ku'oosh fails. Late July 1948: Tayo says he is better, but the old men believe that he needs a stronger ceremony, so they refer him to Betonie. Tayo leaves for a while and meets Harley, Leroy and Helen Jean, who go as far away as San Fidel. He wakes up in the morning and vomits, and finally sees the horrible truth about his friends' drunkenness. Late September 1948: Tayo goes to Mt. Taylor on his ceremony, trying to retrieve the spotted cattle. He meets Ts'eh, sleeps with her, cuts the fence and retrieves the cattle from the white rancher, meets the hunter, and brings the cattle home. Winter 1948–1949 Tayo lives with Auntie, Grandma, and Robert before going back to the ranch to look after the cattle Summer 1949: Tayo meets Ts'eh, they pick flowers and herbs, Tayo gets a yellow bull to breed with his cattle, and Ts'eh warns him that "they" will be coming for him at the end of the summer. Late September 1949: During the fall equinox, Tayo gets drunk with Harley and Leroy before coming to his senses and disabling their truck. He and Emo have their final confrontation near Jackpile Uranium mine and Trinity Site, and opts not to stab Emo with the screwdriver, letting him kill Harley and Leroy. The next day, Tayo tells Ku'oosh and the elders in a kiva at old Laguna everything that he has seen.
Mythical Timeline
Creation: Ts'its'tsi'nako (Thought Woman or Spider Woman) and her daughter/sisters Nau'ts'ity'i (Corn Woman) and I'cts'ity'i (Reed Woman) set life in motion Recovery/Transformation: The Keresan prayer for sunrise (Keres is a Native American language, spoken by the Keres Pueblo people in New Mexico) Departure: Corn Woman scolds Reed Woman for being lazy, and she departs; Drought begins Departure and Recovery: Pa'caya'nyi introduces Ck'o'yo medicine, and the People forget their obligation to Nau'ts'ity'i
Symbols and themes
Storytelling The book stretches the novel form, incorporating poetry and oral traditions. Part of the novel is written in prose, and other parts appear as poetry.
There are no conventional chapters in Ceremony. The novel weaves together a number of different timelines and stories.
For the Laguna oral tradition, which author Silko invokes in this book, words hold a deep importance. The Laguna people believe that humans are responsible for telling stories, because words do not exist alone– they need a story to give them meaning. Through storytelling, myths are handed down to teach the history of the Laguna people and their way of life. These stories connect the past and the present, because when myths are retold, those stories become a part of the present.
In the novel, Betonie and Tayo's grandmother tell various stories, fulfilling this responsibility. The significance and power of words are emphasized when Tayo curses the rain, which causes a drought.
Whatever the character Spiderwoman, a mystical creature who creates the world, speaks, or names, comes into existence. This further emphasizes the power of words and thoughts.
Ceremony and healing The purpose of ceremonies is the transformation of someone from one condition to another, in Tayo's case, the transformation from diseased to healing. Ceremonies are ritual enactments of myths which incorporate the art of storytelling and the myths and rituals of the Native Americans (70). They are important for Tayo's identity construction as one can see through his mental development after his experience with Betonie and the ceremony (144).
In the novel, "healing" means the recovery of the self and the return to the roots (45) and one important part of the process of healing is rejecting witchery (54). Tayo is stuck in between multiple worlds: between Laguna culture and white culture, and between witchery which is seen as a force opposite to creativity. Tayo rejects witchery when he refuses to drink alcohol his friends offer him (144). He does not only refuse to drink alcohol, he also distances himself from his old friends and a life full of violence. The search for the Laguna culture and its rituals also helps him to deal with turning away from witchery (54). He respects the rituals of his culture by being open for the ceremonies which is another important aspect for his healing (54). Tayo is being taught spirituality by Betonie, this way he internalizes the Laguna culture (133). It is important that the Laguna community, e.g. his aunt, who tells Tayo to go to Betonie, helps Tayo with his healing, because that way Tayo can overcome the alienation he feels caused by him being half-breed. Betonie also helps Tayo to recover through ceremonies which relates Tayo's American identity to his Laguna identity and therefore combines his past with his present (150). The fact that Tayo learns more about and experiences ceremonies is another important aspect which leads him to healing, because he learns about his culture.
The appreciation of the Laguna culture is essential for his healing. He still needs a spiritual ceremony after the white man's medicine, which indicates that he needs to experience his old and his new culture (53). When Tayo covers the deer's dead body at the deer-hunting, which is a gesture performed out of respect, he shows that he initiated Laguna myths, because Laguna mythology connects all living creatures (48). Through his connection with his lover, Ts'eh, Tayo is able to move forward in his healing, not only in body, but also in his spirit as he connects to the divine feminine within himself. After all of these experiences Tayo's dreams no longer haunt him, because he learns to deal with his past and he is able to link the American to the Laguna culture (151). The cattle function as spirit guides, which leads him to healing (374), because through them he learns to forgive himself for the drought (376).