Ceremony

How do you heal after experiencing major trauma? It certainly isn't easy. In Leslie Marmon Silko's novel Ceremony (1977), a young Laguna man named Tayo has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after fighting in World War 2. He slowly finds a way to heal by reconnecting to his culture's stories, traditions, and land. Through this narrative, Silko passes down some of the myths, lessons, and values of her Laguna culture.

Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

Leslie Marmon Silko is an American author who draws upon her Laguna Pueblo Native American heritage as well as her experiences growing up on the outskirts of a Laguna Pueblo reservation in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In her written works—Ceremony included— Silko incorporates aspects of her Native American culture, such as traditional myths, lessons, and values, to pass down her ancestors' teachings. Ceremony is the book that Leslie Marmon Silko is best known for today.

Ceremony Summary

Tayo, a half-Laguna Pueblo Native American and half-white man, is returning home from World War II. His experiences as a soldier have damaged his psyche. In particular, he is torn apart by the pain of losing both his uncle Josiah and his cousin Rocky during the war. Tayo has spent some time in a Veteran's Hospital and is now well enough to return to his remaining family, though he is not yet fully well.

Fig. 1 - The reservation that Tayo lives on is near Albuquerque, New Mexico.

At home with his Auntie, her husband Robert, and his Grandmother, Tayo remembers that, while in the Philippines during the war, he prayed for the rain there to stop. Now Tayo finds that there is a drought that has been plaguing the reservation his family lives on. Tayo can't help but feel that his prayer in the Philippines caused the drought.

Tayo begins spending time with some of his old friends who live on the reservation: Emo, Pinkie, Harley, and Leroy. Though this helps Tayo to realize that he isn't alone in dealing with the negative effects of the war, it ends up making him feel worse. His friends are trying to deal with their experiences by getting drunk and talking fondly of their time as soldiers because they had garnered respect while in uniform—something they feel they cannot get otherwise. Tayo disagrees with how they glorify war; this angers the others, especially Emo.

Betonie instructs Tayo to recover Josiah's cattle and end the drought that has dried out the reservation for years. Tayo journeys first on foot and horseback as he searches for the lost cattle. Along the way, he meets a mysterious woman who houses him overnight; that night, Tayo dreams of the cows he is searching for. The next day he finds them fenced in on a white man's land; he cuts a hole in the fence through which he can lead them home.

Then, Tayo is attacked and wounded by white men. He is saved when he hears the distant singing of a Laguna hunter who takes him home to recover. It turns out that the hunter is the brother of the woman Tayo spent the night with before. The woman helps Tayo to recover the cattle.

As time passes, Tayo begins to heal more and more while he cares for the herd of cows. Despite this, his healing still isn't complete—and neither is his ceremony. He falls in love with the mysterious woman, whose name is Ts'eh. She gathers many plants and helps Tayo to recognize his growing connection to and love of the natural world.

Fig. 2 - Returning his uncle's cattle to his family's home is part of Tayo's ceremony.

Eventually, Ts'eh explains that Emo has been plotting to get rid of Tayo; Emo has hated him since he criticized Emo for idealizing the war. Tayo goes on the run, hiding until he finds his old friends Leroy and Harley. Feeling safe with them, Tayo gets into their car; however, before long it becomes clear that these friends intend to betray him and hand him over to Emo. Tayo escapes from them and shelters in a uranium mine; while there, he thinks about the destruction and killing caused by the white man's atomic bomb. Emo and Pinkie soon arrive and begin to torture Harley for losing Tayo. Though tempted to kill Emo, Tayo realizes that doing so would undo all the healing he has undergone.

Tayo makes it through a night in the mine without giving in to violence, completing his ceremony. He then returns to Ku'oosh to tell the story. The medicine man reveals that Ts'eh is actually the Reed Woman, A'moo'ooh, who has the power to make the rain return and end the drought. Though both Leroy and Harley are later found murdered and Emo gets away with it, Tayo is finally healed.

Ceremony Characters

• Tayo: The protagonist of the story. After fighting in World War II and losing an uncle and a cousin to the war, Tayo has PTSD. In an attempt to heal, he visits traditional Laguna medicine men and sets off on a journey to complete a ceremony that will heal him.

• Josiah: Tayo's uncle. He took care of cattle before the war, but when he was killed his herd was taken by a white man.

• Rocky: Tayo's cousin. He was killed while fighting in World War II.

• Auntie: Tayo's aunt. She lives in Tayo's family home and is involved in sending Tayo to the medicine men.

• Robert: Auntie's husband. He lives in Tayo's family home.

• Grandma: Tayo's grandmother; she lives in Tayo's family home. It is her idea for him to visit a medicine man.

• Ku'oosh: The medicine man that Tayo visits first. Though his ceremony helps, it does not completely heal Tayo. At the end of the book, Tayo returns to him to tell the story of his ceremony.

• Betonie: The second medicine man that Tayo visits. He tells Tayo that to heal fully, he must perform a ceremony to help heal the world.

• Ts'eh: A mysterious woman who assists Tayo on his journey to recover Josiah's cattle and later warns him of Emo's plot. It is revealed that she is actually the Reed Woman, a mystical being who can end the drought.

• Emo: A childhood acquaintance of Tayo's. He dislikes and eventually plots to kill Tayo.

• Harley: An old friend of Tayo's. He intends to hand Tayo over to Emo and is tortured and killed when Tayo escapes.

• Leroy: An old friend of Tayo's. He intends to hand Tayo over to Emo and is then killed when Tayo escapes.

• Pinkie: Emo's henchman. He helps with Emo's plot to kill Tayo.

Ceremony Symbols

The symbolism in Leslie Marmon Silko's novel, Ceremony, helps to clarify the text's themes. Two important symbols Silko uses are the gut and the atomic bomb.

The Gut

In Ceremony, Silko writes that the gut is where you hold stories and traditions. From there, you can digest them slowly over time, and the lessons and values that come from them nourish you. Throughout the story, Tayo is aware of his stomach. Sometimes it feels empty; other times he feels it processing food. These occasions reflect Tayo's digestion of Laguna stories that nourish and assist him along his journey to healing.

The Atomic Bomb

When sheltering in the uranium mine near the end of the novel, Tayo begins to think about the war and the atomic bombs used in it. Silko draws parallels between the indiscriminate killing of the bombs and the destruction that has been wrought upon the Laguna people and culture. This ties into Tayo's decision to resist the urge to kill Emo. Tayo decides against resorting to violence and destruction, which would only undo the healing that he had already done.

Ceremony Themes

In Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko addresses several important themes in her Laguna culture. Some of these themes are storytelling, tradition, and connection to nature.

Storytelling

In Laguna culture, storytelling is more than just entertainment. Stories are a way to pass down lessons, values, and traditions. The characters in Ceremony frequently compare stories to medicine and other things essential to a person's life. Silko emphasizes this further when she explains that Tayo, like others from the Laguna culture, is losing his tie to their stories. For example, at the Indian School, Tayo is taught that believing in such stories is ridiculous. On the other hand, the Laguna culture teaches that passing down stories is their best defense against the dominant culture stamping them out.

Traditional Laguna stories are featured throughout Ceremony, emphasizing the lessons that Tayo learns through his experiences. Silko further underlines how critical storytelling is when, after spending a night in the mine and resisting violence, Tayo returns to his town's medicine man to tell the story of his ceremony.

Tradition

One of the things that Tayo must do in order to heal is to reconnect with tradition. Some of the younger Laguna people, including Tayo's old friends, have started to feel that the old traditions are not useful in the modern day. While some people have chosen to forgo the old ways, Tayo finds healing in strengthening his relationship with his heritage.

Part of this traditional heritage is ceremony.

This quote shows that, rather than being relics of the past, traditions and ceremonies can change and adapt to the world as it is now. They can have meaning and value in the present, as well as provide a link to ancestors. By telling the story of his own ceremony, Tayo is weaving himself into the traditions of his Laguna ancestors and healing.

Connection to Nature

The natural world and all its inhabitants are important in Laguna culture, as well as the connection that a person feels to them. Leslie Marmon Silko addresses this theme in Ceremony by making it an integral part of Tayo's recovery. Early in the story, Tayo begins to process his experiences differently when considering his relationship with nature. He remembers a time that he hunted a deer; instead of seeing himself as an aggressor killing his prey, he views it as the deer giving itself to him out of love. This highlights that Tayo is part of a relationship with nature. His people love and respect the deer, and the deer love and provide sustenance for them in return.

In the quote below, Leslie Marmon Silko illustrates how Tayo heals as his connection to nature and tradition is restored. He realizes that everything is connected—every person, animal, and part of nature. His ancestors, traditions, and past are all integral parts of his present story and that of the greater world. His view on life becomes much more hopeful.