Panoramic Vista of Tradition and Culture in Preserving Cultural Identity in Leslie Marmon Silko's “Ceremony”

Abstract

Leslie Marmon Silko is regarded as the most commendable writer and poet in the realm of Native American Literature. According to critic Alan Velie, Silkois one of his four Native American Literary Masters along with N. Scott Momaday. Being a Laguna Pueblo Indian woman novelist, she is most remarkable contributor in Native American Renaissance. Her writings hold plethora of information about indigenous culture and traditions of Native American identity. Her writing style is a quintessential embodiment of amalgamation of traditionalism with modernism. White people had callously criticized indigenous ways of living, culture, tradition and ceremony. Silko, through her classic works, conveyed that the traditions of storytelling have preserved the cultural heritage of the Native people. Native culture and traditions including religious practices, customs, rituals and legends were forbidden by the White people resulting in cultural conflicts and disharmony. Natives were grief stricken and lost their identity on account of dominant and aggressive approach of the White people. Silko succinctly depicts in her magnum opus work ‘Ceremony’ the identity crisis of Tayo as a protagonist as an emblem of half-breed. He is alienated by the obnoxious nature of white-people. This research paper primarily highlights on epiphany of Tayo regarding his roots of Laguna tradition and culture in the process of sustenance of Native American identity.