Native American Story I Heard The Owl Call My Name
Native American Story I Heard The Owl Call My Name
The spiritual, religious and cultural beliefs the Native Americans of Kingcome village possess are strong and tightly bound. They are connected physically and mentally to everything that surrounds them. The land, nature and people are a fundamental part of who they are. Yet the opportunities waiting for them in white society provide hope for a different life of freedom, independence, education and wealth. In Margaret Craven’s epic novel I Heard The Owl Call My Name, both characters, Gordon and Keetah face the problem of living in two completely different and contrasting worlds, the ‘Indian’ world and the ‘White’ world.
In the novel the importance of land, nature and people form the basis of the Kwakwala tribes’ Indian culture and religious belief system.
“The Indian knows his village and feels for his village as no white man for his country, his town, or even for his own bit of land” (Craven, 1976: 12)
The idea of living in ‘both worlds’ causes inner and external turmoil for both Gordon and Keetah. Both know and feel for their village, yet have different hopes and aspirations as to what their futures may hold. They worry about fulfilling their own personal desires whilst at the same time trying to please the disapproving tribal elders, who believe that young Indians are lured into white society through temptations of education and a ‘better’ life.
“ When the young leave, the world takes them, and damages them. They no longer listen when the elders speak. They go, and soon the village will go also. (Craven, 1976: 50)
To the elders white society ‘damages’ young Indians, stripping them of their respect and understanding of Indian culture and influences them to practise what they see as the ‘negative’ ways of the whites’. It is through the so called ‘advantages’ present in white society that the elders believe will cause the inevitable downfall of their tribe, the disintegration of their way of life and their religious belief system.
Gordon’s decision to leave the village and live permanently in white society is one of much deliberation. Although physically and mentally connected to the people of the village and its surroundings, he “feels himself trapped” (Craven, 1976: 23) in the Indian world. Gordon’s connections to the village are neither strong nor binding, as he yearns to return...