The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions

The Feminine Landscape of Leslie
Marmon Silko’s Ceremony
There are two kinds of women and two kinds of men in Leslie
Marmon Silko’s Ceremony (New York: Viking, 1977). The
figures of Laura, Night Swan, Grandmother, Betonie’s
Grandmother, and Ts’eh represent one kind of woman, while to
some extent Auntie, Betonie’s grandfather’s wives, and
grandfather’s mother represent the other. Josiah, the Mountain
Spirit, Betonie’s grandfather, Ku’oosh, Betonie, Robert, and
Tayo represent a kind of man associated with the first category
of women, while Rocky, Emo, Pink, Harley, and the witches
represent men associated with the second. Those in the first
category belong to the earth spirit and live in harmony with her,
even though this attunement may lead to tragedy. Those in the
second are not of the earth but of human mechanism; they live to
destroy that spirit, to enclose and enwrap it in their
machinations, condemning all to a living death. Ts’eh is the
matrix, the creative and life-restoring power, and those who
cooperate with her designs serve her and, through her, serve life.
They make manifest that which she thinks. The others serve the
witchery; they are essentially inimical to all that lives, creates,
and nurtures.
While Ceremony is ostensibly a tale about a man, Tayo, it is
as much and more a tale of two forces: the feminine life force of
the universe and the mechanistic death force of the witchery.
And Ts’eh is the central character of the drama of this ancient
battle as it is played out in contemporary times.