The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions

exchange of dominance, and thus each portion of the community
takes responsibility in turn for the prosperity and well-being of
the people.
A Keres is of course aware that balance and harmony are two
primary assumptions of Keres society and will not approach the
narrative wondering whether the handsome Miochin will win the
hand of the unhappy wife and triumph over the enemy, thereby
heroically saving the people from disaster. The triumph of
handsome youth over ugly age or of virile liberality over
withered tyranny doesn’t make sense in a Keres context because
such views contradict central Keres values.
A traditional Keres is satisfied by the story because it
reaffirms a Keres sense of Tightness, of propriety. It is a tale that
affirms ritual understandings, and the Keres reader can visualize
the ritual itself when reading Gunn’s story. Such a reader is
likely to be puzzled by the references to rulers and by the tone of
heroic romance but will be reasonably satisfied by the account
because in spite of its westernized changes, it still ends happily
with the orderly transfer of focality between the moieties and
seasons accomplished in seasonal splendor as winter in New
Mexico blusters and sleets its way north and summer sings and
warms its way home. In the end, the primary Keres values of
harmony, balance, and the centrality of woman to maintain them
have been validated, and the fundamental Keres principal of
proper order is celebrated and affirmed once again.
A Modern Feminist Interpretation
A non-Keres feminist, reading this tale, is likely to wrongly
suppose that this narrative is about the importance of men and
the use of a passive female figure as a pawn in their bid for
power. And, given the way Gunn renders the story, a modern