Pueblo Indian Perspective

Language and Literature From a Pueblo Indian Perspective by Leslie Marmon Silko gives us a glimpse into the culture of a Pueblo Indian. The life of the Pueblo revolves around an array of stories that teach lessons in life which is meant to be passed down from generation to generation to keep keep the culture going. Storytelling is told in times of joy, anger or crisis. It is part of Pueblos origin and is more important than our bedtime stories. Pueblos prefer oral communication over written communication. Pueblo stories are a form of therapy and establish their identity. Stories told in Pueblo form differ from today’s written technique. The Pueblo style resembles a spider web because it has many little threads that get tied together at the center branching out. The Pueblo narrative is unlike the western linear narrative that we are used to. In Pueblo culture, the telling of one story will raise attention to similar stories or words that have happened in the past. Silko tells us that her essay is written in Pueblo style.

Silko uses a story to illustrate these ideas. The Volkswagen story is about a young man who saved up his money to buy himself a new car. One night he drove to a bar that was located near an arroyo. When he went inside to grab a drink he forgot to set the emergency brake on his new car. It ended up rolling into the arroyo and was all smashed up. Within the next couple of days people approached him with stories of their own about that same arroyo. In the Pueblo culture, the arroyo has become a landmark. The Pueblo people use stories as a way to express themselves as well as to discuss problems, as well as events in the past. Stories are their own form of therapy in the Pueblo culture. The arroyo has a bunch of different stories associated with it, bringing the Pueblo people together by having a common past. Just like how Pueblo writing is brought together with one typical idea, like a spiderweb.

The Yashtoah story itself resembles the Pueblo culture by connecting old pieces of their culture with the new. The story is about a little girl that wanted her mother to make her a dish called Yashtoah. Her mother did not have the right ingredients to make the meal for her little girl having her go grab some. As she came back to the house the ingredients didn’t