The Ghost Horse Cycle by Jamake Highwater

First published:Legend Days, 1984; The Ceremony of Innocence, 1985; I Wear the Morning Star, 1986

Type of work: Social realism

Themes: Race and ethnicity, and nature

Time of work: The late nineteenth century and the twentieth century

Recommended Ages: 13-15

Locale: The Northern Plains and California

Principal Characters:

• Amana, a Northern Plains Indian girl who has strong traditional beliefs and faith in the ancient powers given her in childhood
• Jemina, Amana’s daughter, who struggles against the beliefs of her mother as she tries to survive in the white culture
• Reno, Amana’s eldest grandson, who rejects his grandmother’s ways as he relentlessly strives to achieve his goal to fit into the white culture
• Sitko, Amana’s youngest grandson, who longs to learn more about his grandmother’s traditions and beliefs, even though he faces ridicule

The Story

The Ghost Horse cycle is a series of three books that follow three generations of a Northern Plains Indian family as they progress from a proud and powerful people to a people who are alienated from both their roots and the encroaching white culture. The cycle focuses on the life of Amana, a woman of power, courage, and tragedy, who symbolizes the fate of her people.

Legend Days, the first book in the cycle, begins in an earlier Northern Plains setting, where it was possible to have close relationships with, and gain power from, the spirits of animals. Even at the beginning of the book, however, Highwater foreshadows the tragedy to come, as Amana is frightened by terrible omens: one in the form of a white owl that swoops down upon her father, another in a luminous ring that encircles the weary moon, and a third in the sun dogs that glow in the snow-filled sky. Thereafter, Amana has a great vision that changes her from a child to a developing woman with power. Again, an incident foreshadows trouble ahead as a wise old woman councils Amana that her great vision will bring her pain, as her people will be destroyed and her power will separate her from her people.

Throughout her developing years, Amana experiences conflicts of identity as she desires to be a warrior rather than a woman. Individual-versus-society conflicts become more prevalent at the close of Legend Days. After Amana has witnessed the beginning of the demise of her people, she is alone, begging the sky for a sign that she will survive, that she will be able to recapture the vision that gave purpose to her youth.

In The Ceremony of Innocence, the struggles between Indian tribal ways and the encroaching white culture, as well as the ultimate demise of the Indian people, are symbolized by several incidents. Jean-Pierre, a white trader, abandons Amana before the birth of her daughter, Jemina. As Jemina grows up, she rejects her mother’s people and embraces the white culture. Jemina has two children, Reno and Sitko. Reno is not interested in Amana’s stories about the tribal ways, but Sitko likes the legends and feels the power of his people when he attends a ceremony.

At the close of The Ceremony of Innocence, Amana has again had a vision of the future. This time she is holding Sitko high above a river of blood. Later, she takes out her sacred bundle, the bundle that contains the faded regalia of her warrior years, and vows to build a fine lodge to the Sun, if the Sun will allow her to rear Sitko to value ancestral ways.

In the concluding book, I Wear the Morning Star, Highwater focuses on the developing Sitko as he faces humiliation from people who do not understand his desires to retell and believe in the ancient myths told to him by his grandmother. Sitko is shown as a strong character who eventually takes over his grandmother’s visions by creating the images of her stories and her way of life through his art. Sitko and Amana prosper—Sitko through his art and Amana through her reversion to earlier visions.

Context

The historical perspective of Legend Days is based on accounts of life in the Northern Plains as found in the oral history of the Blackfeet Confederacy. Legend Days is grounded in mythological foundations that are similar to those developed in Highwater’s Newbery Award-winning book, Anpao: An American Indian Odyssey (1977). Both books refer to figures and beliefs that can be traced to the oral tradition in Native American mythology and legend and to Highwater’s own Blackfeet/Cherokee heritage. Both books develop strong relationships between humanity and nature and suggest that these relationships must be held sacred if humans are to prosper. These mythological references and respect for nature are also underlying concepts in Highwater’s poem Moonsong Lullaby (1981). Unlike Anpao, which has a happy ending because the protagonist is able to follow his beliefs and his visions, Legend Days concludes with the foreshadowing of potential conflict as Amana senses the end of her power and a way of life symbolized by the title of the book.

The social context of both Ceremony of Innocence and I Wear the Morning Star is similar to the context of Native American authors writing for adult audiences. For example, N. Scott Momaday (Kiowa), in House Made of Dawn (1968), focuses on the alienation of a returning Native American soldier as he feels separated from both urban society and tribal ways. Many of the short stories of Simon J. Ortiz (Acoma Pueblo), such as “You Were Real, the White Radical Said to Me” in Fightin’ (1983), and his poems, such as “From Sand Creek” in Songs from This Earth on Turtle’s Back: Contemporary American Indian Poetry (1983), reveal how difficult it is to face stereotypical attitudes and be accepted as an individual. Similarly, Highwater’s protagonists exemplify alienation because of loss of identity and the consequences of striving to fit into an alien world.

In Highwater’s Ghost Horse cycle, only Amana and Sitko eventually obtain acceptance of self and peace of mind. Amana succeeds by escaping into her earlier visions and reuniting with Grandfather Fox through death. Sitko learns the myths of his grandmother and recaptures her visions through art. Many contemporary Native American poets whose writings are in Songs from This Earth on Turtle’s Back search for contentment by returning to traditional ways and tribal values. For example, “Spawning” and “They Tell Me I Am Lost,” by Maurice Kenny (Mohawk), reflect the poet’s need to return to the natural environment of his people. “Elegy,” by Karoniaktatie (Mohawk), mourns the passing of the sacred ways and hopes for teachings that enable the people to nourish and protect one another. In “Where Mountainlion Laid Down with Deer,” Leslie Silko (Laguna Pueblo) writes of memories and her return to the world of her ancestors.

Highwater places his Ghost Horse cycle, written for adolescents, into the social context of many contemporary Native American adult authors. There are strong foundations in traditional beliefs and alienation for characters if they must struggle between their own culture and that of another. Highwater allows adolescents to glimpse and understand the social and personal struggles that face many Native Americans today.