Owl in the Cedar Tree by N. Scott Momaday

First published: 1965; illustrated

Type of work: Domestic realism

Themes: Animals, education, family, and race and ethnicity

Time of work: The mid-twentieth century

Recommended Ages: 10-13

Locale: The desert and mountains of the Southwestern United States

Principal Characters:

• Haske, a dutiful talented Navaho youth, who loves Night Wind
• Riding Woman, Haske’s mother, who is a dependable, sensible Navaho woman
• Night Singer, Haske’s father, who wants his children to learn the new ways
• Desbah, Haske’s sister, who is too young to go to school
• Old Grandfather, who tells Haske vivid stories of the Navaho past
• Store Sitter, the thoughtful manager of the trading post, who owns the black horse that Haske loves
• Miss Smith, Haske’s teacher, who enters Haske’s watercolor in a contest

The Story

Owl in the Cedar Tree is the story of Haske and his need to reconcile old and new ways. One major conflict this Navaho youth faces is symbolic of the problem most Indian tribes have had to face in the United States—the swallowing of their cultures by a larger society.

Haske loves to draw in the sand while tending sheep. He especially enjoys drawing Night Wind, a black horse owned by Store Sitter, who runs the trading post. Haske lives in a hogan (a small round house built with logs and earth) with his mother, father, and younger sister. The hogan has no beds, no stove, and only a dirt floor. In the center of the floor is a small fire pit for cooking and keeping the family warm. Each morning, Haske’s mother sweeps the floor. The family sleeps in soft sheepskins and blankets which are rolled up and used as seats in the daytime. All clothing is kept neatly in one box against the wall. A cedar tree grows just outside the hogan.

Haske’s mother weaves rugs with the sheep wool, and his father makes rings, bracelets, and necklaces from blocks of silver. Haske’s father also plants vegetables and shears sheep. In the winter he hunts because at this time most Navahos’ stores are running low.

One morning Haske hears an owl hoot twice in the cedar tree. Three times is considered bad luck. Later, while he tends sheep in the mountains and his grandfather tells him vivid stories of Navaho history, Haske’s sheep are routed by a bear. When he returns with the sheep, he finds that his grandfather has been wounded on his thin chest by the bear. After his dogs, Gray Eyes and Ute, chase the bear away, Haske finds help for his grandfather from a passing Navaho, who places him on his horse and takes him to Riding Woman’s wagon. Late at night, Haske returns with all the sheep. The next morning, Ute returns without Gray Eyes.

That evening, when Night Singer returns from the spring with water, he has Gray Eyes in the wagon. The dog had been trying to crawl home with broken ribs. Since Old Grandfather is ill, there will be a “Navaho Sing,” a ceremony including many neighbors and the medicine man to make sick persons well. At this rite, Haske observes the sand painters and decides that this is what he wants to be. Sand painters make beautiful designs on the ground with various colors of sand. When Old Grandfather gets well, Haske tells him of his new ambition, and Old Grandfather tells Haske that he must quit school and study only the Navaho religion and culture.

When Haske’s father hears this, he becomes angry, and Old Grandfather disappears. Haske’s father wants Haske to learn the new ways rather than old “superstitions.” Riding Woman tells Haske to take the best of both, and this seems to solve his dilemma. Haske’s teacher at school teaches the children stories in English and provides paper and materials for drawing. In school, Haske produces drawings and watercolors of Old Grandfather’s stories.

Old Grandfather returns to eat and spend the night. The next night he walks with Haske into the mountains to sing his “Death Song.” When Haske returns from school the next day, Old Grandfather has disappeared into the mountains, and Haske knows he is dead. That night the owl sings three times in the cedar tree.

In the summer, when school is out, Miss Smith comes to Haske’s hogan to tell him that the watercolor he gave her for Christmas won the first prize of one hundred dollars at an exhibit. At the trading post, after unsuccessfully trying to give his money to his parents and trying to repay Store Sitter for his generosity, he buys Night Wind. Store Sitter prefers being repaid with more of Haske’s watercolors. Haske rides home singing the Navaho “Happiness Song.”

Context

Since most of the Indian tribes’ myths and beliefs and rites were preserved only by the less-than-dependable oral tradition through the generations and not recorded in writing, there is great danger that these valuable insights into their civilizations might be lost forever. The author, Natachee Scott Momaday, and her son, Navarre Scott Momaday—who wrote The Way to Rainy Mountain (1969), The Names: A Memoir (1976), and other books—write to preserve the characteristics of Indian cultures that are gradually disappearing. They also are attempting to explain their perspective and struggles so that others can understand them.

This story of a minority’s culture can be placed in the context of stories of many minorities that have struggled to keep their dignity and individuality while living in a nation controlled by a more powerful group. Much of the writing of the black and Jewish cultures in the United States, for example, fits into this category. The Indian cultures are, in addition, genuinely American (Native American) cultures. Momaday’s description of Native American art is especially interesting. Although most Americans know little about them, sand painting and scrimshaw are recognized as the only two truly American art forms.

This is a children’s story. In addition to giving youngsters a glimpse of Navaho life, Momaday has created a character with whom readers will enjoy identifying. He is a loving, dutiful boy with dreams just like those of many children. He meets his conflicts and learns and grows from them. He works hard and develops his talent, and for this he is rewarded. At the end his dream comes true in a happily-ever-after ending typical of children’s stories. In sum, Owl in the Cedar Tree is an instructive, simple story, one that leaves the reader with a feeling of satisfaction. Not only has the reader learned something about a culture, but he has also felt the poignancy of the major character’s successes after so many conflicts and fears.

Bibliography

Barry, Nora. Review of Ancestral Voice: Conversations with N. Scott Momaday. MELUS 16 (December 22, 1989): 115-117.

Douglas, Christopher. “The Flawed Design: American Imperialism in N. Scott Momaday’s House Made of Dawn and Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian.” Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction 45 (Fall, 2003): 3-24.

Isernhagen, Hartwig. Momaday, Vizenor, Armstrong: Conversations on American Indian Writing. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999.

Owen, Louis. Other Destinies:Reading the American Indian Novel. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1992.

Roemer, Kenneth, ed. Approaches to Teaching Momaday’s “The Way to Rainy Mountain.” New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1988.

Scarberry-Garcia, Susan. Landmarks of Healing: A Study of “House Made of Dawn.” Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1990.

Scenters-Zapico, John. “Cross-Cultural Mediations: Language, Storytelling, History, and Self as Enthymematic Premises in the Novels of N. Scott Momaday.” The American Indian Quarterly 21 (June 22, 1997): 499.

Schubnell, Matthias. “Locke Setman, Emil Nolde, and the Search for Expression in N. Scott Momaday’s The Ancient Child.” The American Indian Quarterly 18 (September 22, 1994): 468-480.

Stevens, Jason W. “Bear, Outlaw, and Storyteller: American Frontier Mythology and Ethnic Subjectivity of N. Scott Momaday.” American Literature 73 (September, 2001): 599-631.