The Way To Rainy Mountain

In N. Scott Momaday’s essay, The Way To Rainy Mountain, the author describes the mountain in Oklahoma that was a landmark for the Kiowas as well as the place where his grandmother was buried. The Kiowas was the people that the author belongs to and in the present they have been moved to reservations. In the essay, N. Scott Momaday explains to the reader the timeline of his grandmother’s life. The use of imagery and adjectives is what makes the essay so great because the reader can paint a picture in his or her head of what exactly life must have been like for Aho (the grandmother). The author reflects back to the time when his grandmother was a child and the Kiowas were in control of a large amount of land and were living peacefully. Descriptions of the land and different seasons the Kiowas people went through are accurately depicted throughout the essay through the use of Aho’s life. The Rainy Mountain has the toughest weather in the winter which brings a lot snow, but during the summer it is beautiful and brings out the best in the Kiowas people. During Aho’s lifetime the U.S. Cavalry forced the Kiowas people to relocate and endure many tough times. Aho was buried along the Rainy Mountain and the author enjoys going back to the mountain to visit the gravestone and think about the good time of the tribe. I really enjoyed this writing because I could easily daydream and put myself in the exact location the author was trying to describe. Reading this personal essay almost felt similar to a poem in the way it followed so smoothly and how descriptive the scenery was. The author also did a nice job of telling a story through the time table of someone else’s life. He does a wonderful job reeling in the reader to feel as if they are present during the life of Aho the grandmother.