House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday (November 26 - December 7, 2004)
This Pulitzer Prize-winning story tells the story of Abel, a young American Indian. He returns home from World War II to Walatowa, New Mexico, in 1945 to stay with his grandfather, Francisco. The narrative in certain sections is very choppy, where the verbal sparseness represents the verbal expression of the Indians in a sparse land that has no need of excess words. He has an affair with a woman named Angela after chopping wood for her. During a ceremony on the feast of Santiago, Abel is smeared with a rooster’s blood by an albino. Later, Abel drinks with the elders, and then he murders the albino. He is sent to prison.
Seven years later, he is released and put under the watch of the Indian Relocation program in Los Angeles. He becomes friends with Ben Benally. Told from Abel’s point of view, you learn about his friendship with Ben, an Indian who has adapted better to relocation, and his romantic relationship with Milly (a social worker). Abel is beaten up, and left for dead on the beach by unknown attackers.
In the next section, Ben narrates Abel’s problems drinking and how he lost his job. Ben’s narrative is the most easy to read section, often guessing at, giving clues to, or explaining Abel’s behaviors. It also filled in gaps in Abel's narrative. Ben and Abel make a pact to meet some day meet again on the land and to sing the ceremonial song "House Made of Dawn." After a fight with Ben, Abel leaves and returns after three days, badly beaten. After a short time, he leaves to return to Walatowa where his grandfather is near death. After Francisco dies, Abel prepares his body and runs the “race of the dead.”
The story is complicated by the non-linear narrative structure. The present, past, myths, and storytelling blend. Major contrasts such as the purity of the land vs. industrialization, and the silence of Abel vs. the verboseness of the white men in L.A. stand out. The sense of a lack of place for Abel is profound. It is a unique and important story, fully deserving its critical praises.
