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A poem from her brilliant book, Ceremony. New York: Penguin, 1977. 132-138. This poem is at the center of the book. The main character, Tayo, is a World War II veteran who is suffering from what was called shell shock in WWI, battle fatigue in WWII and post-traumatic stress syndrome since the Vietnam War era. Tayo is speaking to Betonie, a medicine man who is attempting to heal Tayo. Tayo's illness will kill him soon if he does not find a cure. The term "medicine man" is distinct from "witch" in this context. The contemporary American religion, Wicca, attempts to retrieve the connotation of "witch" from its association with evil, but this poem is using "witch" explicitly to divide the practices of medicine men like Betonie from "witches" who intend harm to others. "Witchery" is not an admirable practice in this poem; it can be identified as the cultivator of evil. *** The old man shook his head. "That is the trickery of the witchcraft," he said, "They want us to believe all evil resides with white people. Then we will look no further to see what is really happening. They want us to separate ourselves from white people, to be ignorant and helpless as we watch our own destruction. But white people are only the tools that witchery manipulates; and I tell you, we can deal with white people, with their machines and their beliefs. We can because we invented white people; it was Indian witchery that made white people in the first place. Long time ago in the beginning there were no white people in this world there was nothing European. And this world might have gone on like that except for one thing: witchery. This world was already complete even without white people. There was everything including witchery. Then it happened. These witch people got together. Some came from far far away across oceans across mountains. Some had slanty eyes others had black skin. They all got together for a contest the way people have baseball tournaments nowadays except this was a contest in dark things. So anyway they all got together witch people from all directions witches from all the Pueblos and all the tribes They had Navajo witches there, some from Hopi, and a few from Zuni. They were having a witches' conference, that's what it was Way up in the lava rock hills north of Canoncito they got together to fool around in caves with their animal skins. Fox, badger, bobcat, and wolf they circled the fire and on the fourth time they jumped into that animal's skin. But this time it wasn't enough and one of them maybe a Sioux or some Eskimos starting showing off "That wasn't anything, watch this." The contest started like that. Then some of them lifted the lids on their big cooking pots, calling the rest of them over to take a look: dead babies simmering in blood circles of skull cut away all the brains sucked out. Witch medicine to dry and grind into powder for new victims Others untied skin bundles of disgusting objects: dark flints, cinders from burned hogans where the dead lay Whorls of skin cut from fingertips sliced from the penis end and clitoris tip. Finaly there was only one who hadn't shown off charms or powers. The witch stood in the shadows beyond the fire and no one ever knew where this witch came from which tribe or if it was a woman or a man. But the important thing was this witch didn't show off any dark thunder charcoals or red ant-hill beads. This one just told them to listen: "What I have is a story." At first they all laughed but this witch said Okay go ahead laugh if you want to but as I tell the story it will begin to happen. Set in motion now set in motion by our witchery to work for us. Caves across the ocean in caves of dark hills white skin people like the belly of a fish covered with hair. Then they grow away from the earth then they grow away from the sun then they grow away from the plants and animals. They see no life When they look they see only objects. The world is a dead thing for them The trees and the rivers are not alive. The deer and bear are objects They see no life. They fear They fear the world. They destroy what they fear. They fear themselves. The wind will blow them across the ocean thousands of them in giant boats swarming like larva out of a crushed ant hill. They will carry objects which can shoot death faster than the eye can see. They will kill the things they fear all the animals the people will starve. They will poison the water they will spin the water away and there will be drought the people will starve. They will fear what they find They will fear the people They kill what they fear. Entire villages will be wiped out They will slaughter whole tribes. Corpses for us Blood for us Killing killing killing killing. And those they do not kill will die anyway at the destruction they see at the loss at the loss of the children the loss will destroy the rest. Stolen rivers and mountains the stolen land will eat their hearts and jerk their mouths from the Mother. The people will starve. They will bring terrible diseases the people have never known. Entire tribes will die out covered with festered sores shitting blood vomiting blood Corpses for our work Set in motion now set in motion by our witchery set in motion set in motion to work for us. They will take this world from ocean to ocean they will turn on each other they will destroy each other Up here in these hills they will find the rocks, rocks with veins of green and yellow and black. They will lay the final pattern with these rocks they will lay it across the world and explode everything. Set in motion now set in motion To destroy To kill Objects to work for us objects to act for us Performing this witchery for suffering for torment for the still-born the deformed the sterile the dead. Whirling whirling whirling whirling set into motion now set into motion So the other witches said "Okay you win; you take the prize but what you said just now -- it isn't so funny It doesn't sound so good. We are doing okay without it. we can get along without that kind of thing Take it back. Call that story back." But the witch just shook its head at the others in their stinking animal skins, fur and feathers. It's already turned loose. It's already coming. It can't be called back. If you have courage, check out Silko's Almanac of the Dead Annotations for this poem Pueblo tribes are to be distinguished from more "nomadic" tribes like the Navajo. The Pueblo tribes include the Hopi, the Zuni, the Laguna and others, some of which are "extinct" like the famous Anazazi. The Pueblo tribes believe the Anazazi to be their ancient ancestors. Pueblo tribes traditionally built compact "villages" in the cliffs of the Southwest. The buildings were all connected, almost like apartment complexes. Pueblo tribes were always very agricultural. The fields were often many miles from the living spaces. In contrast, Navajos, build single family dwellings called "hogans." These octogons are scattered far and wide across the Navajo reservation. The "guilty" witch is deliberately not identified as to tribe or gender so as to make clear that no human group is responsible for the entry of this evil into the world, rather we have a collective responsibility. Then they grow away from the earth. Native American cultures criticize European Americans for not recognizing that Mother Earth must be treasured and loved. The Western attitude towards Nature which sees Nature as something to exploit and fear shocks Native Americans. This is blasphemy from their point of view. They will carry objects/ which can shoot death. Guns They will bring terrible diseases. The population of the New World collapsed in the first century after contact. Native Americans in North, Central and South America died of European diseases long before Europeans set foot on their territories. The diseases spread along trade routes from Central America. This is the best evidence we have that North, Central and South America were intimately connected by these trade routes long before Europeans "discovered" America.