Ceremony Poem XXVIII Summary

  • This poem seems to be spoken by the old men in response to Tayo's story.
  • Basically, their reaction is this:
  • You saw A'moo'ooh last winter, up north? And Mountain Lion the hunter? And you say she was in the south all summer?
  • Awesome—We'll be blessed again.
  • It sounds like the old men think of Ts'eh as "A'moo'ooh," the she-elk that Tayo saw in the cave painting. And the hunter, Ts'eh's brother, is another mythical figure, Mountain Lion.
  • And now to the prose…
  • At noon one of old Grandma's grandnieces brings lunch.
  • When they've finished eating, the men go to the back of the kiva and drink from a gourd floating in a water pail. Tayo drinks last, then Ku'oosh drops the gourd into the fire.
  • When the sun starts to go down, the old men go home to have supper and rest. They'll be back after dark.
  • Old Ku'oosh tells Tayo he can have water but no food, and not to leave the kiva. It seems like there's some sort of ritual going on.