Momaday, N. Scott. House Made of Dawn. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1989.
The main characters in this novel are: Abel, Francisco, Father Olguin, Angela St. John, and Milly.
Able is a young American Indian caught between two worlds: the world of his ancestors and the world of the white man. He cannot seem to reconcile these two different lifestyles and loses himself in alcohol and peyote. He lives with his grandfather Francisco and cuts wood for Angela, who briefly becomes his lover. He kills a white man and goes to prison. Afterward, he lives in Los Angeles and has a girlfriend named Milly. Milly is a good soul who believes in him, despite the fact that he can never hold a job and drinks to excess.
Without reason, he leaves Los Angeles and Milly and several Indian friends and goes back to live with Francisco. Francisco is old and dies late one night. He prepares his grandfather's body for an Indian funeral, dressing it in bright ceremonial colors. He places pouches of pollen and of meal, some sacred feathers, and his grandfather's ledger book at his grandfather's side. Then he wraps the body in a blanket after sprinkling meal in the four directions. Before dawn he goes to the mission and Father Olguin comes out demanding to know what is wrong. Abel tells him his grandfather died and insists the Father bury him.
Abel does not go back to his grandfather's house that night. Instead, he walks toward town and when he sees some runners, he starts after them. They disappear, and he is now alone in the snow. He runs and falls and continues running, and in these moments somehow realizes his Indian heritage.
La Farge, Oliver. Laughing Boy. New York: Penguin Books.
The main characters in this novel are: Laughing Boy, Slim Girl, Red Man, and George.
Laughing Boy sees Slim Girl at a Navajo dance and her bold ways intrigue him. She is different from other Navajo women. He decides to marry her b...