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James Mooney was a white American anthropologist who researched American Indians at the end of the nineteenth- and beginning of the twentieth-century, most notably by living with the Cherokee for several years. He wrote prolifically about the religion and culture of plains Indians, including the Kiowas, and published a study of the Kiowa calendar. Momaday quotes Mooney at length to give a traditional historical perspective on the tribe.
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James Mooney Character Timeline in The Way to Rainy Mountain
The timeline below shows where the character James Mooney appears in The Way to Rainy Mountain. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Setting Out
...that this root was the pomme blanche, a turnip-like plant. Momaday then quotes the anthropologist James Mooney , explaining that the Kiowas were always hunters and never attempted to cultivate crops. Momaday’s...
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...he came to be with the Kiowas. The voice of history is an excerpt from James Mooney that explains that Tai-me is the central figure of the sun dance, and the Tai-me...
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The Going On
...home after that, longing for the familiarity of their homeland. The voice of history quotes James Mooney again, who describes the vital importance of the horse to Kiowa life. Before the horse,...
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The Closing In
...horses and weapons were confiscated. The government then slaughtered and sold their horses. Momaday quotes James Mooney , who recounts that once the buffalo disappeared, the Kiowa tried a Sun Dance with...
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