Tradition refers to the cultural practices, beliefs, and values, and they are passed down within a community or society from generations to generations with symbolic meaning. Custom, on the other hand, means specific action or doing something that is specific to a particular group or place. Due to urbanization and modernization, people may abandon their old traditions and customs while embracing western cultural practices. This is especially true for young people and they do this to fit into their own environment, where the culture is different from their own. They do not want to be left out of society. Two stories take on this matter, “The Medicine Bag” and “Ta Na E Ka”, respectively. “TA NA E KA” talks about a Native American girl, Mary, participating in the ceremony Ta Na E Ka with her cousin Roger. Mary is trying to survive in the wilderness for 5 days with only a bathing suit on. Her grandfather is very devoted to such traditions and trains both of them. However, Mary practices this tradition by borrowing money from her teacher and spending that money on food and shelter during the tradition, while Roger, her cousin, was out in the woods finding food. “The Medicine Bag” talks about a Native American boy, Martin, being ashamed of his grandfather because he is fiercely traditional and will not fit into his new neighborhood. But then his friends say that the grandfather is amazing and is just as good as he mentioned. He feels relieved, and practices the tradition of his great-grandfather again. Let’s compare both short stories in terms of the structure, themes, and motifs.
The structure and the conflict of the story are vital because they not only make different kinds of stories but also create a unique tone and style that would engage the audiences. A book with a progress in plot of coming to age or the conflicts make up its style and genre. These kinds of structure often have a lot of influence, and structure piques the reader to have interest and read on. In “The Medicine Bag”, Martin unwillingly introduces grandpa to friends because he feels embarrassed about quirky grandpa’s unexpected visit. Martin worries it will not match for the fantastical image he had created. At first Martin doesn’t like the old medicine bag from his grandfather. But at the end after learning the story of the medicine bag from his grandpa, Martin honorably accepted it and was willing to wear it. This story’s structure involves at least two generations within the same family. These two generations refer to the elders and the younger ones. But as the society is changing, the elders hold on to their traditions, which makes the younger generations embarrassed because they thought the elders not fitting in the new society. But the truth is that traditions will never cease. In “TA NA E KA”, while Mary practices the tradition, she abandons the original old-fashioned ways. Instead, Mady borrowed money from Mrs. Richardson goes to the restaurant of the Marina to dine and live at a restaurant for five days. Grandpa was surprised about Mary’s way of doing Ta Na E Ka, but he overcame it and began to accept the new world. This story also involves two generations, including grandpa and granddaughter. In order to avoid the tradition of Ta Na E Ka, Mary cheated the practice and created her own way to do Ta Na E Ka. This story doesn’t have any issue about fitting-in the society. In fact, this story presents disagreements between two generations. But at the end they both laughed it out. Grandpa also tried to accept the new western ways of life. The structure and conflict written in these two short stories provide a large influence on the mood and tone of the story.
The two stories show similar themes including accepting and admitting, the value of traditions and culture, and also the relationship of elders and the new generation. The generation gap between elders and youngsters is stark because of how much the world has changed. When old people perform these traditions it will often be seen as weird, creating issues of cultural identity, keeping cultural heritage, and conflicts in family relationships among generations. In “The Medicine Bag”, Martin’s grandfather uses the old ways of the Sioux tribe in passing down the Medicine bag to Martin. However, Martin doesn’t want to wear the medicine bag. Martin thinks grandpa’s clothes are really weird, such as his crumpled old hat and his coat, which makes him not want to be close to grandpa. Martin at first was confused who he really was and disliked his Native American grandpa, since he thought of himself as a modernized teenager in the white world. Through the one-on-one men’s talk with grandpa about the medicine bag, Martin’s cultural identity is constructed and reinforced. At the same time, Martin began to respect grandpa as well as accepted and kept the traditions. In “TA NA E KA”, Mary went to Ernie’s Riverside to take the easy way of practicing the tradition by bribing the restaurant owner to house and feed her. The elders knew that obviously Mary cheated. The grandpa explained that he found a dead deer that kept him full during his Ta Na E Ka ritual. Obviously, Mary overrides the traditional ritual of Ta Na E Ka. By using the easy way of eating hamburgers and milkshakes, she blended herself into the surroundings and traditional culture. Although Grandpa disagrees with her cheating ways of doing the tradition, grandpa tries to understand her. The tension between tradition and modernity, at some points, shapes Mary’s cultural identity. At the same time, the family love between grandpa and Mary provides a solid foundation to examine the tensions that arise from differing generational perspectives. Both short stories encourage readers to preserve the traditions, appreciate diverse cultures, and respect family members.
The motifs of tradition and family love are strongly expressed in these two stories, often in the form of an ancestral treasure or ceremony. Motifs in these kinds of stories often emphasize the importance of traditions and family, as native americans were often neglected in the society and were never recognized. In The Medicine Bag, Medicine Bag is the motif, as it represents the connections between the past and the present, shows family love over the generations, and serves as a physical symbolism of Native American heritage. People have been doing traditions for centuries. But when a new world appears, these old traditions are often considered dangerous toward the new society because it is not their native culture. Unless it is welcomed and kept practiced, cultural heritage might fade out in the new society. Through the motif of the medicine bag, the importance of cultural heritage and generational gap were explored, which point out the significance of preserving the traditions. In TA NA E KA, the motifs were the ceremony of Ta Na E Ka, the burgers and milkshakes, and grasshoppers. They all symbolize the change of the new society and the traditions of the old world. Specifically, The motif, Ta Na E Ka, the ceremony represents old tradition, highlighting the importance in preserving one’s cultural heritage. The motif of burgers and milkshakes represent the new world, which contrasts with the old traditions. But at the same time, this motif invites readers to balance multiple cultures and appreciate the cultural differences. The grasshoppers represent the old way of how things were done in the natural world. The motifs of these two stories are very similar, all talking about something from the old generations and encouraging readers to respect and appreciate the old tradition and custom.
The two stories of Native American Literature, The Medicine Bag and the TA NA E KA, both concern the structure of the story, the themes, and the motifs. The structure piques the reader and makes the reader want more of the story, while the themes are meaningful and universal. The motifs are full of symbolism. The themes of family relationships, culture, and admitting mistakes. The motifs such as the medicine bag, grasshoppers, hamburgers and milkshakes, and Ta Na E Ka all symbolize the same thing: the traditions and the new society, where people are modern and nobody wants to be old. They all want to fit in with society so that they can take advantage of it, not just be let alone doing their stuff. The Native Americans were often left out, so some of them tried to blend in. However, this world wasn’t made for them.
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