TA NA E KA, written by Mary Whitebird, talks about a girl called Mary. She was in an Indian tribe called Kaw. She had a cousin called Roger. Mary and Roger were going to get to the age of going to participate in the ceremony that some Kaw Indian children will do. Because their grandpa Amos Deer Leg was devoted to the tradition. They have to survive in their bathing suits with barely nothing (except for their bathing) in the wild forest. They had to eat grasshoppers, crickets, and berries to make themselves survive. But, Mary thought of an idea to make herself live peacefully in the forest. She borrowed five dollars from her teacher to buy food during the TA NA E KA. She ate and lived in a restaurant for five days and made a friend called Ernie in the restaurant. He was the boss of the restaurant. She managed to go back home alive. When her family asked her how she survived, she told them from borrowing money to the goodness of Ernie and back home. Her grandpa knew that the world had changed. At last, her grandpa accepted her to not do it in the old way.
Some old people will be more likely to stick to the old traditions and will not change about it. Some old people may only continue with the traditions because they are old and they wanted to pass the religion to their descendants. In the story, Mary’s grandpa, Amos Deer Leg was devoted to the traditions. He still wore handmade beaded moccasins instead of shoes and kept his iron-gray hair in tight braids. This revealed that her grandpa loved the tradition. At that time, there were already some new families that wouldn’t go to participate in TA NA E KA. But, grandpa loved the tradition, so the family all did TA NA E KA. Her grandpa also believed that they had to participate because that was when boys can prove themselves that they are a warrior and when girls took the first steps into womanhood. He let them eat the berries, grasshoppers, and crickets during their TA NA E KA. Mary’s grandpa had always let the family follow the Kaw Indian tradition without turning everything in a new way. He had never tried to use new ways to think and do daily things. Because he still wanted to continue the old way. Traditions may let people have a specific thought about something.
It is difficult to deal with the new change when people are used to a kind of tradition. Young people would like to have a change when the elders just go with old ways. In the story, Mary always wanted to stop doing the traditions when that time was already 1947. So, Mary ate hamburgers and drank milkshakes during the test. When her grandpa Amos asked her, she told him that it was not the old days then, it had already had a change in the modern days. It was in 1947, people won’t have to eat grasshoppers,crickets, and berries to keep surviving so the Kaw Indians could still do the test but they could change the rules. Mary was following the change in 1947, but grandpa was sticking to the traditions. He didn’t change his mind until Mary told him and he accepted the new way that Mary did during the TA NA E KA. Mary convinced her grandpa to follow the change in the modern days, and could keep some traditions, but he should follow the new ways, too. Introducing a change could be hard for the people who like to follow the traditions.
People tend to make a compromise between traditions and changes. Not all changes are good and not all traditions are good. Compromising is to keep the balance between two things. When grandpa was young, he had to survive in the wild for 18 days. When the Kaw Indians had to survive hard, they must have endurance. Having endurance keeps them always preparing for anything. Mary was on the opposite side of grandpa. Mary wanted the change, while her grandpa Amos wanted to keep the tradition forever. Mary thought that it was already 1947, so there was no need for a test to test their endurance. Though always reminding people that they have to survive was important, in 1947 there were very few chances to eat grasshoppers and berries to keep alive. The Kaw Indians should balance the tradition and the change to make the event more connected to what would really happen in 1947. After people balance things, they may have a better opinion about them.
Mary and her grandpa were on different sides at first. Mary thought that the test was silly and no use at first. After she talked with her friend Ernie, she knew that TA NA E KA was a serious test. But, she thought that TA NA E KA was just a tradition passed down from the original Kaw Indians. Her grandpa always believed that the tradition was good and should be passed down to his descendents. He was devoted to the traditions. He didn’t change until his granddaughter told him that the time had already changed. Mary also told him that everyone would be prepared and there won’t be others attacking people when they are doing other things. Her grandpa was convinced by her. He also believed that it could be a time for him to make a change. So, he let Mary pass the test because she could survive in a world that wasn’t just made for Indians. The book TA NA E KA tells us some reminders to let us follow during the rest of our life.
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