In his autobiography The Names, N. Scott Momaday contends that one’s identity “proceeds from his name, as a river proceeds from its source.” In Plains Indian culture the concept of naming is significantly different than it is in Western culture. As we see in Momaday’s autobiography, it is linked to the family ritual of naming itself, to its collective and cultural mythology, to the pictorial image, and to landscape itself. In an essay of 4-5 pages, show how this productive aspect of naming is central to The Names by giving examples of each of these different forms of identification.
