The Grass Dancer, a book written by Susan Power, who descends from the Native American Sioux people, fascinates the reader with the elaborateness of the plot, complex kinship and thematic saturation. Power weaves a complex story of life and relationships of a young Sioux Harley Wind Soldier living in a reservation in Dakota and struggling to regain his identity. However, the far from being one-sided or hackneyed: the author deploys various techniques to portray the story of the entire Sioux Nation through the array of interrelated characters. However, the main peculiarity of the book lies in Power’s careful contextualization of the native history, myths, rituals and spirituality in the narrative. Mixing natural and supernatural elements and using symbolism, the author creates a magical narrative of love, legends, kinship, traditions and spirituality.
Probably, the first step on the way to understanding the way Power interweaves Sioux spirituality and mythology of the narrative canvas, is acknowledging the skilled use of magical realism in this book. As Walter (66) characterizes it, magical realism synthesizes the natural and the supernatural “by focusing on specific historical moments in order to problematize present-day disjunctive realities”. In other words, magical realism literally supplies trivial ‘real’ elements of the narrative with the magical explicatory allusions. Certainly, magical realism is what Power deploys in The Grass Dancer: the chapters cover stories of the Native American tribe from the 1880s up to the 1980s, and the twists of Harleys, Charlene’s, Frank’s and Pumpkin’s lives develop against the background of the past. Thereby, the mythology and spirituality of the Sioux Nation appear to create an explicatory ‘magical’ context for the novel’s ‘present’. The characters constantly see dreams and visions of spirits which give hints, explain, warn, motivate or encourage.
One of the most obvious themes cultivated in the novel is relationships: both romantic and family relationships shape the narrative and affect the lives of the main characters including Harley Wind Soldier, Margaret, Lydia and Evelyn Many Wounds, Anna Thunder with her daughter and granddaughter, Calvin Wind Soldier and others. However, the author includes the element of Sioux legends and spirituality in order to justify their experiences. All events in the book, i.e. all twists and turns of the Sioux characters’ destinies, are underpinned by the legend of an unconsummated love between the nineteenth-century Sioux man and woman who did not have a chance to be together. Red Dress, a prominent warrior woman, and Ghost Horse, a ‘sacred clown’ of the tribe, loved each other, yet sudden and violent death of Red Dress interrupted their relationships. Thereby, Power highlights the Sioux’ close spiritual connection with their ancestors involving the spirits of these characters in the modern-day narrative.
As the main families in the book happen to be the descendants of Ghost Horse and Red Dress, the latter watch and guide them throughout their lives, hoping for a happier life for them. Red Dress, i.e. her spirit, being the protagonist paralleled to Harley Wind Soldier, takes on his pains and tries to guide him in the search of his identity and self-fulfillment. Her hope for the happier relationships of her descendants is vividly depicted in the following quote: “Still, hope flutters in my heart, a delicate pulse. I straddle the world and pray to Wakan Tanka that somewhere ahead of me He has planted an instant of joy” (Power 282). Here, Power not just shows Red Dress as deeply sympathetic towards Harley and others, but also allocates the emotional experience in the context of Sioux mythology: Red Dress mentions Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit of the Native American mythology. Thuswise, a rather trivial theme of relationships is endowed with the air of magic and spiritualism via inclusion of the Sioux spiritual ‘dimension’ in the narrative.
Another theme which is probably the most illustrative in terms of Sioux spirituality and beliefs is that of traditions. Firstly, Power highlights the opposition between non-Native beliefs and ‘old’ Sioux beliefs. Promotion of the ‘civilized’ beliefs began in the reservations a century ago is described by the author as pure fascination of the Natives: when the boat brought a piano and the gospels were played and sung, Sioux people embraced the new traditions. In the second chapter, this story is portrayed: “That sound made them believe about heaven better than any priest’s words” and “there were a lot of converts” after the Sioux heard the church music (Power 60). Given the significance of dancing and singing practices for the Native peoples, people bringing the new system of beliefs appealed to the right aspect of Sioux spirituality.
On the other hand, Sioux traditions literally flood the book: even the younger generation and particularly Charlene and Harley, who appear to be the most familiar with the ‘modern’ world, cherishes the traditions and, what is even more, resorts to the traditional Sioux spiritual practices. Charlene descending from Mercury Thunder, a Sioux witch, has magical powers, too, and could potentially enchant Harley to fall for her. Harley, in turn, sees dreams and visions regularly and eventually goes through the ceremony of the vision pit: the Sioux mystical experience serves a revelation for a young man, a revelation helping him to regain his true identity. His grandmother Lydia, his father Calvin Wind Soldier and Red Dress come to visit him as spirits in his visionary experience.
Furthermore, Power creates rich symbolism in the phenomenon of grass dancing, which, in fact, gave the name to the book. Grass dancing appears throughout the book in various forms and mentions, reminding the reader about the true essence of the Sioux spiritual tradition. The symbol of grass dance opens the first chapter of the novel where the Powwow contest is portrayed and virtually brings the book to its logical ending as well. Particularly, the last chapter of the book reveals the true essence of Sioux turbulent history and the way the history is reflected in the tribe’s spiritual practices. In addition to a symbolic reconciliation of Red Dress and Harley Wind Soldier during the vision pit ritual, the nature of grass dancing is disclosed by Red Dress: “A long time ago, when we vanquished our enemies in battle we would hold a victory dance and flaunt trophies of war - the long hair of our adversaries. So when you move through those old steps, remember that you are dancing a rebellion and that the pretty fringes are hiding blood and flesh and captured hair” (Power 331). In this way, Power summarizes the Sioux identity and pays tribute to the old traditions.
It is also difficult to overlook the impact of traditional Sioux spirituality on the destinies of particular characters within the narrative. Thereby, magic ‘creeps’ through the book as a motif underpinning changes in their lives and motivations. Anna/Mercury Thunder appears to be the brightest character in terms of ‘real-life’ power of spirituality: she is a “reservation witch” practicing “selfish magic” (Power 14) intended to shape other people’s lives and behaviors according to her whims. Anna sabotages others’ love relationships, curses Calvin to have an affair with his wife’s twin sister and places a curse on the reservation teacher Jeanette. In other words, a considerable share of pivotal events in the book is justified and caused by magic.
Overall, the connections Power draws between authentic Sioux spirituality and the events in the book are very elaborate and sometimes bizarre. One cannot but recall a fascinating example of magical realism illustrated by the chapter Moonwalk. In this chapter, Power intertwines Sioux traditions and ‘modern’ reality of moon landing: Margaret Many Wounds asks for a bowl of traditional Sioux soup waštunkala on her deathbed, while Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong are going to walk on the moon. Margaret dies before the soup is ready or the moonwalk broadcast starts, but she then appears on TV in front of Harley as a spirit, and she is walking on the moon together with the astronauts. Truly, this is the most bizarre and fascinating instance of contextualization of Sioux spirituality in the modern-day society.
As it has been illustrated, Power actively interweaves Sioux mythology, history and spirituality in the narrative and uses ‘old’ spiritual beliefs to explain even the most trivial aspects of the plot and behavior. In conclusion, it would be appropriate to allude to the words of Margaret’s spirit walking on the moon: the spirit gives the reader a phrase that embodies Power’s entire approach to synthesis of modernity and ‘old’ traditions’: “Look at me, look at the magic. There is still magic in the world” (Power 111). In other words, there are two types of magic combined altogether: the new ‘modern’ magic of television and contemporary American culture and the ‘old’ spiritual magic of the Sioux people.
Works Cited
Power, Susan. The Grass Dancer. Putnam's, 1994.
Walter, Roland. "Pan-American (Re)Visions: Magical Realism and Amerindian Cultures in Susan Power's 'The Grass Dancer', Gioconda Belli's 'La Mujer Habitada', Linda Hogan's 'Power', and Mario Vargas Llosa's 'El Hablador'." American Studies International 1999: 63.
