How we cite our quotes: (Poem.Paragraph)
Quote #1
If a person wanted to get to the moon, there was a way; it all depended on whether you knew the directions—exactly which way to go and what to do to get there; it depended on whether you knew the story of how others before you had gone. (V.36)
One of the most important Laguna traditions in the novel is the practice of storytelling, which connects people with previous generations.
Quote #2
"I've been thinking . . . all this time, while I was sitting in my chair. Those white doctors haven't helped you at all. Maybe we had better send for someone else." (V.104)
When white medicine fails to heal Tayo, old Grandma turns to a more traditional solution. This is just one example of Tayo's rejection of white culture in favor of traditional Laguna and other Native American ways of doing things.
Quote #3
He spoke softly, using the old dialect full of sentences that were involuted with explanations of their own origins, as if nothing the old man said were his own but all had been said before and he was only there to repeat it. (V.110)
Old Ku'oosh's dialect is different from the one Tayo and his family and friends speak every day. This more traditional way of speaking seems like it's more connected to the history of the Pueblo people.