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Myth, folk tale and ritual in Anna Lee Walters's "The Warriors."

Studies in Short Fiction, Wntr, 1997 by Marc Steinberg

In her short story "The Warriors," Anna Lee Walters alludes to two Pawnee myths: the warrior tale of Pahukatawa and the creation myth concerning the mating of Morning Star and Evening Star. These two myths well represent the vacillating spiritual condition of Uncle Ralph, a character who depicts both a lost past and a promising future. The warrior tale indicates the dissipation of the fighter spirit, and it points to Ralph's loss of faith in the once grand and triumphant tribe. But Ralph, in his role as teacher, ultimately expounds traditional values, and the mating myth illustrates the hope Ralph inscribes in his nieces, the next generation of Pawnee warriors.

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The afterlife of Pahukatawa, a veritable Pawnee warrior of the early nineteenth century, has become the source for a folk tale.(1) One day in 1830(2) a company of five Pawnee men ventures on an expedition to trap beaver. Among this group is Pahukatawa; members of the enemy Sioux tribe soon capture, torture, kill and then mutilate him. His own men later abandon his remains for "there [is] not enough of him left to bury" (Grinnell 143). At this point the mythic levels of the story emerge. Pahukatawa's family visits the remains of its beloved and discovers that the body has disappeared. The distraught mother cries herself blind.

Pahukatawa re-emerges shortly thereafter and cures his mother of her blindness, the first wondrous event effected by the once deceased. He then informs his brother of enemy activities--to spy on the enemies Pahukatawa transmogrifies himself into a wolf, "the Skidi symbol of war" (Hyde 141)--and he guarantees to fulfill the wishes, however eccentric, of the brother's men. One man asks Pahukatawa that he be able to kill 10 men and then be wounded in battle; another desires to kill two men and then be killed in warfare. Whatever the desires of the men, Pahukatawa satisfies all.

Pahukatawa comes back to life because the Nahu'rac (animals) take pity on him and help restore him bodily, so that he becomes whole and carnate, except for his skull and his brains, which cannot be located. Pahukatawa makes his great powers known to the Pawnees and wishes to be treated like a demi-god. In fact, he believes only Tirawa, the venerated supreme being who rules the universe (Grinnell v), to be above him. He requests allegiance and responsibility from his brother: "when I come down to see you, you must not get tired of me" (Grinnell 156). But the brother does tire of Pahukatawa, and the powerful warrior-spirit feels betrayed and cannot help his people any longer. Inherently a warrior, Pahukatawa needs to serve some tribe, so he assists the Rees, rivals to the Pawnees. George E. Hyde places the year of betrayal at 1835 and claims that the Skidi Pawnees were very depressed because of the loss (141). That year, claims Hyde, the Pawnees constantly discussed their powerlessness resulting from Pahukatawa's departure (141).

This is the Skidi Pawnee version of the tale to which Ralph alludes in the story; there also exists a Rees version. Although the Pawnee tale depicts the heroism of the warrior, it pertains to a dark period in Pawnee history. Ralph's telling of the Pahukatawa story to his nieces works on two levels. On one level Ralph tells the story because it depicts the warrior mentality, and Ralph himself represents both a traditional and a contemporary warrior. In terms of heritage and values, Ralph succeeds as a traditional warrior, but in terms of practical life, he is self-deluded in that role. One of his nieces says: "Sister and I knew even then that Uncle Ralph had a great battlefield of his own" (12); that is, he had a great battlefield in his mind, for the Pawnees no longer wage war with rival tribes. The "battlefield" could be perceived as the timeless battlefield of survival. The Pawnees are naturally inclined to be warriors--they fight for basic values family, sustenance. Alfred C. Haddon, who documented the lifestyle of the tribe, claims:

The attitude of the Skidi Pawnee towards nature is marked by an

endeavor to escape toils and to receive those benefits that will ensure

him in this life abundance of food, happiness in his family life, his soul

to escape wandering aimlessly through space during the life after death.

(Duke 197)

Before succumbing to alcoholic fantasies, Ralph is a timeless warrior, but by the tale's end he becomes a deluded anachronism.

On a second level the myth refers to impotency. Because of Pahukatawa's betrayal the Pawnees are encumbered with a sense of powerlessness. Ralph approaches but resists this enervation. Eternally potent insofar as he bequeaths legends to the next generation, Ralph loses control by turning to alcohol, thus becoming a different brand of warrior--the hobo. These warriors fight for essentials as well--sustenance, warmth, survival. The hobos do not represent hope, but they are nevertheless a manifestation of a fighting spirit. Ralph accurately claims that "hobos are kind of like us" (14). Like the classical warriors, the hobos have "crept ... wandered ... leaped ... traveled ... scurried" (13) and generally pursued revivification. The contradiction of warrior attributes--the fierce and brave have become ragged and sickly--reflects not only the loss of the Pawnee warrior spirit but the actual loss of members of the tribe, i.e., veritable warriors.

Myth, folk tale and ritual in Anna Lee Walters's "The Warriors."

Studies in Short Fiction, Wntr, 1997 by Marc Steinberg

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