SOURCE: "Spotted Cattle and Deer: Spirit Guides and Symbols of Endurance and Healing in Ceremony," in American Indian Quarterly, Vol. XIV, No. 4, Fall, 1990, pp. 367-77.

In the following essay, Blumenthal analyzes the symbolism of the spotted cattle and their importance to Tayo's journey for healing in Silko's Ceremony.

Spotted cattle. Running with the grace and delicacy of deer, but tough, rugged, enduring, lost in a landscape of desert and mountains. Deer. Silent, spiritual sentinels whose being nourishes the soul as well as the body of its slayer when properly honored in Pueblo ceremonial traditions.

Spotted cattle and deer are strong but subtle thematic strands in the complex web of symbols, stories and images Leslie M. Silko weaves through Ceremony; they are the messengers of ancient wisdoms vital to Tayo's quest for healing and identity.

Critics have posited interpretations of spotted cattle but this thematic element has never been...