The Laguna peoples ritual beliefs is an important aspect in their culture. When Ken and Leon find Teofilos dead body at the beginning of the story, “Leon took a piece of string out of his pocket and tied a small …show more content…
In the beginning of the story, right after Ken and Leon get into town, Father asks if they found Teofilo, and in response, Ken and Leon say “Father we were just out to the camp. Everything is O.K now(51).” This shows the beginning of a conflict between Ken and Leon, and Father. This happens because Ken and Leon aren’t Catholic, and their rituals are different from the catholic rituals. Later on in the story, Ken and Loen come back from the sheep camp they start to get everything ready for the burial “Leon walked toward the old man's bed. The red plaid shawl had been shaken and spread carefully over the bed, and new brown flannel shirt and pair of stiff Levis were arranged neatly beside the pillow (49).” The values being shown here is Laguna culture have respect for the dead. Laguna get new clothes to make the dead look as best as possible. Soon after Teofilo was dressed properly, “Ken had been gone for a while, the neighbors and clanspeople came quietly to embrace Teofilo’s family and to leave food on the table because the gravediggers would come to eat when they were finished (49).” The Laguna people show respect also for the family. The respect can also be shown with giving the family members space to grieve. The Lagunas culture gives the best for the family in grief. The Lagunas people's’ rituals, conflicts, and values are explained through Silko's short story. It is important to understand one's culture that differs from ours. Shown different cultures will expose us to many experiences from that culture, this also can make us much more accepting to other cultures and their differences. While I could never imagine finding someone dead under a tree, the Laguna culture shows that they handle these situations much