Analysis Of Alone On The Hilltop, By John Lame Deer

As the Spanish saying states: "Tell me with whom you walk with, and I will tell you who you are." Someone's surroundings say a lot about them because their everyday thoughts and actions reflect upon it. Either they embrace the culture and habits of their peers, or they totally disregard them and think of themselves as outsiders. After reading "Alone on the Hilltop" by John Lame Deer and Richard Erdoes, it is best to say that one's environment shapes their public, religious and personal views.
Notably, in the text, Erdoes show how people who share the same beliefs, partake in the same rituals regardless of it appears strange to those who don't. In the second paragraph of the passage, the author explains the beginning of an important Indian journey where the sixteen-year-old boy, is alone on the hilltop …show more content…
From an early age, the child knows that there is a connection between the visible and the invisible world. Thus, regardless of physical appearances, the child knows that the spirit of his peers is always with him. In addition to those beliefs, the location in which the spiritual journey happened, the hilltop, symbolizes the level of spirituality among them. It represents the beginning of a mental growth also the weight of what happens on the hilltop. The Indian young adult grew up believing that everything is alive and has a purpose. In paragraph 6, the author mentions a pipe and its role in the Indian beliefs. He says:" To us, the pipe is like an open Bible. White people need a church house, a preacher and a pipe organ to get in a praying mood. (97)" It is somehow fascinating that a pipe to a Non-native is just an object from which you smoke, however, to the Natives, it is considered as the sacred living instrument from which the power of the Spirit flows freely to us and the spirit