The Man to Send Rain Clouds: Contemporary Stories by American Indians

“Before they wrapped the old man, Leon took a piece of string out of his pocket and tied a small gray feather in the old man's long white hair. Ken gave him the paint. Across the brown wrinkled forehead he drew a streak of white and along the high cheek bones he drew a strip of blue paint. He paused and watched Ken throw pinches of corn meal and pollen into the wind that fluttered the small gray feather. Then Leon painted with yellow under the old man's broad nose, and finally, when he had painted green across the chin, he smiled.”

Ken and Leon are prepared to commence with Teofilo’s burial rites from the moment that they find his body. Their preparation displays how dedicated they are to continuing with Pueblo tradition. Leon’s smile parallels his happiness at the end of the story when he finishes the burial rites properly.

“‘Send us rain clouds, Grandfather.’ They laid the bundle in the back of the pick-up and covered it with a heavy tarp before they started back to the pueblo.”

The motif of rain clouds begins here and continues to the end of the short story. Leon’s direct address to Teofilo is almost like a Christian prayer. He speaks to his grandfather as though he is still alive; this suggests that he believes in Teofilo’s continued existence in the afterlife.

“Good morning, Father. We were just out to the sheep camp. Everything is o.k. now.”

Leon’s attitude towards death as merely another beginning is exemplified again. He does not tell Father Paul about Teofilo’s death. By keeping it a secret, Leon ensures that they will be able to proceed with their own traditions rather than Father Paul’s Christian rites.

“‘Thank God for that. Teofilo is a very old man. You really shouldn’t allow him to stay at the sheep camp alone.’ ‘No he won’t do that any more now.’”

This moment is an example of dramatic irony. Though Leon does not lie to Father Paul, he deliberately excludes information about Teofilo’s death. Technically, Leon tells the absolute truth; Teofilo will no longer be able to stay at the sheep camp alone.

“Well, I’m glad you understand. I hope I’ll be seeing you at Mass this week–we missed you last Sunday. See if you can get old Teofilo to come with you.”

Father Paul’s attempts to bring and convert Teofilo and Leon to Christianity is made clear here. Silko does not explain if Leon usually does not go to church or if his absence at church the previous Sunday is merely an anomaly. Despite this, Father Paul’s character taps into the long history of forced conversion and assimilation suffered by Indigenous Americans in the United States.

“We found him under a cottonwood tree in the big arroyo near sheep camp. I guess he sat down to rest in the shade and never got up again.”

Dialogue is sparse in the short story. Everyone’s sentences are blunt, short, and to the point. Leon tells Teresa and Louise about the death of the family patriarch in a similar way.

“The red plaid shawl had been shaken and spread carefully over the bed and a new brown flannel shirt and pair of stiff new Levi’s were arranged neatly beside the pillow. Louise held the screen door open while Leon and Ken carried in the red blanket. He looked small and shriveled, and after they dressed him in the new shirt and pants he seemed more shrunken.”

Silko takes great care to describe the clothes and garments that Teofilo is dressed in for his burial. In contrast, some of the other characters are not described at all. This attention to detail regarding Teofilo reflects the care and focus the community has on Grandfather after his death. Teofilo is at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

“After 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 grave-diggers would come to eat when they were finished.”

The family’s neighbors and clanspeople make up the core of their community. They lend their support to Teofilo’s relatives with hugs as well as food. By emphasizing the need to feed the gravediggers, Silko draws attention to the fact that those who dig Teofilo’s grave may well be in the same community, and to assist in such a way is another form of care.

“About the priest sprinkling holy water for Grandpa. So he won’t be thirsty.”

Louise tentatively approaches Leon about the holy water. Without a glimpse at her internal thoughts, Silko leaves Louise’s belief in Christianity and Pueblo customs ambiguous. Regardless, Louise knows to frame the blessing of Teofilo’s grave in terms of Pueblo traditions in order to convince Leon to go to Father Paul.

“Why didn’t you tell me he was dead? I could have brought the Last Rites anyway.” Leon smiled. “It wasn’t necessary, Father.”

Father Paul is frustrated because he was not told about Teofilo’s death. He believes firmly that the old man should have been given a traditional Christian burial and rites. Instead of arguing with him, Leon is respectful but firm about his adherence to Pueblo customs.

“The priest looked at them and saw a pile of jackets, gloves and scarves in the yellow dry tumbleweeds that grew in the graveyard. He looked at the red blanket not sure that Teofilo was so small, wondering if it wasn’t some perverse Indian trick–something they did in March to insure a good harvest–wondering if maybe old Teofilo was actually at sheep camp corralling the sheep for the night.”

Father Paul immediately assumes that he is being tricked. His uncertainty stems from his discomfort with seeing Teofilo’s body wrapped in the red blanket. The reader assumes that Father Paul is far more accustomed to seeing bodies in coffins. In this uncertainty, he reverts to racist and prejudiced thoughts about the people he has come to know.

“Drops of water fell on the red blanket and soaked into dark icy spots. He sprinkled the grave and the water disappeared almost before it touched the dim cold sand; it reminded him of something–he tried to remember what it was because he thought if he could remember he might understand this.”

Of what do the drops of holy water on Teofilo’s body remind Father Paul? Though Silko is ambiguous about his revelation, the repeated symbol of rain continues immediately after this section. Holy water and rain clouds are thus paralleled, and perhaps, Father Paul begins to see how similar Pueblo customs and Christian rites are despite their differences.

“The wind pulled at the priest’s brown Franciscan robe and swirled away the corn meal and pollen that had been sprinkled on the blanket.”

Silko once again juxtaposes Christianity with Pueblo customs. Captured in the imagery of Father Paul’s “Franciscan robe” and the “corn meal and pollen” that Teofilo’s family sprinkled upon him, the reader sees how both are equally affected by the wind and the world around them. Both faiths and customs are thus rendered equal, similar yet different.