The Way to Rainy Mountain was written in 1969 by Pulitzer Prize-winning author N. Scott Momaday. The novel is about Scott Momaday's Kiowa ancestors and their journey from the Montana area to Fort Sill near Rainy Mountain, Oklahoma, where their surrender to the United States Cavalry took place. In The Way to Rainy Mountain, Momaday traces his ancestral roots back to the beginnings of the Kiowa tribe as he not only learns more about the Kiowa people, but rediscovers himself and discovers what his true identity is. The death of his grandmother pushes Momaday to dig deeper into his family's past. To help him get closer to his ancestral roots, Momaday returns to Rainy Mountain to visit his recently deceased grandmother's grave, where the spirit of the Kiowa tribe was thought to be very strong. Scott Momaday's grandmother was believed to be the last of the Kiowa; with his death came the death of the Kiowa culture. Momaday didn't want to let such a spiritual people, who meant so much to him, be forgotten, so he created The Way to Rainy Mountain with this motivation. As Momaday traces each of the Kiowa's mythical stories, he begins to learn much about his ancestors and, by extension, himself. After reading the novel, it is evident to the reader that from beginning to end, Momaday has grown tremendously and has a growing sense of knowledge and appreciation for his Kiowa ancestors and their spiritual lifestyle. While Scott Momaday was creating his world-famous novel, The Way to Rainy Mountain, his relationship to past events contributed greatly to the overall meaning of the book in three major ways. Throughout the novel, Momaday uses his memories of the past to help understand Kiowa myths on a… middle of paper… journey of self-discovery. I recommend people read this book because it is the first book ever written in the circular time flow format which is really a fun roller coaster ride for the reader when they are able to hear a myth, and then read what history proves is actually happened, and finally conclude with the narrator's personal opinions on the topic; what an experience! This book influenced me greatly for the better as I not only learned about the nearly lost culture of the Kiowa but, like Momaday, I became more interested in my roots and began to do some family research of my own! Works CitedBOOKRAGS STAFF. "The Road to Rainy Mountain: Characters". 2005. January 2, 2010..Momaday, N. Scott. The road to the rainy mountain. New York: University of New Mexico, 1977. Print.