The Acculturation Proccess, I Heard the Owl Call My Name

The novel I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven exemplified the acculturation hardship and blessings of Mark’s experience living in an Indian village.   Mark the vicar slowly acclimated to their society through sharing, bonding in a collective and interdependent society.   Their value orientation of interdependence made it easier for him to become one and not withdraw from their culture.     He learned about the fundamentals of life and the power of sacrifice and love.   Their traditions and myths helped Mark to make Quee a place of his own.   In this essay I will discuss the acculturation process and his pluralistic influence.   I will discuss the factors that created conflict and the bonding of his soul to this village.   I will compare the acculturation process of the youth at Quee and the changes and conflict that disrupts the normal lifestyle of the Indian tribe.

Nature
      The Indians village extended to the sunrise and to the moon and the people were one with nature.   The river, white killer whales, and the salmon were one with the village.   The village was the talking bird and the owl would call a man if he was to die.   If an Indian hunted for food, he didn’t shoot him but knocked him on the head.   They gave names to the animals that they hunted and fished. They spoke with respect to the salmon and they called him ‘swimmer.’   The value orientation of the relation of nature to people was harmony, integration and balance with nature.   Unlike the United States, the Indians did not have a dominance attitude towards nature because they belonged to nature.   Even people were named after the fishes.   For example, Gordon’s name was Che-Kwa-la, which meant fast moving water while Keetah’s name was pool.   Mark had grown to belong to nature, been exposed to it day by day and found rain to be an element of life just as the air he breathed.   They believed if a great chief died, his soul came straight back to the village in a body of a raven.   When the young...