Eight children were there at play, seven sisters and their

brother. Suddenly the boy was struck dumb; he trembled and

began to run upon his hands and feet. His fingers became

claws, and his body was covered with fur. Directly there was a

bear where the boy had been. The sisters were terrified; they

ran, and the bear after them. They came to the stump of a

great tree, and the tree spoke to them. It bade them climb

upon it, and as they did so it began to rise into the air. The

bear came to kill them, but they were beyond its reach. It

reared against the trunk and scored the bark all around with its

claws. The seven sisters were borne into the sky, and they

The main character of the novel, Locke Setman (Set) is a man of Kiowa descent and a painter. Set is pushed by an unknown force or urge within him to fulfill a personal journey of discovery. A

long his spiritual journey, he encounters his family roots, love, and the catalyst (the bear medicine) that will one day turn him into Set, the bear. According to Momaday, both Set and Grey (the young medicine woman who helps Set to achieve his identity) wish to seek out their American Indian identities and the ability to assimilate with modern life without the loss of their ethnic characteristics. In the following essay, I will attempt to show how Set’s painting helps him achieve an identity as Set, the bear. Furthermore, I will introduce several episodes, or events, in which Set participates and demonstrates the growth and emergence of his identity. At the beginning of the novel, Set enjoys progressively increasing success as an assimilated painter and artist, and shows no indication whatsoever of deviating from his growing career. Set’s career is slightly jolted, however, when he receives a telegram instructing him to travel to Oklahoma to meet with his dying grandmother, Kope’mah, whom he had never known. Puzzled and trying to make sense of the situation, Set travels to Oklahoma. Set arrives too late, but discovers that his father is also buried there. Prior to Kope’mah’s death, she had been teaching her powerful medicine to Grey, the young evolving medicine woman that eventually helps Set to discover his identity. Momaday uses the Kiowa story of Tsoai to compare Set’s situation. Having been adopted as a young boy, Set has never really known who he was or where he belonged in terms of his tribal identity – in other words, he’s been searching for his identity for a long time. Set grows up seeking his tribal identity under the influential Kiowa bear myth. Through his identification with the bear, Set will become a Kiowan spiritual leader by becoming the bear itself. Set’s painting brings out the inner desire to find his identity. His love of painting subconsciously puts on canvas his fears, desires, and a sense of identity that he cannot grasp and understand at first. Set struggles to recapture a life he never knew. He feels trapped in his success because his agent, Jason, continues to ask him to sacrifice his search for identity for the sake of financial success. Despite his attempts to be true to himself, Set finds his integrity and self-respect compromised. As Set feels more and more disheartened, and looks forward to discovering his Kiowan roots, the bear inside of him awakens and begins to possess and transform him into something he never would have imagined, but at the same time feels he is on the right track in terms of seeking out his identity as a Kiowan Indian. Set’s painting chan

Some topics in this essay:
Set’s Jason, Indian Set’s, American Indian, Set Kiowan, Tsoai Eight, Lola Bourne, Momaday Kiowa, Lola Bourne’s, Set Kiowa, Scott Momaday, set’s painting, achieve identity, transformation bear, identity set, desire paint, medicine woman, family roots, set’s paintings, personal journey, bear set, animals dark figures, kiowan indian set’s, kiowa story tsoai, transformation bear set, set achieve identity,