The Spotted Cattle

In Ceremony  Tayo is represented by the spotted cattle. Josiah takes care of the cattle  in the beginning and he enlists Tayo to help care for them. Tayo has always been lost and alone and taking care of the cattle would help him find himself. By caring for the cattle, Tayo was caring for himself. When Tayo went to war with Rocky he lost himself again. His native ways didn't work with warfare. How were the Japanese any different than him? They were all beings on Earth from mother nature. They were all human. While Tayo was away the cattle ran off. They were as lost as Tayo. Tayo is sick and feels invisible when he returns. He lost himself and doesn't feel alive or human.

Tayo talks to Benito, a healer, and decides he needs to search for his lost cows. He headed out on his journey and found them. "The spotted cattle wouldn't be lost any more, scattered through his dreams, driven by his hesitation to admit they had been stolen, that the land - all of it - had been stolen from them" (SILKO 192). Tayo is realizing that he needs the cattle to be happy and cure himself. The cattle needs to be taken care of in order to feel better. Tayo is finally taking care of himself and trying to get better instead of letting the pain be dulled by alcohol. He has denied the pain for so long and tried to ignore it until it goes away. His pain won't go away and Tayo finally does something about it. The other veterans may be happy to drink their lives away but Tayo wants better and to get it he has to find himself. Not the man he was before the war but the man he is now. War and life changed him and the cattle grew with him. They were taken by a white rancher and had a new experience. Now they are back with Tayo who will care for them.