According to the Webster's Dictionary the definition for assimilation is, "The process whereby a minority group gradually adopts the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture" (13). In the novel Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko provides a reflective examination regarding the effects of assimilation on Native Americans with the primary focus on her tribe, the Laguna Pueblo. Silko demonstrates through the accounts of two characters – Tayo, a White/Hispanic and half Native American man, and Rocky, a full blood Laguna Pueblo Indian, who is also Tayo's cousin – how assimilation into the dominant white culture can cause not only physical death, but emotional and spiritual death as well. In addition, Silko's examination of assimilation illustrates how a connection with ones heritage can ultimately be life-giving.
             At the beginning of the tale, Silko weaves a poignant account of Tayo and Rocky, through the recollections of Tayo, the protagonist in the story. As Tayo remembers the past, he recalls when his mother, Laura, leaves him with her older sister known by Tayo as Auntie, who is also Rocky's mother. It is at this point that four-year-old Tayo is made aware that he is an outcast in the tribe by Auntie. She does this due to his half-breed status and her internalized racism. Auntie makes Tayo painfully aware that he is son to no one, and is an embarrassment to her. From the beginning, Tayo is fully conscious of the hostility Auntie directs toward him due to his mixed-blood heritage. Silko writes:
             Auntie had always been careful that Rocky didn't call Tayo 'brother,' and when other people mistakenly called them brothers, she was quick to correct the error [. . .] she could maintain a distance between Rocky and this other, unwanted child. If nobody else ever knew about this distance, she and Tayo did. (65)
             This passage clearly demonstrates that Tayo's Aunt takes h...