Gardens in the Dunes (81 page)

6. How do the diverse gardens featured throughout the novel reflect both the differences among cultures and the universal human instinct to shape and control nature?

7. Contrast the Indians' yearly Ghost Dance with the annual Masque of the Blue Garden hosted by Hattie's sister-in-law, Susan. How are the preparations for each similar? Different? What do these gatherings reveal about the values, beliefs, and lifestyles of their participants?

8. Compare and contrast the book's depictions of the affluence of high society and the abundant riches of nature. Do you find the moment when Indigo trades her fancy new dresses for food at the end of the novel happy or sad?

9. Indigo is not formally educated, but she is very bright. How would you characterize her intelligence? Discuss Indigo's personification of
the natural world and the close relationships she develops with her pets. Why are these behaviors perceived as alarming by many of the white people she meets throughout the book? How do the challenges Indigo faces among the Sand Lizards differ from those she encounters during her travels with Hattie and Edward?

10. Discuss the role of the supernatural in the narrative and in the lives of the characters. Recall Indigo's sighting of the Messiah during the first Ghost Dance, Aunt Bronwyn's belief in the sacred stones, the mysterious white light Hattie sees in her aunt's garden, and the gypsy Delena's ability to read the future with cards. How does the book explore the interplay of religion, mysticism, and spirituality?

11. By the end of the book, Hattie abandons her thesis about the early church—and even some of her Christian beliefs. Which experiences and characters most transform Hattie's views of religion and spirituality?

12. Are you surprised that Hattie does not adopt Indigo at the end of the book? Did you hope that she would? In the end, what do Hattie and Indigo gain from one another? Which of them has been more profoundly changed by the end of their journey and the book?

When I was a child, all the households at Laguna Pueblo had vegetable gardens. I used to help my great-grandma water her hollyhocks and cosmos every evening, and I remember the lovely, big blue morning glories she loved. Seed catalogs and garden books are favorites of mine, and some years ago I began to read about orchids and the history of their cultivation in Europe.

Many years before, I'd had an idea for a short story about a young Indian student who is sent away to Indian boarding school where she learns to cultivate and even hybridize gladiolus. The short story was going to focus on the conflict she encountered when she returned home and tried to plant gladiolus; farm land and water in the desert are too precious to waste on flowers, her elders would have scolded. I never got around to writing this short story, but when I wanted to write about two sisters and their relationship, I decided to incorporate this earlier idea into my novel.

Nearly all human cultures plant gardens, and the garden itself has ancient religious connections. For a long time, I've been interested in pre-Christian European beliefs, and the pagan devotions to sacred groves of trees and sacred springs. My German translator gave me a fascinating book on the archeology of Old Europe, and in it I discovered ancient artifacts that showed that the Old European cultures once revered snakes, just as we Pueblo Indian people still do. So I decided to take all these elements—orchids, gladiolus, ancient gardens, Victorian gardens, Native American gardens, Old European figures of Snake-bird Goddesses—and write a novel about two young sisters at the turn of the century.

BY LESLIE MARMON SILKO

Gardens in the Dunes
(novel)

Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit
(essays)

Sacred Water
(autobiography)

Almanac of the Dead
(novel)

Storyteller
(short stories)

Ceremony
(novel)

Laguna Woman
(verse)

SIMON & SCHUSTER PAPERBACKS

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1999 by Leslie Marmon Silko

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

First Simon & Schuster paperback edition 2005

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& S
CHUSTER
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APERBACKS
and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

DESIGNED BY JEANETTE OLENDER

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

Silko, Leslie, date.

Gardens in the dunes : a novel / Leslie Marmon Silko.

p.   cm.

1. Indians of North America—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3569.I44G37    1999

813'.54—dc21    98-51987

ISBN-13: 978-0-684-81154-3

ISBN-10:        0-684-81154-5

ISBN-13: 978-0-684-86332-0 (Pbk)

ISBN-10:        0-684-86332-4 (Pbk)

ISBN-13: 978-1-4391-2789-6 (eBook)