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Silko

White people will be the death of the world. Leslie Marmon

Silko's short story "Long time ago" explores this belief of the Laguna

Pueblos the will be brought to an end by white people. She also

touches on a more underlying theme which is a commentary on the topic

of people trying to outdo each other and the destruction that can be

caused by such actions. In "Long time ago," the Indian witches do not

realize until it is too late that they are helping to feed the

creation of the white people. Once they realize that their

competition is going to have ill effects for them, it is too late,

because the creation has already begun.

The story states that there was a time when white people did

not exist and that the world may have stayed that way had it not been

for witches. All the witches decide to get together for a contest to

see who can do the worst dark and evil things. When all but one witch

has done his best, that witch steps up and says that he will tell a

story that will be "set in motion" (135) as he speaks. After he tells

his story, the rest of the witches tell him that he has won and asks

him to recall the story and take back what he had said, but he says

that it is too late to call it back. The story that he told was of

the creation of the white people, and it is irreversible.

Leslie Marmon Silko tries to convey the belief of the Laguna

Indians that the white man is going to destroy the world. This is

evident in the belief that the "world was already complete even

without white people" (133) They feel that the world would have been

fine without white people. The only evil...

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