Edge of Oblivion

In House Made of Dawn, Pulitzer Prize-winning Kiowa author N. Scott Momaday writes about the exhilaration of recognizing the mystery and magic embedded in the majesty of creation. He also writes about the hardness that is fashioned within those who have faced extinction.

Describing one such indigenous tribe, he observes that having made the journey along the edge of oblivion, they had got a keener sense of humility, and paradoxically a greater sense of pride. Having acquired a tragic sense, he remarks, gave them a certain dignity and bearing.