In the following essay, Danielson discusses the "spiderweb structure" of Silko's Storyteller, in which the Yellow Woman is a significant figure.

In American Indian traditional cultures, good songs and stories are useful, fostering the survival of the people and their culture. The verbal arts sustain cosmic relationships, testify to sources of creative energy, teach young people, heal the sick, bring lovers together, or reprimand the socially irresponsible. Leslie Silko's Storyteller is an heir of such tradition and a testimony to verbal art as a survival strategy. Moreover, the work takes its spiderweb-like structure from the Keresan mythologic traditions of female creative deities who think— or tell— the world into existence (Thought Woman) and who offer disciplined protection to the living beings (Grandmother Spider). When we read Storyteller bearing in mind the significance of both the spiderweb structure and the values underlying traditional verbal art, we...