To speak of the Native American sense of time as a "chronology" may be deceiving, for the clock that dictates the flow and sequence of the Native American story is not strictly linear, as in the Western sense, but rather is cyclical. As Silko expresses in her "A Pueblo Indian Perspective":

"...is the sense of story, and story within story, and the idea that one story is only the beginning of many stories, and the sense that stories never truly end."

Although authors who chronicle oral narratives often have a sense of the non-linear nature of the narratives (See Sarah Allen,) Silko's Ceremony nearly obliterates the constructed chronology of the western mind. Silko does this by offering the reader Native American stories which maintain their significance throughout time. These stories speak to each generation and allow each generation to "speak" back by incorporating changes into the stories. The stories derive additional strength and import from this "interactive" nature which they possess. As old Betonie says in Ceremony:

At one time, the ceremonies as they had been performed were enough for the way the world was then. But after the white people came, elements in this world began to shift; and it became necessary to create new ceremonies. I have made changes in the rituals. The people mistrust this greatly, but only this growth keeps the ceremonies strong. (Ceremony, 126)

Betonie interacts with the stories and changes them so that the audience, his tribe, can benefit from the stories. He does not seek to narrate the stories "as is" or according to the way he learned them, because this would weaken the stories. As Grace Slattery notes:

Time is not linear. Silko thouroughly examines and exhibits this notion through Tayo's life in Ceremony.

For the Laguna people of Silko's Ceremony, stories deerived from memory are not only lacking in "Western" linear chronology, but are also malleable according to the needs of the audience.

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