As the history of the world continues, gaps between generations of all nationalities will continue to be created. We have a direct example of this every day, right here in the United States. In today's society, it is very difficult to find a child who shares the same interests as his parents. Whether it's taste in music and fashion, religious understanding, or positions on issues facing our country, parents and children don't share many common beliefs. The same goes for the elders and youths of the tribe in Margaret Craven's novel, I Heard the Owl Calling My Name. Cultural differences between older people and younger people have increased in many ways. Unlike the elders, the children no longer have in-depth knowledge of the tribal language, are distancing themselves from the tribe by attending white schools and marrying into white families, and have little understanding of the customs and culture of the tribe as a whole. to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay As time goes by, English has become a universal language. This fact does not exclude the Indian tribe in Craven's novel and is an example of the cultural differences between the children and the elders of the tribe. Everyone in the tribe speaks English, but it is only the elders who still have a grasp of the tribe's native language. "It is always like this when young people come back from school. My people are proud of them and resent them. They come from a distant country. They always speak English and forget the language of Kwkwala.." (Craven, 61) This is proven even when the elders begin the ancient burial ceremony after Mark has finished the Christian portion of the funeral. The elders began an ancient prayer, and when Mark asked them, Jim explained that the youth did not know the meaning of the prayer. The elders fear the day when their language will no longer be part of life within the tribe. Another cultural difference between the young people and the elders of the tribe in I Heard The Owl Call My Name is the white point of view. The tribal elders have accepted the whites and some of their beliefs, but are still a little jaded by most of their actions. Unlike the elders, the children of the tribe are not only open to the heritage and customs of the whites, but they seize the opportunity to move away from the tribe in Kingcome and join the whites in the outside world, and the elders resent this. "They tell their parents, 'Don't do it this way. The white man does it this way.'" (62) Examples of this are when Keetah's sister marries into a white family and also when the children of the tribe decide they want to leave the tribe to attend a white school. When Keetah's sister brings her white husband to Kingcome to meet his family and other members of the tribe, the weary elders discover that their vision of the white man is true. Keetah's husband manipulated the drunken tribesmen into selling the tribe's sacred mask for fifty dollars. Soon after, news of Keetah's sister's failed marriage comes out, further supporting the elders' stance towards the whites. Finally, children of the tribe have little understanding of the tribe's customs and traditions. They no longer understand the meaning of the totems and have only little knowledge of the important tribal stories and poems recited in the novel. An example of this is when Mark has to explain to Keetah the story of the swimmer and its meaning. The elderly understand the changing times and are afraid of them. "They don't remember the myths and the meaning of the totems. They want to.