Yeah, I have always heard it as a mix of observations from a young native man, and an old one. They try to hold on to their old ways - "hold the line" - but they are flooded more and more by white culture and it gets harder every day to remain true to the old ways. The literal story is a young man going through a coming of age ritual of some kind - climbing a mountain, going through an ordeal, possibly being bitten by a rattlesnake or drinking its venom.
Yeah, I have always heard it as a mix of observations from a young native man, and an old one. They try to hold on to their old ways - "hold the line" - but they are flooded more and more by white culture and it gets harder every day to remain true to the old ways. The literal story is a young man going through a coming of age ritual of some kind - climbing a mountain, going through an ordeal, possibly being bitten by a rattlesnake or drinking its venom.