Americans

been reading poetry by Native people lately and this poem came out of this...

 

Americans

 

They must have felt

no need

to know anything;

to learn

the material world,

the flow of life

and wildness.

They know not

rivers,

mountains,

animals, birds and wind.

Not even

other peoples.

 

They have become

hungry ghosts

spreading out

relentlessly,

smothering their lives

with lies;

killing hopes

and dreams.

 

Is it any wonder

they have become

ignore-ant,

arrogantly, self-righteous!

 

~~redzone 11.3.13

Author's Note

thanks for reading, comments welcomed... One of the poetry books by Simon J. Ortiz is "from Sand Creek"

Reviews

[Lyn Anderson]

Pretty strong words here. As a Canadian, I am loathe to comment for fear of getting blasted, at least as far as the content. I can say that we, as North Americans, have perpetrated atrocities against the natives. Some continue to this day in a more subtle form. It is important to recognize and own our mistakes, apologize and move past them. I am caught somewhat in the middle, having a native background, and seeing that today we cannot live in the past and must take the good parts of our heritage and shed the anger from the old. Prevent further desecration and disintegration of the positive values of our ancestors. However, we must live in the here and now and make ourselves better today. Self government, education, and retaining cultural values that are important. One minor thing -- arrogantly not gently, as this poem is anything but gentle on the European legacy in the Americas.

[redzone]

thanks for the spelling correct.. missed that...
forgiveness may come After these crimes are corrected KL... but for me personally while I have only a small amount of Native blood in me (Manhatoe, a part of the Iroquois Nation) but my ancestors were extincted by these savages who have not in one ounce of humanity changed the basic way they see different people/cultures/ etc... If you have read Burried MY Heart At Wounded Knee, please reread and then compare it to the atrocities committed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalis, Lybia, Syria, Yemen... there is good and evil, but the evil must be driven out so the good can actually heal and forgive and create again.... this is not revenge, but rather justice and without justice there can never be peace above and below, nor balance in all things... my war paint will be ready until then...
I do understand your arguments here KL, I really do and if your words could solve this I would shout them as loud as I could from mountain tops and from snow blown plains and tundra to the bottom of every ocean and sea and fast moving stream... I want to be gentle KL, to have a peaceful heart, but I want justice and the ability for this to be real and not just a dream...

I know you have a different view, and in this I do find encouragement too... thank you..

[Lyn Anderson]

My view is really not different, but there are things that cannot be undone. Governments can issue compensations and apologies, but nothing will undo these things. Instead, we must find a way to forge a new future while understanding the past. I don't know what the American government has or hasn't done, but here, often we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. The road to self governance and treaty lands being returned to First Nations peoples is long and slow. But for those places that have achieved those goals, the results have been amazing. It undermines the gains that have been made to always dwell on the negatives.

[redzone]

it is very true you can not undo extinction... apologies are easy done, yet even these do not really get to the roots of why it has happened and why it continues... I remember mentioning to you I think about the suicide rate among the Native peoples in Canada being in epidemic proportions now, today as a result of continued conscious treatment of Native peoples that also leads to alcoholism, poverty, lack of eduction, and a long list of atrocities... and for both our governments their similar atrocities they are part of committing around the globe continues as it esculates... in light of this, the achievements, while good and should continue, are like pointing to a new office building that was created in the middle of a large slum where literally thousands lived in cardboard shacks and saying see we have improved the scenery...

KL, believe me when I say, one of the great things about you is that your heart is much more at peace than mine, that you are able to embrace the small wonders that surround you even as at trhe same time there is so much chaos... you are.. well let me just say thank you for this...

[Lyn Anderson]

The flip side of all you say is what about all my friends who live on reserves and are educated and work for change. They are not no ones and nothings. They are people of faith and courage who make a difference every day. Throw all the money at it you want, in the end, the people who go back with their scoffed at degrees and give all they can to the people who believe they have "sold out" by making a better life for themselves, without ever giving up, are not to be discounted. Yes, there is much difficulty, but for every rock bottom example, I can personally name ten friends who are not in that situation. I feel that saying all native communities are slums is akin to denying all the other accomplishments.

[redzone]

not all KL, certainly not all...but far far too many.. so you know, I was thinking more Mumbai where some of the "office buildings have gone up surrounded by utter and unnecessary poverty...

as for Native people who have gotten an education and then used that education to go back and serve the communities they have come from, helping people, this is great KL... I too know lots of people who have done just this... they often tell me, "I have helped one family get housing and help paying medical bills, but I turn around and there are 10, 20 more that need my help.... when will this stop"...

it is not in the accomplishments that are to be looked down on, but that even with these accomplishments the amount of suffering increases.... we have not yet as a people, as human beings of different countries found the way out of this and be able to fix all these problems at their source...

to put it more bluntly, to deny accomplishments is like telling Einstein he had a few good ideas but the world is still flat and the sun still revolves around the earth...

[barleygirl]

Did you get inside my head for a minute? I'm not native, but sometimes I feel such a kinship with nature that I can very much imagine & feel the native point of view. I saw a TV ad last evening: "Nature doesn't need humans . . . humans need nature." I find it so offensive that anyone would skin a creature to wear it's fur, for example . . . or rape & plunder the riches of a native people, devastating their world, a world they've protected with honor, while considering such people inferior becuz they're "too simple" to be greedy & selfish & competitive . . . you've described the roots of where we Americans find ourselves today, the forces that have been shaping our values.

[redzone]

global warming, more and stronger hurricanes, tornados, droughts, melting polar ice and glaciers, as well as species extinctions are already serious signs of nature rebelling against human arrogance and stupitity... I am reminded of that song "Beds are Burning" by Midnight Oil or Michael Jackson's "Earth Song"...
How can we dance when our earth is burning
how do we sleep when the world is burning
the time has come to give it back..." some words from Midnight Oil.
https://youtu.be/ejorQVy3m8E
thank you Margie for your kind words and visit

[MsJewel]

You have written this brilliantly from another's perspective. Really great writing here.

:) Julie

[Lydia Shutter]

I liked the word play of "ignore-ant", but the tone of the poem is not one I agree with. It paints all people with the same brush and stereotypes really rankle me. Society is spread out, but killing hopes and dreams? Every individual has personal hopes, personal dreams. Dreams are killed, for the most part, by the person who had the dreams to begin with. It's an inside job. This is well written, Curt...just not my favorite genre. Lydi**

[redzone]

I have always liked and appreciated your comments and crits they are both helpful and allow me to see other or differing points of views. besides making mistakes its one of the ways we learn. and learn about each other. this poem was written from a native American perspective, Cheyenne to be accurate, but I also take responsibility since these are my words, my views as well. I wonder, since there was plenty of land and resources, if those Americans would have shared??? the different native people's were more than willing, but this was not the way history unfolded. and from a native perspective.... it's true there were lots of people who didn't personally participate in all of this directly,but this is the point on ignore-ance, they also did nothing to stop it... just wanted to share more on why the poem and I agree we do have choices to make.

[Lydia Shutter]

Thanks for elaborating.