Three Ojibwe poets and “Hearts of Our People”
In searching for a poem and an image to capture the theme of Return of the Thunders for this week’s issue, I found the poetry of Jane Johnston Schoolcraft/Bamewawagezhikaquay/Woman of the Sound the Stars Make Rushing Through the Sky (1800-1842).
Schoolcraft is the first known Native American poet and literary writer to write and publish in English. (Many sources say she is the “first known Native American poet and literary writer” period; as if there were no Native American poets prior to her who might not have worked in English.)
She was Ojibwe/Anishinaabe and lived most of her life in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan along the Sault Ste. Marie. I found a wonderful poem of hers which almost appeared on our front page. It’s too evocative not to share. You can hear it read in modern Anishinaabemowin here: poets.org/poem/pine-tree
To the Pine Tree
Pine! Pine! I said,
The one I see, the pine
I return back, to my homeland.
The pine, the pine my father!
Already you are colored
Forever you are green
So we already have arrived
Listen in that direction
Certainly I am happy
And I see
He was there I saw it myself
The pine, the pine my father!
Already you are colored.
Nothing, you did show me
Like that, the way it looks
Pine he is green.
He is beautiful
Forever he is the green one.
Zhingwaak gaa-ozhibii’aan
Translated by Margaret Noodin
Zhingwaak! Zhingwaak! Ingii-ikid,
Weshki waabamag zhingwaak
Dagoshinaan neyab, endanakiiyaan.
Zhingwaak, zhingwaak nos sa!
Azhigwa gidatisaanan
Gaagige wezhaawashkozid.
Mii sa naa azhigwa dagoshinaang
Bizindamig ikeyaamban
Geget sa, niminwendam
Miinwaa, waabandamaan
Gii-ayaad awiiya waabandamaan niin
Zhingwaak, zhingwaak nos sa!
Azhigwa gidatisaanan.
Gaawiin gego, gaa-waabanda’iyan
Dibishkoo, ezhi-naagwasiinoon
Zhingwaak wezhaawashkozid
Wiin eta gwanaajiwi wi
Gaagige wezhaawashkozid.
Reading about the translator, Margaret Noodin, led me to the poem which did appear, “It was Cloudy,” by Heid E. Erdich and translated by Noodin. This is a poemeo, an animated poem. After watching it a few times I knew I’d seen it before. Google brought me to the WorldCat entry for “Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists.” I have this book on my shelf!
This piece was part of a travelling exhibit I saw at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, on March 7, 2020.
The museum closed due to the pandemic within days after my visit. The exhibit had to wait until October 2020 to open at the Philbrook museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
I cannot recommend this exhibit enthusiastically enough. My plan was to write about it and share images from the exhibit in the West River Eagle, but COVID had other plans. Online interviews, videos and a gallery are on the Renwick website: americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/native-women-artists.
Several Lakota artists are included and many Lakota/Nakoda/Dakota artworks and traditions are detailed including painting, quillwork, beadwork, photography, clothing, a cradleboard and much more.
It was the discovery of this connection which led me to publish Noodin and Erdich’s poem on our front page as a celebration of the Return of the Thunders.
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