Table of Contents

The Garden of the Mind: An Introduction to Early American Indian Poetry

POEMS

Eleazar
In obitum Viri verè Reverendi D. Thomae Thacheri, Qui Ad Dom. ex hâc Vitâ migravit, 18.8.1678
English translation: On the death of that truly venerable man D. Thomas Thacher [written 1678, published 1702

Jane Johnston Schoolcraft (Ojibwe)
Pensive Hours [written 1820, published 1962]
The Contrast [written 1823 and possibly later, published 2007]
Invocation To my Maternal Grandfather On hearing his descent from Chippewa ancestors misrepresented [written 1823, published 1860]
To the Pine Tree on first seeing it on returning from Europe
Translation [English translation of "To the Pine Tree"] [2007]
By an Ojibwa Female Pen, Invitation to sisters to a walk in the Garden, after a shower [written by 1826, published 1962]
Lines to a Friend Asleep [written by 1827, published 1962]
To my ever lamented and beloved son William Henry [written 1827, published 1962]
To the Miscodeed [2007]
On Meditation [2007]
Sweet Willy [written 1835 or later, published 2007]
Lines written at Castle Island, Lake Superior [written 1838, published 2007]
On leaving my children John and Jane at School, in the Atlantic states, and preparing to return to the interior [written 1838 or 1839, published
1851]
English translation of "On leaving my children . . . " [2007]

William Walker, Jr. (Wyandot)
["Oh, give me back my bended bow"] [written approximately in the 1820s, published 1882 and perhaps earlier]
The Wyandot's Farewell [written 1843, published 1882 and perhaps earlier]
Israel Folsom (Choctaw)
Lo! The Poor Indian's Hope [written perhaps around 1831, published 1875]
An Indian (Jesse Bushyhead?) (Cherokee)
The Indian's Farewell [1848]
John Rollin Ridge / Yellow Bird (Cherokee)
An Indian's Grave [1847]
Reflections Irregular [1848]
My Harp [1848]
Song ("Come to the river's side, my love") [1848]
Song ("I saw her once—her eye's deep light") [1848]
The Man of Memory [1848]
"The man twenty feet high . . . " [1848]
The Dark One to His Love [1849]
The Still Small Voice ("There is a voice more dear to me") [1851]
The Humboldt Desert [1867]
Mount Shasta [1853, 1854, 1868]
The Atlantic Cable [1868]
Humboldt River [1860, 1868]
To a Star Seen at Twilight [1849, 1868]
The Forgiven Dead [1868]
To a Mocking Bird Singing in a Tree [1868]
The Rainy Season in California [1868]
The Harp of Broken Strings [1850, 1868]
October Hills [1867, 1868]
To the Beautiful [1868]
A Night Scene [1868]
False, but Beautiful [1868]
To L——— on Receiving Her Portrait [1868]
The Stolen White Girl [1868]
Poem ("The waves that murmur at our feet") [1868]
Erinna [1848, 1868]
Lines on a Humming Bird Seen at a Lady's Window [1868]
Poem ("All hail, the fairest, greatest, best of days!") [1868]
A Scene Along the Rio de las Plumas [1868]
The Still Small Voice ("Alas, how every thing will borrow") [1848, 1851,1868]
Eyes [1853, 1868]

Te-con-ees-kee (Cherokee)
Suggested by the report, in the Advocate, of the laying of the corner stone of the Pocahontas Female Seminary—Cherokee Nation [1848]
["Though far from thee Georgia in exile I roam"] [1848]

Si-tu-a-kee, Jr. (Cherokee)
To the Tahlequah Gals [1850]

William Penn Boudinot (Cherokee)
["There is a spectre ever haunting"] [1851]

Tso-le-oh-woh (Cherokee)
A Red Man's Thoughts [1853]
What an Indian Thought When He Saw the Comet [1853]

C. H. Campbell (Cherokee)
["Our tribe could once of many warriors boast"] [1855]
Former Student of the Cherokee Male Seminary (Cherokee)
The Rose of Cherokee [1855]
Joshua Ross (Cherokee)
My Ruling Star [1855]
Sequoyah [1856]
The Wanderer [1856]
On a Lady's Eyes [1859]
Peter Perkins Pitchlynn (Choctaw)
Song of the Choctaw Girl [undated, probably 1850s, published 1972]
["Will you go with me"] [undated, probably 1856 or 1857, published 1972]
John Gunter Lipe (Cherokee)
To Miss Vic [written 1861, published 1921]
Anonymous Cherokee (Cherokee)
["Faster and fiercer rolls the tide"] [1871]
David J. Brown (Cherokee)
Sequoyah [1879]
James Harris Guy (Chickasaw)
["The white man wants the Indian's home"] [1878]
Lament of Tishomingo [1879]
Old Boggy Depot [written about 1881, published 1927]
Fort Arbuckle [written 1885 or earlier, published 1891]

John Lynch Adair (Cherokee)
Hec Dies: An Imitation [1877]
Joy Returneth with the Morning [1889]

John Palmer (Chemakum, Skokomish)
[I Remember You] [1880]

Joseph Lynch Martin (Cherokee)
A Dream [1881] 152
Stanzas by Uncle Joe [1891]

Wenonah (Cherokee)
Thanksgiving [1886]

Hors de Combat (Cherokee)
["I've returned to home and scanty lunch"] [1887]
Alexander Posey (Creek [Muskogee])
O, Oblivion! [probably 1894]
Ye Men of Dawes [probably 1894]
["To allot, or not to allot"] [written 1894, published 2008]
Wildcat Bill [1894]
["In UNCLE SAM'S Dominion"] [1895]
Cuba Libre [1896]
Callie [2008]
The Squatter's Fence [written about 1897, published 2008]
To Our Baby, Laughing [written about 1897, published 2008]
The Two Clouds [probably 1897]
The Idle Breeze [written 1897, published 2008]
My Fancy [written 1897, published 2008]
To a Hummingbird [1897]
To the Crow [written 1897, published 2008]
The Bluebird [2008]
Coyote [2008]
Sunset [written 1898, published 2008]
The Legend of the Red Rose [probably written 1898, published 1910]
To a Morning Warbler [1899]
Eyes of Blue and Brown [written 1898, published 2008]
Flowers [written 1898, published 2008]
The Deer [written 1898, published 2008]
When Love Is Dead [1900]
Say Something [2008]
Tulledega [published about 1900]
The Arkansas River [written about 1900, published 2008]
Ode to Sequoyah [1899]
An Outcast [1899]
The Decree [1900]
On the Capture and Imprisonment of Crazy Snake, January, 1901 [1910]
The Fall of the Redskin [1901]
Saturday [1901]
On Hearing a Redbird Sing [1902]
It's Too Hot [1903]
A Freedman Rhyme [1905]
On Viewing the Skull and Bones of a Wolf [2008]
A Vision of Rest [1910]

William Abbott Thompson (Cherokee)
You Can Always Tell [1895]

Rufus Buck (Yuchi)
My dream [written 1896, published 1898] 179

James Roane Gregory (Euchee [Yuchi], Muskogee [Creek])
The Promised Seal [1895]
Otheen, Okiyetos [1895]
Rain [1895]
Storm Lights [1895]
The Green Corn Dance [1900]
Nineteenth Century Finality [1900]

Kingfisher (Cherokee)
After the Curtis Bill Passes [1898]

J. C. Duncan (Cherokee)
The Red Man's Burden: Parody on Kipling's Poem [1899]

Richard C. Adams (Delaware [Lenape])
To the American People [1899]
A Delaware Indian Legend [1899]
To the Delaware Indians [1899]
Too-qua-stee / De Witt Clinton Duncan (Cherokee)
The White Man's Burden [1899]
The Dead Nation [1899]
A Vision of the End [1899]
Cherokee Memories [1900]
Truth Is Mortal [1901]
A Christmas Song [1901]
Sequoyah [1904]
My Mother's Ring [1904]
Dignity [1904]
Labor [1904]
Indian Territory at World's Fair [1904]
Thanksgiving [1904]

Olivia Ward Bush-Banks (Montaukett)
On the Long Island Indian [1890]
Morning on Shinnecock [1899]
A Hero of San Juan [1899]
Symbols [written after 1900, published 1991]
Filled with You [written after 1900, published 1991]
Regret [1905]
Heart-Throbs [1914]

BOARDING SCHOOL POEMS
-Adin C. Gibbs (Delaware [Lenape])
The Cornwall Seminary [1822]
-Corrinne (Cherokee)
Our Wreath of Rose Buds [1854]
-Lily Lee (Cherokee)
Literary Day Among the Birds [1855]
-N. (Cherokee)
[Farewell] ("To school-mates dear, to teachers kind") [1855]
-Emma Lowrey Williams (Cherokee)
Life [written 1855, published 1922]
-Elsie Fuller (Omaha)
A New Citizen [1887]
-Samuel Sixkiller (Cherokee)
To Class '95 [1895]
[My First Winter Out of School] [1896]
-Melinda Metoxen (Oneida)
Iceland [1896]
-J. William Ettawageshik (Ottawa)
The Glow-Worm [1911]
-Anonymous Carlisle student
My Industrial Work [1913]
-Lillian Simons (Mashpee)
Silhouettes—Guess [1913]
-Maude Cooke (Mohawk) and Agnes Hatch (Chippewa)
Our Cottage [1917]
-Francis L. Verigan (Tlingit)
Be a Carlisle Student [1917]
The Martyrdom of Funny Face [1918]
-Tyler Young (Arapaho)
Just Imagine [1920]

Mabel Washbourne Anderson (Cherokee)
Nowita, the Sweet Singer [1900]

Henry B. Sarcoxie (Delaware [Lenape])
In the Desert [1900]
Up the Washita [1900]

Evalyn Callahan Shaw (Creek [Muskogee])
October [1900]

Laura Minnie Cornelius (Oneida)
A Tribute to the Future of My Race [1903]

Hen-toh / Bertrand N. O. Walker (Wyandot)
A Mojave Lullaby [1903, 1905, 1924]
Pontiac [1906]
A Desert Memory [1906, 1924]
A Song of a Navajo Weaver [1906, 1916, 1924]
A Wyandot Cradle Song [1910, 1924]
Arrow-Heads [1915, 1924]
The Warrior's Plume [1915, 1924]
A Strand of Wampum [1915]
The Calumet [1919, 1924]
My Fren' [1924]
Injun Summa [1924]
The Seasons [1924]
Fishin' [1924]
Fire [1924]
Smokin' [1924]
Big Tree's Horse [1924]
A Borrowed Tale [1924]
Coyote [1924]
An Indian Love Song [1924]
Wyandot Names [1924]
Huntin' [1924]
Triplets [1924]
Sleep It Summa' Time [1924]
August [1924]
"Weengk" [1924]
Agency Police I [1924]
Agency Police II [1924]
Agency Police III [1924]

Joseph M. La Hay (Cherokee)
Consolation [1905]

William D. Hodjkiss (Dakota)
Song of the Storm-Swept Plain [1913]

Arthur Caswell Parker (Seneca)
My Race Shall Live Anew [1914]
Faith [1916]

Irene Campbell Beaulieu (Sioux)
Poor Lo [1916]

Carlos Montezuma (Yavapai)
"An Evening's Reverie" [not previously published]
Changing Is Not Vanishing [1916]
Indian Office [1916]
Civilization [1917]
Steady, Indians, Steady [1917]
I Have Stood Up for You [1919]

William J. Kershaw (Menominee)
The Indian's Salute to His Country [1915]
Joseph Fights No More [1929]
Thomas Dewey Slinker (Choctaw)
Our Side of It [1918]

James E. Waters / Wild Pigeon (Montaukett, Matinnecock)
Montauk [1919]
King Philip (Pometacom) [1919]
The First American Alliance [1919]

Wanda Short
On Straight to Freedom [1920]

Sunhair
One Spirit—One Race [1920]
A Song of Hope [1920]

Our Contributor (Anishinaabe?)
The Ne'er Digressing Quartette [1920]

Leta V. Meyers Smart (Omaha)
W-H-O [1920]
On a Nickel [1921]
A Picture [1921]
A Young Man's Adventure with Opportunity [1922]

Wa Wa Chaw (Payomkowishum, Luiseño)
The Trial of the Mission Indian [1922]
The Indian Cry [1922]
The Indians' Spirits [1922]
The Indian Game [1922]
Haunted Brains [1922]
Gone Are the Days [1922]
The Present Indian Slave [not previously published]
My Psyche and Wassaja [written probably about 1923, published 1980]
And So All Things of the Earth [1980]
In Memory of My Homosexual Friend: Imaginary Love. . . . [1980]
My Secret World [1980]

Ruth Margaret Muskrat (Cherokee)
Songs of the Spavinaw [1920]
Sentenced (A Dirge) [1921]
When It's Dark [1921]
The Hunter's Wooing [1921]
An Indian Lullaby [1921]
Nunih Waiyah [1922]
from Sonnets from the Cherokee (May Mrs. Browning Pardon Me) [1922]
The Warriors' Dance [1922]
The Apache Reservation [1922]
The Trail of Tears [1922]
If You Knew [1923]
In Class [1924]
To an Indian Lover [1924]

Broken Wing Bird
Why? Why? Why? [1921]
Come Back, Indians of Yesterday [1921]

Blue Feather
The Lone Tee-Pee [1921]
Mrs. Minot Carter (Dakota)
Raindrops [1922]
Fancies [1922]

Alfred C. Gillis (Winnemem Wintu)
The Bird with the Wounded Wing [1923]
An Indian Cradle Song [1923]
The Shasta Lily [1923]
To the Wenem Mame River [1924]
The Sacramento River [1924]
Where Sleep the Wintoon Dead [1924]
The Klamath Girl [1924]
My Prayer [1924]

Arsenius Chaleco (Yuma)
The Indian Requiem [1924]

Lynn Riggs (Cherokee)
Charger [1928, 1930]
Song of the Unholy Oracle [1930]
Spring Morning—Santa Fe [1930]
The Wolves [1928, 1930]
Santo Domingo Corn Dance [1926, 1930]
A Letter [1930]
Bird Cry [1930]
Wonder [1930]
The Deer [1930]
The Hollow [1930]
The Golden Bee [1930]
Angry Sea [1930]
The Golden Cockerel [1928, 1930]
Skulls Like These [1930]
For a Silent Poet [1930]
Moon [1930]
Those Who Speak in Whispers [1930]
The Perfect Tree [1930]
The Vandals [1930]
The Corrosive Season [1927, 1930]
Endless Legend [1930]
Before Spring [1930]
The Cross [1930]
Shadow on Snow [1930]
The Impenitent [1930]
Change [1930]
Footprints [1930]
Hour After Dawn [1928, 1930]

D'Arcy McNickle [D'Arcy Dahlberg] (Confederated Salish, Kootenai)
Plowing [1924]
Cycle [1924]
Today [1924]
Minuet in G [1925]
The Mountains [1925]
Old Isidore [1925]
Man Hesitates but Life Urges [1926]
Sweet Is the Prairie [As D'Arcy McNickle] [1934]
Ben D. Locke (Choctaw)
The Doughboy [1925]
Hobachi (Echo) [1927]

Molly Spotted Elk (Molly Alice Nelson) (Penobscot)
["Down in the land of roses"] [not previously published]
["I never knew of such a place"] [not previously published]
["Twas only a bunch of roses"] [not previously published]
We're in the Chorus Now [not previously published]

Winnie Lewis Gravitt (Choctaw)
Sippokni Sia [1927]

Sunshine Rider / Atalie Unkalunt (Cherokee)
The Conquered Race [1927]

Mary Cornelia Hartshorne (Choctaw)
The Poet [1927]
Fallen Leaves [1927]
Three Poems of Christmas Eve [1927]
Hills of Doon [1928]
April Will Come [1928]
Wind in Mexico [1928]
Sonnet [1928]

Julia Carter Welch (Chickasaw)
Fall [1929]
The Weaver [1930]
Indian Lament [1930]
Redman [1930]

Gust-ah-yah-she (Menominee)
The Indian's Plea [1929]

Stella LeFlore Carter (Chickasaw)
Inauguration Day [1930]

Elise Seaton (Cherokee, Chickasaw)
Orientale [1930]
Riverside [1930]

Notable False Attributions
Bibliography of Poems by American Indians to 1930
Textual Notes
Works Cited
Index
Acknowledgments

Promotional Information

Changing Is Not Vanishing simultaneously reinvents the history of American Indian literature and American poetry by uncovering a vast but forgotten archive of early American Indian poems. The book includes work by 82 writers and a full bibliography of poems by more than 140 Indian writers who wrote before 1930.

About the Author

Robert Dale Parker is James M. Benson Professor in English and Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Illinois. He is the editor of The Sound the Stars Make Rushing Through the Sky: The Writings of Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.

Reviews

"A remarkably rich and dense collection of poems. . . . Overall, the collection brings together the work of more than 80 poets from John Rollin Ridge to Alexander Posey to Lynn Riggs with complete bibliographies given for each poet represented in the collection. . . . This tremendously valuable book further erodes the idea that what may be called Native American literature is only to be found in the contemporary period."—American Literary Scholarship

"An excellent book, uniquely recovering materials of great importance in the field. The scholarship and research are exemplary and impressive: I learned a lot from it and was happy to learn it."—Carter Revard, Washington University in St. Louis

"A truly significant publication. This book fills a huge gap in our knowledge of the history of writing in the United States and Indian country. This is a book that I wish had been published decades ago, and scholars in a number of fields owe a debt of gratitude to Robert Dale Parker."—Michael A. Elliott, Emory University