Presenter:  Sheri O'Rourke

Respondent:  Claudine Favorita

Recorder:   Allison Amaya

"The Last Wolf"

Mary Tallmountain was a Native Alaskan.  She was born in 1918 in a village along the Yukon River, which is about 100 miles south of the Arctic Circle.  She was born to a native Alaskan mother and a Scots/Irish father.  Her mother became terminally ill and died when Mary was a small child.  She was adopted by a non-Native couple, and taken away from her village.  She also lost a brother and her step-parents.   She was traumatized by losing her family and homeland, and by the harshness of mainstream America.  She felt like an angry outsider for many years.  Writing was her way of going home, of reclaiming her ancestry, her family, and her homeland.  It was also a way of claiming her proud native voice.  Her stories and poems portray life along the Yukon River and her removal from that land.  She also, in some of her other work, captures tender images of street life in inner city San Francisco, where she lived for many years. 

            She displayed a generous spirit by later helping and encouraging many colleagues and struggling writers of all ages and backgrounds.  After she died, according to her will, all proceeds from her published works will go to benefit low-income writers, particularly Native Americans and writers living in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district.

Significance of "The Last Wolf":

The poem illustrates the following class objectives:

1a. "Involuntary or forced participation:

"Yes, I said.

I know what they have done."

By the use of the word "they", TallMountain separates the Native Americans from the dominant culture by claiming no part in the destruction that has befallen them.  Native Americans had no choice in the matter.

3b.  defying the myth of the "vanishing Indian", instead choosing to "survive", sometimes in faith that the dominant culture will eventually destroy itself, and the forest and buffalo will return.

"baying his way eastward in the mystery of his wild loping gate"

The wolf is heading toward the east, with east being a symbol of new beginnings, the dawn of a new day.  Just as Mohegan, in James Fenimore Cooper’s The Pioneers, was buried with his head facing east in his post death journey to life as he knew it, the wolf represents this Native American belief in survival.

5a.  To discover the power of poetry and fiction to help "others" hear the minority voice and vicariously share the minority experience.

TallMountain paints a stark portrait of the Native Americans’ experience with her powerful use of imagery and symbolism.  One can most definitely see, and most certainly feel the pain of the destruction of an entire culture. 

Interpretation:

It appears that TallMountain is expressing her sorrow concerning what she feels to be the oppression of Native Americans, and their eventual demise at the hands of the dominant race.  Yet, with the wolf, she acknowledges hope for the future.  The poem is written in first person, and we can hardly ignore the fact that she seems to be revealing her own feelings with regard to what she and all other Native Americans have endured.  As she sits on her "narrow bed looking west", she is waiting for the end that she knows is all too near.  As we know, the sun sets in the west and darkness follows.  Her narrow bed is a metaphor that describes the confined Native American existence that the dominant race allowed them before they eventually destroyed it all.   With her reference to the "last wolf", she draws a parallel between the animal and the Native American way of life, in this case, both destroyed by the dominant society.  Yet, with the wolf "baying his way eastward" and hurrying toward her, she illustrates the Native Americans’ belief in the strength and survival skills of the wolf.  The wolf represents the strength and spirit of the Native American.  With the wolf heading east, TallMountain illustrates the Native American belief that they will return to the land of the buffalo and forests, rising again.  Likewise, when the wolf lays his muzzle on the "spare white spread" TallMountain provides a vivid symbol of the pure and clean promise of a return to the old way of life that the Native American believes in.  Yet, while she sits looking west, toward the setting sun which symbolizes the end that she knows is coming,  TallMountain illustrates the sharp contrast between the inherent strength of the wolf which embodies the Native American spirit,  and the harsh reality of being human and beaten by powers too great to best.

Style:    

The style of this poem is free verse.  It is written in a stream of consciousness style that allows the reader to feel what is going on as it happens.  TallMountain uses this style throughout most all of the poem in an effort to lend an air of urgency or immediacy to the action of the poem.  We are meant to feel the urgency of the wolf as it completes its journey.  Not until the last two lines does she use any type of proper punctuation.  At this point, she wants us to stop and sense the importance of what has happened.

Questions:

1. What is the significance of the wolf?  What part does he play in this poem?

2. What is the mood of this poem?

3. What is the significance of the "spare white spread?"

Discussion:

The class was asked to respond with their views concerning the mood of the poem.  One response was that the mood was somber because the wolf was losing its natural habitat like Native Americans had lost theirs.  It was also mentioned that the mood may be one of acceptance because of the knowledge that the end would eventually come. 

            As to the significance of the "spare white spread," Sheri Lowe responded that it signified that white was pure  She also offered the idea that the spread might be signifying that the whites had taken over, leaving the poet wondering what would happen in the future. 

            Claudine felt that the setting or mood of the poem was angry because everything had been taken away from the Native American.  She also, commented on the simplicity of the people, and what measures the wolf had to go through to get to the poet sitting on her bed. 

            Dr. White enlightened the class as to the Native American belief that life starts in the west and ends in the east, which is opposite to what the Europeans believe.