LITR 4332: American Minority Literature

Student Poetry Presentation 2007

Crazy Horse Monument, South Dakota

Biographical
Information:                                                                                       Peter Blue Cloud was born to the Turtle clan of the Mohawk nation in 1933. He grew up respecting oral story telling and writing because his grandfather was a schoolteacher. Blue Cloud’s grandfather, who knew English well, only allowed Mohawk to be spoken in his home. This background of culture and education caused Peter to gain a greater respect for both his culture and literature alike. He began writing poetry at the age of thirteen. He wrote often for the Mohawk newspaper Akwesasne Notes, serving as poetry editor in 1975 and 1976, before dedicating himself to writing poetry full time. He vividly recreates the past in his poem “Crazy Horse Monument” while still describing pride for the history of his Native American culture. Peter Blue Cloud now resides in Kahnawake, where he continues to write at the age of 74.

OBJECTIVES THAT APPLY TO THE POEM

3b. Native American Indian alternative narrative: "Loss and Survival"

(Whereas immigrants define themselves by leaving the past behind in order to become American, the Indians were once “the Americans” but lost most of their land along with many of their people. Yet Native Americans defy the myth of "the vanishing Indian," choosing to "survive," sometimes in faith that the dominant culture will eventually destroy itself, and the forests and buffalo will return.)

Objective 5

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

Reading and Interpretation of Poem

Questions

1)     Who was Crazy Horse? What is his significance to this poem?

2)     Why is the repetition of the stanza starting with “Crazy Horse rides the circle of his people’s sleep…” important to the poem?

“I write because I have no choice in the matter. When the urge is there, it must be done.”

-         Peter Blue Cloud

Sources:

“Unsettling America”: An Anthology of Contemporary Multicultural Poetry. Ed. Maria Mazziotti Gillman and Jennifer Gillman, Penquin Books 1994.

Armstrong, Jeannette C. Native Poetry in Canada: A Contemporary Anthology. Broadview Press, 2001. Pgs. 24-25.

Poetry Presentation by Jessica Zuniga