LITR 5731: Seminar in American Minority Literature
University of Houston-Clear Lake, fall 2001
Poetry Presentation Index

Presenter: Melissa Morris

Recorder: Chris Lucas

October 9, 2001

Simon J. Ortiz, "Travels in the South"

Ortiz, Simon J. Woven Stone. Tucson & London: The University of Arizona

Press, 1992. pg. 72.

Simon J. Ortiz is a full-blooded native American Indian of the Acoma tribe of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He has been writing essays, short fiction, and poems for more than 30 years. He has held official tribal positions in the Acoma tribe and plays an active role in keeping the Acoma tradition alive. His struggle to preserve and continue the Acoma tradition is evident in his poetry. His poetry explores the significance of individual origins and journeys, which he sees as forming a vital link in the continuity of life. Through his poems on the printed page, and continued poetry readings and lectures throughout the United States, he keeps the oral tradition of the Acoma alive.

Simon J. Ortiz regards himself more of a "storyteller" than "poet." His commitment to preserving and expanding the literary tradition into which he was born -- the oral tradition of Acoma -- accounts for the traditional and narrative style characterizing his work. "Travels in the South" easily adapts to short story or essay form. Ortiz’s role as a storyteller in the traditional Acoma sense is evident in the structure of "Travels in the South." His journey through the south is less about the land than the oral tradition that lives there; it is about keeping that tradition alive.

Question posed for discussion:

What is this journey really about?

Recorder Notes:

Melissa: What is the journey about?

Student comments: The journey is about the vanishing American Indians. The

Storyteller sounds peaceful and content in his journey. The peacefulness is contradictory to the chaos of the times. Ortiz mentions the Kent State

Massacre in 1960.

Dr. White: He appears to be amused by the events. He is sarcastic and ironic. His irony is not bitter.

Student comments: He is connected to nature (hugs a tree) and the animals at the end of the poem. He is happy to be alive.

Student comments: Ortiz is on a journey to find history, but everyone is so wrapped up in the present.

Dr. White: His encounters are ceremonial in nature. A spirit is there as he deals with loss and survival.

Student comments: He is nervous about White America. Example, he kept his car locked, "he wouldn't want to be black," the animals don't trust the "white" crumbs.He is allowed to conceal his race. Prejudices is everywhere, it is not always obvious, but it is always present.

Student comments: The story presents the notion of a loss of culture, tribes and Chiefs, even though he meets several Indians along the journey. They are invisible, but everywhere. He sees things that are part of Indian culture that the rest of America does not. The Indians are nowhere and everywhere at the same time. There is a sense of loss that is accompanied by a sense of survival.

Melissa: The poem easily turns into a short story or essay. Ortiz is a storyteller, which lends to a narrative poetry. Oral tradition and a singing style of recounting history leads to poetry more than to novels.