ABSTRACT/RESUME
Poetry has been largely overlooked in the research on traditional
Native litera- ture. The author reviews and categorizes the
traditional poetry of North American Indians. This poetry was
oral, usually presented as song, but good translation and the
transfer to a written form can still preserve the flavour of
the cultures in which it developed.
Traditional Native literature consists of two major categories:
mythology and poetry. A great deal of research has gone into the
collecting, categorizing and analysing of myths and legends but
poetry has received relatively little attention.
Myths and legends were used to teach sacred truths or to pass on
historical information. Origin myths dealt with the transition
from a mythical to a modern age; essentially the myths tell how
the earth was created and how living things came to benefit from
the phenomena of nature. The plots of the stories that have been
developed in human society reflect the cultural settings,
occupations and interests of the people and are usually called
legends. Most widespread and popular, however, are the stories
told about the "trickster". He is an inchoate being who wanders
from place to place; he violates human values at will though
he does not appear to be intentionally good or evil. It is through
him that all values come into being (Radin, 1972:xxiii). The
"trickster" straddles both myths and legends and is found, not
only in ancient tales of all hunting societies,
but in many contemporary Native societies as well. He can,
perhaps, be viewed as a psychological phenomena, an attempt to
understand human nature. Carl Jung saw him as the personification
of those traits of character which are sometimes better and
sometimes worse than the normal human being (Radin, 1972:
195).
In that she is right, lies the foundation of this article, to
bring tribal poetry closer to a larger public. One thing we all
seem to know or have read something about;
The way Sitting Bull and Geronimo addressed the dirty agenda and
contracts the States tried to pull through their noses as if they
were ignorants!
The metaphors they used as a reply were of a grandeur only life in
nature could present. If I give you many dollars would you sell
your lands, said a governor who started a negotiation in
resettlement! The reply of a certain chief was, after a long
discourse about the treasures of nature and stealing from Wakan or
from Great Manitou;
If the governor is willing to pay a silver- dollar for each grain
of desert- sand in my hand, then we have a deal! M
http://www3.brandonu.ca/library/cjns/5.1/grant.pdf
Literature:
1. C.M.Bowra “Primitive Song”
2. African Poetry by Ulli Beier Oxford
3. Dichtungen der Naturvolker Eckart von Sydow 1925 Phaidon
4. Tirade:213 “Luister hoort toch Marupu”
5. Les Baoules, Dictions et Proverbes, CEDA
6. Lyriek der Natuurvolken, Hella S Haasse & W. Muensterberger
7. De donkere Lier door W A Braasem & Ed Hoornik
8. The Masks of the Gods, Joseph Campbell
9. Alcheringa magazines , as quoted and illustrated.
10.Bluenotes, by Madrason.
11. This article downloadable on gdrive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7crRLaefXfrYkpZWFVnSWxVV1JaYS00VmpTTXNhVzZrdGFr/view?usp=sharing
