In the Trail of the Wind

Reading to Appreciate

Native American Poetry

What is Native poetry?

• Prayers• Incantations• Passages from myths

and legends• Songs• Chants

• Passed down by word of mouth

• Eventually, recorded with pictographs, or told with the aid of beads, printed on bark

Elements of Native American Poetry

• Power of words

• Personification

• Dualism

• Father Sky and Mother Earth

• The Four Quarters

• Anonymity

Power of Words

• Words are magic• Phrases short and

powerful• Imitate the sound of

actions• Characterized as

incantatory- “uttered in order to bring about the action they describe

• EXAMPLES• “Listen!• “Be still!”• “Drink my blood!”

Personality

Animals, plants, and natural objects are often personified; often it’s with a spirit

“wind now commences to sing”

DUALISM• Things in nature, even

in words are thought of in pairs

• In poetry, word or stanzas may be paired

• The two together make for completeness

• EXAMPLES• “white rising/yellow

rising• Male/female• Night/day• Life/death

Father Sky and Mother Earth

The sun or sky often represents the father figure

Sunlight and rain are life-giving

The underworld or earth is viewed as the womb

The Four World Quarters• The four directions:

• East, west, north, south

• All correspond to the four faces of the human body

• Front, back, left, right

• The number 4 is considered sacred

Subjects of Native Poetry

• Home Omens

• Deer Rain

• Flowers Wind

• War Roads of Life

• Death Dreams

Pocahontas & Captain John Smith