Changing Is Not Vanishing

The Garden of the Mind: An Introduction to Early American Indian Poetry

POEMS

Eleazar
In obitum Viri verè Reverendi D. Thomae Thacheri, Qui Ad Dom. ex hâc Vitâ migravit, 18.8.1678
English translation: On the death of that truly venerable man D. Thomas Thacher [written 1678, published 1702

Jane Johnston Schoolcraft (Ojibwe)
Pensive Hours [written 1820, published 1962]
The Contrast [written 1823 and possibly later, published 2007]
Invocation To my Maternal Grandfather On hearing his descent from Chippewa ancestors misrepresented [written 1823, published 1860]
To the Pine Tree on first seeing it on returning from Europe
Translation [English translation of "To the Pine Tree"] [2007]
By an Ojibwa Female Pen, Invitation to sisters to a walk in the Garden, after a shower [written by 1826, published 1962]
Lines to a Friend Asleep [written by 1827, published 1962]
To my ever lamented and beloved son William Henry [written 1827, published 1962]
To the Miscodeed [2007]
On Meditation [2007]
Sweet Willy [written 1835 or later, published 2007]
Lines written at Castle Island, Lake Superior [written 1838, published 2007]
On leaving my children John and Jane at School, in the Atlantic states, and preparing to return to the interior [written 1838 or 1839, published
1851]
English translation of "On leaving my children . . . " [2007]

William Walker, Jr. (Wyandot)
["Oh, give me back my bended bow"] [written approximately in the 1820s, published 1882 and perhaps earlier]
The Wyandot's Farewell [written 1843, published 1882 and perhaps earlier]
Israel Folsom (Choctaw)
Lo! The Poor Indian's Hope [written perhaps around 1831, published 1875]
An Indian (Jesse Bushyhead?) (Cherokee)
The Indian's Farewell [1848]
John Rollin Ridge / Yellow Bird (Cherokee)
An Indian's Grave [1847]
Reflections Irregular [1848]
My Harp [1848]
Song ("Come to the river's side, my love") [1848]
Song ("I saw her once—her eye's deep light") [1848]
The Man of Memory [1848]
"The man twenty feet high . . . " [1848]
The Dark One to His Love [1849]
The Still Small Voice ("There is a voice more dear to me") [1851]
The Humboldt Desert [1867]
Mount Shasta [1853, 1854, 1868]
The Atlantic Cable [1868]
Humboldt River [1860, 1868]
To a Star Seen at Twilight [1849, 1868]
The Forgiven Dead [1868]
To a Mocking Bird Singing in a Tree [1868]
The Rainy Season in California [1868]
The Harp of Broken Strings [1850, 1868]
October Hills [1867, 1868]
To the Beautiful [1868]
A Night Scene [1868]
False, but Beautiful [1868]
To L——— on Receiving Her Portrait [1868]
The Stolen White Girl [1868]
Poem ("The waves that murmur at our feet") [1868]
Erinna [1848, 1868]
Lines on a Humming Bird Seen at a Lady's Window [1868]
Poem ("All hail, the fairest, greatest, best of days!") [1868]
A Scene Along the Rio de las Plumas [1868]
The Still Small Voice ("Alas, how every thing will borrow") [1848, 1851,1868]
Eyes [1853, 1868]

Te-con-ees-kee (Cherokee)
Suggested by the report, in the Advocate, of the laying of the corner stone of the Pocahontas Female Seminary—Cherokee Nation [1848]
["Though far from thee Georgia in exile I roam"] [1848]

Si-tu-a-kee, Jr. (Cherokee)
To the Tahlequah Gals [1850]

William Penn Boudinot (Cherokee)
["There is a spectre ever haunting"] [1851]

Tso-le-oh-woh (Cherokee)
A Red Man's Thoughts [1853]
What an Indian Thought When He Saw the Comet [1853]

C. H. Campbell (Cherokee)
["Our tribe could once of many warriors boast"] [1855]
Former Student of the Cherokee Male Seminary (Cherokee)
The Rose of Cherokee [1855]
Joshua Ross (Cherokee)
My Ruling Star [1855]
Sequoyah [1856]
The Wanderer [1856]
On a Lady's Eyes [1859]
Peter Perkins Pitchlynn (Choctaw)
Song of the Choctaw Girl [undated, probably 1850s, published 1972]
["Will you go with me"] [undated, probably 1856 or 1857, published 1972]
John Gunter Lipe (Cherokee)
To Miss Vic [written 1861, published 1921]
Anonymous Cherokee (Cherokee)
["Faster and fiercer rolls the tide"] [1871]
David J. Brown (Cherokee)
Sequoyah [1879]
James Harris Guy (Chickasaw)
["The white man wants the Indian's home"] [1878]
Lament of Tishomingo [1879]
Old Boggy Depot [written about 1881, published 1927]
Fort Arbuckle [written 1885 or earlier, published 1891]

John Lynch Adair (Cherokee)
Hec Dies: An Imitation [1877]
Joy Returneth with the Morning [1889]

John Palmer (Chemakum, Skokomish)
[I Remember You] [1880]

Joseph Lynch Martin (Cherokee)
A Dream [1881] 152
Stanzas by Uncle Joe [1891]

Wenonah (Cherokee)
Thanksgiving [1886]

Hors de Combat (Cherokee)
["I've returned to home and scanty lunch"] [1887]
Alexander Posey (Creek [Muskogee])
O, Oblivion! [probably 1894]
Ye Men of Dawes [probably 1894]
["To allot, or not to allot"] [written 1894, published 2008]
Wildcat Bill [1894]
["In UNCLE SAM'S Dominion"] [1895]
Cuba Libre [1896]
Callie [2008]
The Squatter's Fence [written about 1897, published 2008]
To Our Baby, Laughing [written about 1897, published 2008]
The Two Clouds [probably 1897]
The Idle Breeze [written 1897, published 2008]
My Fancy [written 1897, published 2008]
To a Hummingbird [1897]
To the Crow [written 1897, published 2008]
The Bluebird [2008]
Coyote [2008]
Sunset [written 1898, published 2008]
The Legend of the Red Rose [probably written 1898, published 1910]
To a Morning Warbler [1899]
Eyes of Blue and Brown [written 1898, published 2008]
Flowers [written 1898, published 2008]
The Deer [written 1898, published 2008]
When Love Is Dead [1900]
Say Something [2008]
Tulledega [published about 1900]
The Arkansas River [written about 1900, published 2008]
Ode to Sequoyah [1899]
An Outcast [1899]
The Decree [1900]
On the Capture and Imprisonment of Crazy Snake, January, 1901 [1910]
The Fall of the Redskin [1901]
Saturday [1901]
On Hearing a Redbird Sing [1902]
It's Too Hot [1903]
A Freedman Rhyme [1905]
On Viewing the Skull and Bones of a Wolf [2008]
A Vision of Rest [1910]

William Abbott Thompson (Cherokee)
You Can Always Tell [1895]

Rufus Buck (Yuchi)
My dream [written 1896, published 1898] 179

James Roane Gregory (Euchee [Yuchi], Muskogee [Creek])
The Promised Seal [1895]
Otheen, Okiyetos [1895]
Rain [1895]
Storm Lights [1895]
The Green Corn Dance [1900]
Nineteenth Century Finality [1900]

Kingfisher (Cherokee)
After the Curtis Bill Passes [1898]

J. C. Duncan (Cherokee)
The Red Man's Burden: Parody on Kipling's Poem [1899]

Richard C. Adams (Delaware [Lenape])
To the American People [1899]
A Delaware Indian Legend [1899]
To the Delaware Indians [1899]
Too-qua-stee / De Witt Clinton Duncan (Cherokee)
The White Man's Burden [1899]
The Dead Nation [1899]
A Vision of the End [1899]
Cherokee Memories [1900]
Truth Is Mortal [1901]
A Christmas Song [1901]
Sequoyah [1904]
My Mother's Ring [1904]
Dignity [1904]
Labor [1904]
Indian Territory at World's Fair [1904]
Thanksgiving [1904]

Olivia Ward Bush-Banks (Montaukett)
On the Long Island Indian [1890]
Morning on Shinnecock [1899]
A Hero of San Juan [1899]
Symbols [written after 1900, published 1991]
Filled with You [written after 1900, published 1991]
Regret [1905]
Heart-Throbs [1914]

BOARDING SCHOOL POEMS
-Adin C. Gibbs (Delaware [Lenape])
The Cornwall Seminary [1822]
-Corrinne (Cherokee)
Our Wreath of Rose Buds [1854]
-Lily Lee (Cherokee)
Literary Day Among the Birds [1855]
-N. (Cherokee)
[Farewell] ("To school-mates dear, to teachers kind") [1855]
-Emma Lowrey Williams (Cherokee)
Life [written 1855, published 1922]
-Elsie Fuller (Omaha)
A New Citizen [1887]
-Samuel Sixkiller (Cherokee)
To Class '95 [1895]
[My First Winter Out of School] [1896]
-Melinda Metoxen (Oneida)
Iceland [1896]
-J. William Ettawageshik (Ottawa)
The Glow-Worm [1911]
-Anonymous Carlisle student
My Industrial Work [1913]
-Lillian Simons (Mashpee)
Silhouettes—Guess [1913]
-Maude Cooke (Mohawk) and Agnes Hatch (Chippewa)
Our Cottage [1917]
-Francis L. Verigan (Tlingit)
Be a Carlisle Student [1917]
The Martyrdom of Funny Face [1918]
-Tyler Young (Arapaho)
Just Imagine [1920]

Mabel Washbourne Anderson (Cherokee)
Nowita, the Sweet Singer [1900]

Henry B. Sarcoxie (Delaware [Lenape])
In the Desert [1900]
Up the Washita [1900]

Evalyn Callahan Shaw (Creek [Muskogee])
October [1900]

Laura Minnie Cornelius (Oneida)
A Tribute to the Future of My Race [1903]

Hen-toh / Bertrand N. O. Walker (Wyandot)
A Mojave Lullaby [1903, 1905, 1924]
Pontiac [1906]
A Desert Memory [1906, 1924]
A Song of a Navajo Weaver [1906, 1916, 1924]
A Wyandot Cradle Song [1910, 1924]
Arrow-Heads [1915, 1924]
The Warrior's Plume [1915, 1924]
A Strand of Wampum [1915]
The Calumet [1919, 1924]
My Fren' [1924]
Injun Summa [1924]
The Seasons [1924]
Fishin' [1924]
Fire [1924]
Smokin' [1924]
Big Tree's Horse [1924]
A Borrowed Tale [1924]
Coyote [1924]
An Indian Love Song [1924]
Wyandot Names [1924]
Huntin' [1924]
Triplets [1924]
Sleep It Summa' Time [1924]
August [1924]
"Weengk" [1924]
Agency Police I [1924]
Agency Police II [1924]
Agency Police III [1924]

Joseph M. La Hay (Cherokee)
Consolation [1905]

William D. Hodjkiss (Dakota)
Song of the Storm-Swept Plain [1913]

Arthur Caswell Parker (Seneca)
My Race Shall Live Anew [1914]
Faith [1916]

Irene Campbell Beaulieu (Sioux)
Poor Lo [1916]

Carlos Montezuma (Yavapai)
"An Evening's Reverie" [not previously published]
Changing Is Not Vanishing [1916]
Indian Office [1916]
Civilization [1917]
Steady, Indians, Steady [1917]
I Have Stood Up for You [1919]

William J. Kershaw (Menominee)
The Indian's Salute to His Country [1915]
Joseph Fights No More [1929]
Thomas Dewey Slinker (Choctaw)
Our Side of It [1918]

James E. Waters / Wild Pigeon (Montaukett, Matinnecock)
Montauk [1919]
King Philip (Pometacom) [1919]
The First American Alliance [1919]

Wanda Short
On Straight to Freedom [1920]

Sunhair
One Spirit—One Race [1920]
A Song of Hope [1920]

Our Contributor (Anishinaabe?)
The Ne'er Digressing Quartette [1920]

Leta V. Meyers Smart (Omaha)
W-H-O [1920]
On a Nickel [1921]
A Picture [1921]
A Young Man's Adventure with Opportunity [1922]

Wa Wa Chaw (Payomkowishum, Luiseño)
The Trial of the Mission Indian [1922]
The Indian Cry [1922]
The Indians' Spirits [1922]
The Indian Game [1922]
Haunted Brains [1922]
Gone Are the Days [1922]
The Present Indian Slave [not previously published]
My Psyche and Wassaja [written probably about 1923, published 1980]
And So All Things of the Earth [1980]
In Memory of My Homosexual Friend: Imaginary Love. . . . [1980]
My Secret World [1980]

Ruth Margaret Muskrat (Cherokee)
Songs of the Spavinaw [1920]
Sentenced (A Dirge) [1921]
When It's Dark [1921]
The Hunter's Wooing [1921]
An Indian Lullaby [1921]
Nunih Waiyah [1922]
from Sonnets from the Cherokee (May Mrs. Browning Pardon Me) [1922]
The Warriors' Dance [1922]
The Apache Reservation [1922]
The Trail of Tears [1922]
If You Knew [1923]
In Class [1924]
To an Indian Lover [1924]

Broken Wing Bird
Why? Why? Why? [1921]
Come Back, Indians of Yesterday [1921]

Blue Feather
The Lone Tee-Pee [1921]
Mrs. Minot Carter (Dakota)
Raindrops [1922]
Fancies [1922]

Alfred C. Gillis (Winnemem Wintu)
The Bird with the Wounded Wing [1923]
An Indian Cradle Song [1923]
The Shasta Lily [1923]
To the Wenem Mame River [1924]
The Sacramento River [1924]
Where Sleep the Wintoon Dead [1924]
The Klamath Girl [1924]
My Prayer [1924]

Arsenius Chaleco (Yuma)
The Indian Requiem [1924]

Lynn Riggs (Cherokee)
Charger [1928, 1930]
Song of the Unholy Oracle [1930]
Spring Morning—Santa Fe [1930]
The Wolves [1928, 1930]
Santo Domingo Corn Dance [1926, 1930]
A Letter [1930]
Bird Cry [1930]
Wonder [1930]
The Deer [1930]
The Hollow [1930]
The Golden Bee [1930]
Angry Sea [1930]
The Golden Cockerel [1928, 1930]
Skulls Like These [1930]
For a Silent Poet [1930]
Moon [1930]
Those Who Speak in Whispers [1930]
The Perfect Tree [1930]
The Vandals [1930]
The Corrosive Season [1927, 1930]
Endless Legend [1930]
Before Spring [1930]
The Cross [1930]
Shadow on Snow [1930]
The Impenitent [1930]
Change [1930]
Footprints [1930]
Hour After Dawn [1928, 1930]

D'Arcy McNickle [D'Arcy Dahlberg] (Confederated Salish, Kootenai)
Plowing [1924]
Cycle [1924]
Today [1924]
Minuet in G [1925]
The Mountains [1925]
Old Isidore [1925]
Man Hesitates but Life Urges [1926]
Sweet Is the Prairie [As D'Arcy McNickle] [1934]
Ben D. Locke (Choctaw)
The Doughboy [1925]
Hobachi (Echo) [1927]

Molly Spotted Elk (Molly Alice Nelson) (Penobscot)
["Down in the land of roses"] [not previously published]
["I never knew of such a place"] [not previously published]
["Twas only a bunch of roses"] [not previously published]
We're in the Chorus Now [not previously published]

Winnie Lewis Gravitt (Choctaw)
Sippokni Sia [1927]

Sunshine Rider / Atalie Unkalunt (Cherokee)
The Conquered Race [1927]

Mary Cornelia Hartshorne (Choctaw)
The Poet [1927]
Fallen Leaves [1927]
Three Poems of Christmas Eve [1927]
Hills of Doon [1928]
April Will Come [1928]
Wind in Mexico [1928]
Sonnet [1928]

Julia Carter Welch (Chickasaw)
Fall [1929]
The Weaver [1930]
Indian Lament [1930]
Redman [1930]

Gust-ah-yah-she (Menominee)
The Indian's Plea [1929]

Stella LeFlore Carter (Chickasaw)
Inauguration Day [1930]

Elise Seaton (Cherokee, Chickasaw)
Orientale [1930]
Riverside [1930]

Notable False Attributions
Bibliography of Poems by American Indians to 1930
Textual Notes
Works Cited
Index
Acknowledgments