'Walking On Earth and Touching the Sky: Poetry and Prose by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School' edited by Timothy P. McLaughlin, Illustrated by S.D. Nelson (LS 5663)

McLaughlin, Timothy P., ed. 2012. Walking On Earth and Touching the Sky: Poetry and Prose by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School. Illustrated by S.D. Nelson. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers.

ISBN: 978-4197-0179-5

Cover Image From:
www.abramsbooks.com

In the introduction to the anthology Walking On Earth and Touching the Sky: Poetry and Prose by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School, Timothy P. McLaughlin gives a brief history of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the location of Red Cloud Indian School.  McLaughlin also discusses the myriad difficulties facing the children who attend the school and live on the reservation: severe poverty, addiction, substandard housing, violence, and high levels of unemployment.  Life, Laughlin (2012) notes, is difficult, but there is "a tremendous love for the land, a system of profound cultural ways, a sense of community that often supersedes the struggles, and a capacity for humor...and a source of joy" (12).  This particular collection of writings came from McLaughlin's (2012) experiences teaching writing and reading to grades five through eight over a three-year period (13).  What follows on the pages of the book are over one hundred brief reflections written in poetry and prose about how the children in McLaughlin's class at Red Cloud view themselves, their world, and their place within it.

McLaughlin divides the book between seven different themes: Natural World; Misery; Native Thoughts; Silence; Spirit; Family, Youth, and Dreams; and Language.  McLaughlin also includes a brief introduction for each theme and how it informs the students' writing.  The writings contained in each section are reflections on that theme.  Some of the poems are written in free verse, while others follow a more structured format.  Some of the prose is so lyrically composed, that it might as well be poetry, and I wonder how the book might have turned out differently if McLaughlin had worked with some of those pieces to try and go that extra step that would take it into poetry.

Many of the poems are written as list poems.  They appear in every theme of the book, and cover a variety of subjects.  In the section "Nature," Jessie Star Comes Out wrote a list poem about the sun, titled "The Sun."  It's short, but displays a fantastic understanding of the sun and its place in the universe.  Another effective list poem is J.J. Wilson's "Misery."  He lists all the small and large indignities he's suffered and seen others suffer as stereotypes crush their identity.  Andrew Herman also wrote a list poem titled "Misery" where his last two lines contain two "Indian misery is..." statements.  Structurally, it emphasizes the hopelessness Andrew sees in his world.  Kayla Matthews allows her poem "Misery" to illustrate the effect of addiction on the community.

Often, the list poems contain a great deal of figurative language in the form of metaphor or simile.  Julian Bear Runner's poem "Racism" demonstrates this with his striking choice of words.  Julian says, "Racism is like a gun in a child's hands / loaded with all the words a devil would say" (Bear Runner 2012, 31).  Dusty Black Elk uses metaphor in his list poem "Who Am I" to illustrate the feelings of alienation he feels.  The poem says,

I am a football player at a basketball game.
I am a cat with a bunch of dogs...
I am an angel around a bunch of devils.
I am a Walkman at a rock concert.
I am a block that tries to fit into a circle. (Black Elk 2012, 62).  

Other types of poems and prose excerpts offer beautiful uses of language to evoke an image.  Carmen Fourd's "Dawn" offers a dreamy depiction of the sunrise as "beautiful with pink, blue, and yellow all spreading like watercolors" (Fourd 2012, 18).  It's a simple, yet effective use of a simile, because who hasn't played with one of those sets of watercolor paints you can find in the arts and crafts aisle of the local big box store (or even the local five-and-dime) and watched the colors blend and spread as you painted on a piece of paper?  One poem, "Metaphor," by Clementine Boucheaux (2012), simply contains five lines of metaphor about nature, including the introspective phrase "stars are pieces of memory" (23).  Another astute turn of phrase is in Jon Decker's "Writing."  He says, "Writing is like flowing water... a constant stream of ideas being transformed into letters and words" (Decker 2012, 70).  Jon's piece is one of those written prose that could have easily been transformed into poetry, due to the strength of its use of language and imagery with just a little coaxing and revision.  Stephanie Sully offers a lovely reflection titled "Dreams of the Babies" with lush adjectives that make you see pink cheeks and swear the aroma of talcum powder is in the air.  Stephanie begins with

Young, sweet innocent souls dreaming of they came to be.  Sleeping in their beds with the moon, stars, sun, and clouds hanging over their heads.  Hate, jealousy, envy, racism, and sin revolving in the world, but they have no clue of it.  They just know when to smile, cry, laugh, and play. (Sully 2012, 66).  

This is another prose piece that I thought could have been easily nudged into poetry with some instructor-led guidance.

Some of the poems use other literary devices.  Larissa Ross' poem "Nature" uses personification to depict her narrator engaging Mother Nature in a conversation about the environmental devastation she sees.  It's also an interesting parallel to the cultural devastation of Aboriginal people.  Kathy McLaughlin's (2012) "Still I Cry" employs a refrain of "Still I cry" at the end of each stanza to encompass the collective sorrow at decades of of racism and mistreatment (32).  Rayleen Bickerstaff also uses refrain in her poem "Still I'm Loved."  Rayleen discusses the concept of unconditional love by describing all the terrible things she (or anyone) could do that would alienate her family or defile her community, but as her refrain states at the end of each line, "still I'm loved" (Bickerstaff 2012, 60).  Walker Thompson's "Despair" uses rhymed couplets to highlight certain characteristics.  Walker expresses a desire to "be like my dad, who is unafraid. / He is sharper than a razor blade" (Thompson 2012, 31).  Kathy McLaughlin also uses rhymed couplets in her poem "Tradition" to tie the ideas in the lines together.

One of the more sophisticated uses of poetic structure is David Wolfe's "The Battle," a historically-themed poem written from the point-of-view of a Lakota warrior fighting against European and American incursions on their land.  It consists of three stanzas, each four lines long with rhymed couplets.  The poem is a micro-story, a small nugget of an event with a clear beginning, middle, and end.  David manages to combine pride and a warrior's fierce spirit with an almost fatalistic acknowledgement that the warrior might not survive this battle.  Another emotionally complex piece of writing is Derrick McCauley's "Silence."  It's technically an example of prose, but Derrick's language describing how he felt when his mother presumable died makes you feel all the sound being sucked out of the room.  He says, "It was like I was on a beach and all I could hear were the waves coming onto the land" (McCauley 2012, 49).  So even without saying so explicitly, Derrick recalls the  sensation that hearing the blood roar in your ears from a traumatic personal event.  One of the other emotionally complex poems in this collection belongs to Kayla Matthews and her poem "Faith."  She describes a concept of home that doesn't rely on a physical place, but rather a spiritual location that relies on her faith in her community.

The book is illustrated with vibrant paintings by S.D. Nelson, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux. One painting accompanies the introduction for each section that also aligns with the theme of the section.  The paintings themselves are lovely meditations on the theme of the section.  Most of the paintings are done in acrylic, but there are a few in colored pencils.  The use of acrylic allows Nelson to create dynamic images that glow on the page.  They are lovely additions to the book.

The book includes several access features.  It has a table of contents, which lists the sections, like chapters.  It also has two indices, one which lists the tiles and their page numbers, and the other lists all the writers in the book.  Both of these indices also list the page numbers on which the poems or particular writers appear.  Nelson's paintings also have captions that contain the details of the painting or drawing (title, medium, size) and a line or two of poetry.  The captions also give an explanation of the themes or symbols in the paintings provided by Nelson.

The poems and prose are generally thought provoking and offer a unique window into the life of a group of children and young teenagers who navigate between their traditional world and the modern one, some with more success than others.  Several of the poems display a sense of resilience and defiance necessary for survival against terrible odds.  Some of the poems demonstrate a delicate and deft use of words, while others explore complex and deeply felt emotions.  Some of the poems are less well-thought out than others, and there are many prose pieces that should (in my opinion) have been transformed into poetry, as demonstrated by Georgia Heard's For the Good of the Earth and Sun: Teaching Poetry.  All those particular pieces would have needed were a few minor adjustments in phrasing and structure.  Still, the overall quality of the work is quite good, especially when you consider these are still young children.  Well, young, perhaps chronologically, but based on the words in these pages, it just proves that age can indeed be just a number.

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Spotlight on...

"Misery" 

Indian misery is when somebody takes you land.
Indian misery is when somebody kills your friends.
Indian misery is when your people turn against you.
Indian misery is being slaves to people.
Indian misery is being locked up in jail.
Indian misery is people killing your food for money.
Indian misery is fighting. Indian misery is no peace.
Indian misery is when you get killed. Indian misery is if you lose the fight.
-- Andrew Herman (2012, 29)

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One of the highlights of the revised BC curriculum is the integration of Aboriginal subjects and content into the curriculum.  With the initial findings of the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigation into the abuses perpetuated in the residential school system published in 2012, this poem makes a perfect gateway into a unit about the issues facing Aboriginal people today. Many of the issues Andrew brings up in his poem can be directly traced to the policies of the US and Canadian federal and state/provincial governments regarding their Aboriginal populations.  As a form of formative assessment, it might be an interesting exercise to have students write poems based on what they've learned.

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Works Cited

Heard, Georgia. 1989. For the Good of the Earth and Sun: Teaching Poetry. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books.

McLaughlin, Timothy P., ed. 2012. Walking On Earth and Touching the Sky: Poetry and Prose by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School. Illustrated by S.D. Nelson. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers.