Native American Literature

"Grandmother Moon"

by Hershman John

"Tonight is the lunar eclipse
Tonight the moon bleeds
Tonight my grandma is home.
Relocated to a house in Oklahoma
She lost her Cherokee homeland
In her rocking chair, a tear drips off her cheek
Grandma Webb cries for the moon
While fanning herself with a beaded Eagle-feather fan
The air is sick as a loud car passes by
And over the buildings the moon begins to glow.
Tonight is the lunar eclipse
Tonight the moon beacons
Tonight all my grandmas are home
Tonight they all see Grandmother Moon
Tonight the moon glows deep like blood
Tonight the moon is Indian."

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/7460/gmothermoon.html

Reflection:
I chose this passage because it represents the pain that the Native American families had to endure. The main point conveyed in this piece of poetry was how the Native Americans had to lose all that they loved and adapt to the white mans life in order to have freedom. Although the land was possessed and founded by the Native Americans the white man felt like they had the authority to take it from them. That is represented through this piece when they have to conform to another life style. I find this heart breaking because the family had lived on their land their whole lives and have watched generations evolve from their families property. Now the family has lost everything, similar to the families effected by Hurricane Katrina but stripping the native americans possessions from them was by force, not a work of nature. Emotions evoked in this writing is pain and sorrow for the lost memories and life that was ripped from the Native Americans. This reflects my life because we have to leave things we love for the sake of others. We all have to do things we dont want to do but we eventually adapt to the adjustments.


Dear Diary:

I remember when I was home with my family and hunting with my siblings in the woods. I always think back to the night when I watched my grandmother sitting on the front porch crying. She is one of the strongest people I know and to see her show the pain that we were enduring, it made me realize that the white man is not here to help. Seeing her so upset made me furious at those who were taking away our possessions, all the things we held dear to our hearts, all the things we had collected over the generations. Where we have been relocated isn't a bad place, but it is not... home. Grandmother hasn't taken this very well; many nights she sits on the porch and looks at the stars, but she says that she can no longer see the stars because of the city lights. She can no longer find peace with herself because she is seperated from what she had become one with, nature.

Essential Question:

The American Dream gives people a level of which they are to achieve in order to succeed in life. When the white men come and take all she has obtained over the years so that they can advance in their settlement is unmoral. The grandmother becomes intolerant with their greediness and disrespect, and she knows that they have no right to come and take her possessions from her because she has worked hard to obtain them. By the white men’s lack of understanding and lack of respect for the Native Americans, it shows a decline within the community due to the fight to obtain the life long goal which is the American Dream.