third grade was WONDERFUL! we
studied indians our small texts well
written beautifully illustrated a totally
different culture new words papooses
on boards tepee travois buffalo no
mention of horses pilgrims thanksgiving
I was fascinated absorbed modeled a seal
from clay spent the next summer wearing
a feathered headband you can see it in
photos we all were "indians" – my dad told
me we had a half-breed indian on the farm
I eyed him from a distance he seemed no
different from other farmhands much later I
wrote a whole book about white kids playing
indian it costs the most online of all my books
people want copies for their own kids my dad
also told me an occasional indian would walk
the banks of turtle creek – his tribe's old home
I think of that indian what his thoughts must be
what I didn't learn in third grade was how many
native americans there still were in wisconsin
how recently potawatomi and other tribes were
forced to reservations yet many remain a day is
coming when we shall all be planetary refugees
with no reservation to shelter us for good or ill
2022 Jacqueline Jackson
