Fatherhood, Remembrance, and Resistance in Selected Native American Poetry

Abstract

The topics of remembrance of old cultural traditions, as well as of resistance to the colonialist oppression, can often be found in the poetry of Native American authors. In addition, fathers frequently serve as the facilitators of transmission of the ideas of remembrance and resistance to their children. The current paper supplies an analysis of the said topics in three selected poems of some Native American authors. More specifically, such poems as Simon J. Ortiz's “My Father’s Song,” Ann Plato's “The Natives of America,” and Suzanne Rancourt’s “Whose Mouth Do I Speak With” are discussed in this paper. After the provision of the said analysis, the degree to which these topics are present in these poems is compared. It is concluded that one poem only contains the trace of the topics of remembrance and resistance, whereas another poem describes the theme of remembrance more directly, and, finally, the last poem concretely involves the issues related to the remembrance of Native American culture and the resistance of these people to oppression. The theme of fatherhood is directly present in all the three poems.