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Coyote's Story?
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Coyote's Story? |
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coyote Senior Member
since 2001-03-17
Posts 1077 |
"Are you a Native American", he asked, from behind the curtain of his keyboard. "No, I replied, I’m of Anglo-Saxon/Scandinavian descent." "Then why do you pretend to be something you’re not?", he asked sharply. "Because, from where I sit, it doesn’t really seem like pretending." I said. "And just where is that?", he demanded. Right then, a need was born within me to answer his inquiry, by telling coyote’s story, my story. For what it’s worth: I was born and have spent my entire life in the Little Snake River Valley of Wyoming, heartland and crossroads of many tribal territories. One need only live here a short while, to realize this land was, is, and shall forever be, "The People’s". So it is not surprising that from my earliest recollections, I have been fascinated with anything and everything, "Indian" !! For decades I have studied their sociology, religion, arts & crafts, etc., and have become, over the years, something of an "expert" on Plains Indian Culture, albeit an Anglo-Saxon/Scandinavian one. Through this "intellectual kinship", I have come to respect and hold all Native American Peoples and their culture in the highest regard. Through the facade of coyote, I am not merely pretending to be something I’m not. Rather, he empowers me to bring forth out of the "invisible world", something that is truly me. This "act of extraction" is, I believe, the very essence of human creativity, and the force that compels us to express ourselves through poetry. It is truly what Wallace Stevens meant when he said, "The poet is the priest of the invisible." In this context, coyote is not only my muse, but the voice through which I have been privileged to preach. I am a very simple man, with me, as with coyote, "What you see, is what you get." Yet as with all things "simple", Beware the trickster. |
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Wesley the Blue Member
since 1999-09-02
Posts 426Forest Lake, MN, USA |
First off, Id like to welcome you to prose. I enjoyed your essay, you seem to have a better handle on who you are than most of the rest of the world. Thank you for sharing your story with us, I hope you stick around to write more prose and to read what others have to say. Welcom once again. Keith every day is a new day with which we can change the world |
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coyote Senior Member
since 2001-03-17
Posts 1077 |
Thanks Keith. I intend to stay. Your thoughts are appreciated. Your brotherhood, welcomed. "The poet is the priest of the invisible." |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
May I say....I share the feeling. Thank you for sharing you with us.... |
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coyote Senior Member
since 2001-03-17
Posts 1077 |
Thank you Sunshine, my Sister. "The poet is the priest of the invisible." |
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