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For I Have Been To The Mountain
| Open Poetry #14 |
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For I Have Been To The Mountain |
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Marge Tindal 
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384Florida's Foreverly Shores 
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For I Have Been To The Mountain ~*Marge Tindal*~  For I have been to the mountain looked down over the valley of shame knowing that the longest trail with my people's blood is stained Tales written so long ago crumpled treaties of another time but I have been to the mountain top to join your spirit with mine In this questing I have grown because I've come to know the legends of the past did seeds of wisdom sow Manifested on the mountain cascaded down the streams landed in the valley where there blooms a promised dream When spirits walk there will be a new tomorrow painted across the valley view no more trace of tearful sorrow When spirits walk - and they will the valley will again be plush with luscious green grasses in flowering peaceful hush ~Dedicated to Mark~ ~as he walks the trail of his quest~ Gv ge yuhi ~*Unega Ugidali*~ ~*The pen of the poet never runs out of ink, as long as we breathe.*~ |
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| © Copyright 2001 Marge Tindal - All Rights Reserved | |||
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latin passion Senior Member
since 2001-04-26
Posts 576 |
I enjoyed the read. Nice picture as well. My faith is but the size my mustard seed. I'll turn the other cheek in my love for mankind - not pride. |
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ethome Member Patricius
since 2000-05-14
Posts 11858New Brunswick Canada |
Marge I love the positive nature of this poem! I love the feeling and the message and I have to include the following as a result of my limited study on the subject. The pain of injustice has always ruled my soul in this regard. "To this day tribal elders can reel off the dates of the treaties that the U.S. government signed with their forefathers in the 19th century. But what did those treaties actually provide? Usually an unfavorable exchange of good land for a barren reservation and government subsistence. An example of the disdain with which the native tribes were treated is the case of the Iroquois nations (from east to west, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca) after the British were defeated by the American colonists in the war of independence, which ended in 1783. The Iroquois had sided with the British, and all they got in repayment, according to Alvin Josephy, Jr., was abandonment and insults. The British, "ignoring [the Iroquois], had ceded sovereignty over their lands to the United States." He adds that even the Iroquois who had favored the colonists against the British "were set upon by rapacious land companies and speculators and by the American government itself." When a treaty meeting was called in 1784, James Duane, a former representative of the Continental Congress' Committee on Indian Affairs, exhorted the government agents "to undermine whatever self-confidence remained among the Iroquois by deliberately treating them as inferiors." His arrogant suggestions were carried out. Some Iroquois were seized as hostages, and "negotiations" were conducted at gunpoint. Although considering themselves unconquered in war, the Iroquois had to give up all their land west of New York and Pennsylvania and accept a reservation of reduced dimensions in New York State. Similar tactics were used against most of the native tribes. Josephy also states that American agents used "bribery, threats, alcohol, and manipulations of unauthorized representatives to attempt to wrench land away from Delawares, Wyandots, Ottawas, Chippewas [or Ojibwa], Shawnees, and other Ohio nations." Little wonder that the Indians soon came to mistrust the white man and his empty promises! The "Long Walk" and the Trail of Tears When the American Civil War (1861-65) broke out, it drew soldiers away from Navajo country in the Southwest. The Navajo took advantage of this respite to attack American and Mexican settlements in the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico territory. The government sent in Colonel Kit Carson and his New Mexico Volunteers to suppress the Navajo and to move them to a reservation on a barren strip of land called Bosque Redondo. Carson pursued a scorched-earth policy to starve and drive the Navajo out of the awesome Canyon de Chelly, in northeastern Arizona. He even destroyed more than 5,000 peach trees. Carson gathered together some 8,000 people and forced them to take the "Long Walk" of about 300 miles to the Bosque Redondo detention camp at Fort Sumner, New Mexico. A report says: "The weather was bitterly cold, and many of the ill-clad, underfed exiles died along the way." The conditions at the reservation were terrible. The Navajo had to gouge out holes in the ground in an effort to find refuge. In 1868, after realizing its crass blunder, the government granted the Navajo 3.5 million acres of their ancestral homeland in Arizona and New Mexico. They went back, but what a price they had been forced to pay! Between 1820 and 1845, tens of thousands of Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creeks, and Seminoles were driven from their lands in the Southeast and forced to march westward, beyond the Mississippi River, to what is now Oklahoma, hundreds of miles away. In cruel winter conditions, many died. The forced march westward became infamous as the Trail of Tears. The injustices committed against Native Americans are further confirmed by the words of the American general George Crook, who had hunted down the Sioux and the Cheyenne in the north. He said: "The Indians' side of the case is rarely ever heard. . . . Then when the [Indian] outbreak does come public attention is turned to the Indians, their crimes and atrocities are alone condemned, while the persons whose injustice has driven them to this course escape scot-free . . . No one knows this fact better than the Indian, therefore he is excusable in seeing no justice in a government which only punishes him, while it allows the white man to plunder him as he pleases."-Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Marge it always pains me when I read these words. But we have to go forward and realize that the atrocities committed against our American Indian residents has to be atoned for. We need to encourage preservation and recognition of thier respective cultures, and the TRUTH, as mentioned in the above article, has to be made known! Thanks for sharing your feelings Marge! The role of poetry is to utter the un-utterable; to open up |
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Janet Marie Member Laureate
since 2000-01-22
Posts 18554 |
and I will make sure this special gift is passed on... beautiful poem ... and spirit of intend...beautiful poet as well  meI'm hanging on your every word |
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Watersign6 Senior Member
since 2001-05-25
Posts 823Hurricane,WV |
wonderful poem,wonderful poet..beautiful picture to go with it also  |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Someday, Marge, I would like to share with you the brief I did some 16 years ago on Indian Law... I think you would find it interesting. The professor did... well done, White Feather.... |
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LoveBug
Moderator
Member Elite
since 2000-01-08
Posts 4697 |
Marge, this is a sorrowful but beautiful story of our heritage. I've always admired the fact that you are so in touch with this part of your spirit, and that you are able to share it with us so beautifully. Thanks for sharing. "Men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, for everyone can see and few can feel."-Machiavelli |
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Seymour Tabin Member Empyrean
since 1999-07-07
Posts 31720Tamarac Fla |
Marge, Love you, love your work. Ethome said about all you could say. I can't top that. Wonderful poem. Sy |
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Marsha
since 2000-07-10
Posts 7423Maidstone Kent England |
Margie girl, this is truly an outstanding poem love, rarely have I seen such beauty, your words are always perfect this is beyond that. Margie this is truly outstanding, I can see your spirit there looking down and I'm with you my sweet sister. Standing right beside you looking at the guides that brought you to your place. Take care I love you, and this is so beautiful Be at peace with your spirit, let it roam where it is led by those who quested before Take care love as always Mushy  Take back the hope you gave,- I claim |
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Marge Tindal
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384Florida's Foreverly Shores |
LatinPassion~ Thank you. ETHome~ I so appreciate your commitment to the truths of the past. We, of American Indian culture and heritage, strive daily to seek atonement - but as you know it is not to be attained easily. The past history darn near wrote the demise of the people who were here long before the men of paper lies came. On the Trail Of Tears, through forced removal from our land, nearly 1/5 th of the Cherokee people perished (over 4000 died in this cruel march) And of the tribe of the Creek, over 3500 perished. These are only two tribes, of the thousands of American Indians, who suffered. And they called US savage ? The ancients tell us that the day of atonement will come ... but it is difficult to see that happening. However, we continue our efforts. My spirit moves us beyond a plateau of mere seeking - to a movement of peace. It must come or we all are doomed to walk in shadows. I hope you continue to study the acts that time cannot erase, for in each new set of eyes shines a beacon of new hope for the American Indian. JanetMarie~ Thank you, love. His spirit of questing touches me quietly. Love to you both. KelliKay~ Thank you. Karilea~ I'd like that also, my friend. LoveBug~ There is so much beauty in our heritage, sweet one. Never lose sight of the legends of the past -for they will carry us into the future. Seymour~ I thank you for your love, my friend. Marsha~ You are good for my soul ! Thank you, kind friend. ~*Marge*~ ~*The pen of the poet never runs out of ink, as long as we breathe.*~ |
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Mysteria
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328British Columbia, Canada |
"When spirits walk - and they will" and they do Marge, and they do! You awakened the spirits this morning with this tender piece. I wish him well on his vision quest, and he finds some of which he seeks. Beautifully done. ~*~ I write ~ Therefore I am ~*~ |
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Marge Tindal
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384Florida's Foreverly Shores |
Mysteria~ Thank you ... for I know that you share in the spirit of the people. You've done some marvelous questing of your own and what honors still await you in the upcoming events. Have a wonderful evening. ~*Marge*~ ~*The pen of the poet never runs out of ink, as long as we breathe.*~ |
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suthern
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723Louisiana |
Marge: I honestly don't know which touches me most... this incredibly beautiful, poignant poem, your dedication to such a deserving seeker, or the responses. I just know my heart rains tears for the past... and those tears are dried with the sunshine of hope that spirits now walking will lead to some measure of atonement - even if the atrocities can never be erased. |
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Trillium
since 2001-03-09
Posts 12098Idaho, USA |
Marge: Such a moving poem! It reinforces what I have been feeling and creates a need to learn more. Betty Lou Hebert |
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Marge Tindal
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384Florida's Foreverly Shores |
SuthernGal~ Your responses are always so 'right on' .. Thank you from this little Cherokee heart. BettyLou~ Ahhh ! The quest continues - and it is good. Thank you for giving us another voice to be heard. Love and Peace~ ~*Marge*~ ~*The pen of the poet never runs out of ink, as long as we breathe.*~ |
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Greeneyes
since 2000-09-09
Posts 9903In Your Poetic Mind |
very touching, written in gold....hugs to you.... Lauren~ *** Nothing Beautiful In This World |
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Charisma
since 2000-09-30
Posts 5906lost in blue pages |
For I have been to the mountain looked down over the valley of shame knowing that the longest trail with my people's blood is stained Heartfelt words Marge, touch my heart deeply. (((warm hugs))) Charisma |
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Marsha
since 2000-07-10
Posts 7423Maidstone Kent England |
Margie girl my sweetest sister of heart, I just have to send this back to the top of the page where it should stay for the longest time. We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools Martin Luthor King Take care love as always, and continue to shine my Margie Love and warm stuff Mushy |
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Mother_Earth Senior Member
since 2000-11-20
Posts 13701/2 year Texas & 1/2 year Michigan |
Marge, you write the most heart moving words of wisdom. I read so much and never have a people been so destroyed. We the white people, don't have much to be pleased about. There are so many questions and not ANY good answers. Please, all of you in PIP with Indian blood, keep putting the truth forward. Don't let us white folk get away with the lies. Can I have a transfusion? Beautiful song also, ME |
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Sudhir Iyer Member Ascendant
since 2000-04-26
Posts 6943Mumbai, India : now in Belgium |
My friend, Marge, This is exquisite... regards, sudhir |
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Charisma
since 2000-09-30
Posts 5906lost in blue pages |
yeah back again to read it once more time.....and how could I forgot to put this one in my library.....were it belongs. ((hugs)) Charisma |
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Marge Tindal
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384Florida's Foreverly Shores |
GreenEyes~ Thank you for the nice replies. It is always good to see your smiling thoughts. Charisma~ I am glad to touch hearts with the messages I receive. Thank you. MarshaLove~ Sweet sister, your heart is so giving - Thank you for making room for me in it. MotherEarth~ I *hug* you for your understanding. You are 'transfused' in the spirit of understanding ... that counts so much. Sudhir~ I humbly thank you, my friend. Charisma~ Again ... I am overwhelmed with your graciousness. *Mark~ Knowing that you enjoyed the Pow Wow makes me happy. Awaiting a FULL report.  ~*Marge*~ ~*The pen of the poet never runs out of ink, as long as we breathe.*~ |
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