Peter Hall
The History of America
Our legends told about
the naming of the animals
in the first days, and the black hills
where our ancestors’ spirits hunt
the ghosts of buffalo.
One day the traders came,
pale-skinned, with foul breath, harsh tongues.
They brought guns, whisky, trinkets that
a squaw might wear. They took away
hides and pelts, knowledge of
our lands. Later, blue-coats
brought greetings from their mighty chief
in Washington. He wished to trade
Our land for gold. We merely shrugged:
it was not ours to sell.
We were but stewards of
prairie, mountain and lake - as would
our children be, in their own time.
They came with scrolls and lawyers. Still
our chiefs refused to sign.
In frozen wintertime
the blue-coats came again. This time
they opened fire on us. The snow ran red.
Only a few escaped. The rest
sleep still, beneath these fields.
Today, we earn a meagre wage
from the old crafts - bright coloured pots,
carvings in wood. Bought by fat tourists in
Bermuda shorts, briefly disgorged
from air-conditioned buses.
Our legends told about
eagles and grizzly bears, the sweet
breath of the summer woods.
No use today. They are all gone.
Replaced by shopping malls.
Page(s) 16-17
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