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Oh, my brothers, we have a new father
Though not bred from his loins, we are red
Great Father of the land, we shall call him
He cares much for us. Trust! Let us be led
We raise our tomahawks to save his scalp
This pale face, Great Father, of this I tell
He sits before Indian fires with his words
Warms his mighty hands, while we feed him well
He conquers mountaintops, the seas east to west
For his feet become large, fist become strong
Stealing our plains where the Great Spirit soars
Through our rich valleys, where our hearts belong
Oh, but Great Father loves his red children
Without much heart, his cold tongue declares
“You must move a little further, lest I
by mishap, tread on you, force I’ll not spare”
His huge feet pummeled our grains and our trails
Pushing his red sons much farther away
Down he trampled the graves of our fathers
Laying siege the land where our children play
Oh, but Great Father loves his red children
Again with boldness avows in false talk
“But move a little farther, you’re too near to me
Take with you, sons and daughters, seeds of stalk”
Always he speaks of nothing and the same
“Now go to the pleasant country to live your days
Past the Oconee and the Okmulgee
This is not your land, red sons, you cannot stay!
Go past the Mississippi, there is game
You may remain while the fields of grass grow
and the great river runs wide, wild, and free
Your village will prosper, this I know
Be on your way; take your sons and daughters!”
Brothers, I ask, shall we have nothing to fear?
Will not our Great Father come there also?
He loves his red children, his tongue is not forked
Oh, brave Cherokees, thus began your “Trail of Tears”
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Author Notes
(In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Removal Bill, which meant, more or less, that all Southern Native Americans had to move across the Mississippi or face the reprisals of the U.S. Army. After hearing a speech in which President Jackson proffered friendship to them, Chief Speckled Snake addressed his council. The Cherokees, originally natives of Georgia, were forced to move to Oaklahoma in 1838. Their agonizing cross-country removal, which became known as the "Trail of Tears," killed a quarter of the tribe.) Source quoted from Samuel G. Drake, from Its First Discovery. Boston:Benjamin B. Mussey&Co., 1851(11th ed.):450
Inspiration take from Speckled Snake's speech. I attempted to put it in poetry form. The last two lines of the last stanza are Speckle Snakes exact words as interptreted. " Will not our Great Father come there also? He loves his red children,and his tongue is not forked"
I encourage all to read of Great Speeches by Native Americans. I want to attempt to write a poem for each speech I have read and pray that my poems do their words justice. Thank you all for reading and reviewing my work.
thank you Drcart222 for The Fountains of Eden. He is a spectacular artist!!!
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