An Irish American Mississippi Choctaw climbs the stairs
Of a battered river tugboat mounted
Atop a Saint Paul, Minnesota museum
High on a bluff above the Mississippi
He stands to honor
He stands to mourn
He stands alone among the visitors
Wonders if any are native to the river-land
Below, the Minnesota has calmly
Joined the Mississippi
After traveling through Mankato
Past the land where settlers hanged Dakota
Together the rivers bow their heads in shame
Slink by the Fort Snelling concentration camp
Where white soldiers
Imprisoned the people of the land
The river is long and sometimes deep
It carries storms of wind and rain
Follows ancient fissures
Of violent quakes that will come again
This river person wildly loves
The ancient Mississippi waterway
Loves his people’s lost babies and women
Loves the bloodied land
He looks further down the river
To the state of Mississippi
Where his people welcomed the white strangers
Until they took Choctaw land
The mother river is dying
The swill of European conquerors
Fills the river
Kills the fish and land
He wonders why those who live by the river
Do not clean up the messes they make
What evil spirit has descended to their hearts
How can they not listen to the river
How can they not hear the warnings of the
Crow and of the Eagle
Poem: LYN CRAMER watches and listens to the mighty Mississippi River from its banks near her Saint Paul home. Her stories and poetry appear in four anthologies.
Art: WENDY RED STAR, Hoop in the Cloud, Archival Pigment Print, 2011. Courtesy of Minnesota Museum of American Art. Red Star works across artistic disciplines to explore the intersections of Native American ideologies and colonialist structures, both historically and in contemporary society. Raised on the Apsáalooke (Crow) reservation in Montana, Red Star creates art that is informed both by her cultural heritage and her engagement with photography, sculpture, video, fiber arts, and performance. She lives and works in Portland, Oregon.
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