The Lay of the Displaced Tribesman

Publication Instance Details #278

Publication Overview

Translation	Is Multilingual	Explicit Irish Context?	Ekphrasis	Has Paratext?	Reference to News, Media or Technology
Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No

Details

Human Rights Issues	HR & Colonisation/Colonial Legacies Indigenous Rights (incl. culture & language) Displacement/Forced Migration Genocide
War / Genocide Referenced	Genocide: Genocide of indigenous people in USA (pre 20th century)
Languages	English
Original Language	Irish
Original Poem	Laoi an Indiaigh Dhíbeartha
Original Author	Gabriel Rosenstock
Genre	Long (narrative) Poem
Medium	Print Collection
Notes	This a long poem about the displacement and minoritization of an unnamed Native American/First Nations tribe. The poem isn't specific in date or location, but we can guess that it is based sometime shortly after the creation of the reservations and the increased reach of the US government, based on comments on 'government aid' that come towards the end of the poem. The poem itself is a long, poetic, mythic lament on the state of the native psyche, culture, customs, and mythology after the coming of the white man. The new language of the colonizers, the clothing customs, and (obliquely) the diseases of the old world, are all mentioned as factors for the spiritual stifling of the speaker of this poem. There are many mentions of Native American beliefs within the poem, of gods, ghosts, spirits, and the return of the dead. The poem ends on a hopeless note with the failure of the harvest and the lack of incoming government aid for this man's people.