then . . . elements in this world began to shift; a n d it became n ecessary to
create n e w ceremonies . " O a n d ason h a s created a n e w ceremony in his
collection. Unfortun ately, with only forty-eight, fo ur-lin e poems the
ceremony is brief, too brief o n e s u s p ects to do j ustice to the Ukommo'm of
Round Valley. We can only hope for more poetry from Oandason.
- Victor M acaruso
Mount S e n ario College
Okot p ' B i t e k . Song of L a w ino and Song of Ocol. ( L o n d o n :
H einemann, 1 984) 1 5 1 pp. , $ 6 . 5 0 , p aper.
Heinem a n n ' s reissue of two early works by O kot p ' Bitek includes So ng
of L a wino in Okot's own translation from the Acoli published in 1 966 and
his shorter companion piece, Song of Ocol, 1 96 7 , composed i n E n glish
only. The volume includes a n i ntroduction a n d brief biography of Okot
and a critical a n alysis ofthe two poems in the light of Okot's b ackgroun d
and other works, written by George A . H eron i n 1 972. H eron includes a
comp arison between the Acoli and the E n glish versions of Song of
L a w ino, a n d a comp arison of the traditional poems inserted into the
songs with some of the traditional folksongs collected a n d translated by
Okot himself.
O kot p ' B itek w a s v aried a n d accomplished in his m a n y artistic
pursuits. In college h e danced and acted i n theatrical productions and
composed a n opera. L ater h e w a s to become active i n the Uganda
C ultural C enter, even creatin g a Gulu festival of folk art to celebr ate his
country ' s independence in 1 960. When h e return ed · to Uganda after
completing his E uropean education , he wrote Song of L a wino and
treatises o n oral literature a n d o n African religions. A n e arly novel
written i n Acoli (Luo) Lak Tar is n o w required reading in local schools.
S o ng of L a w i n o was t h e first of his works to be couched i n a book­
length, recit ative form. Okot's mother w a s a " great singer , " also n am e d
Lawino, a n d was a m aj o r inspiration for t h i s first poetic w o r k , although
h er own songs were s horter poems sung i n traditi o n al Acoli style. O k ot
wrote the E n glish transl ation of Song of L a wino in blank verse. I n it,
L a w i n o , a traditi o n al U g a n d a n w o m a n , voices a long complaint. S h e
feels her h u s b a n d , O c o l , h a s b e c o m e corrupted by Western w a y s . H e
despises L a w i n o , his first wife , a n d p refers his s e c o n d wife, w h o c a n
speak E n glish and who follows modern fashions.
Explorations in Sigh ts a n d So u n ds N o . 5 ( S u m m er 1 985)
57
When the beautiful one
With w h o m I s h ar e my husband
Returns fro m cooking h er h air
S h e resembles
A chicken
T h at h a s fallen into a p o n d ;
H er h air l o o k s
Like the pyth o n ' s discarded skin. (54)
In the first fiv e ch apters, Lawino addres ses O c o l directly, urgi n g him
" not to uproot the pumpkin" i n the old h om estead, not to despise h er or
t h e traditional v alues s h e represents and accepts. In the next five
c h apters, Lawino compares Acoli life before and after the E n glish
colonizer s h a d m arked Africans like Ocol, causing them to turn away
fro m traditio n al beliefs and beh aviors . She ridicules African imitati o ns
of E uropean dre s s , education , religious i nstituti o n s . Okot's l i g h t s atire
u p o n electric stoves, china dishes, b ottle babies, C hristian M a s s and
C hristian n am e s gently mocks the reader through clever p aradox and
turn-about situati o n s . Okot's C hristian n ame is Milchizedek Gregory,
and when Lawino pronounces it i n Acoli, "It sounds to m e like, 'Give the
people more v egetables; Foxes make holes i n the pathway . ' " (82)
I n the last two c h apter s , Lawi n o ' s i n dictments are more intense. O c o l
h a s become obsessed w it h Uganda's struggle for i nd e p e nd e nc e . H e i s s o
caught u p i n p olitical agitatio n that h e q u arrels with his brother, berates
some kinsmen as communists, others as C atholics, and causes dissension
a n d division everywhere. W h ere, says Lawino, is the promised unity they
v aunt?
W h ere is the Peace of Uhuru?
W h ere the unity of I n d ependen c e?
Must it not begin at h om e? ( 1 07)
S h e concludes by beseeching Ocol for j ust one m ore chance to sing and
dance before him i n traditi o n al fashion to brin g him back to his s e n s e s .
O kot' s earthy i m agery , his in s erti o n of traditional lyrics and proverbs,
h i s witty s atire on both traditi o n al and westernized African behavior
h av e w o n this poem critical praise and wide readership. W o m en readers ,
h o w ever liberated they may be, easily id entify with Lawino. She m ay be
illiterate, displaced, and provincial, but as a " l eader of the gir l s " Lawino
i s s ustained by h er pride and her confidence. S h e is strong and
p a s s i o n ate i n h er plea to win back her husband. Though h e may rej ect
h er or wish h er different, the reader cannot.
Song of Oeol, appearing i n 1 9 70, is complem entary but not p arall el.
Okot wrote So ng o f Oeol i n E n glis h only. I t is less than o n e-third the
length of La wino's song. Ocol's phrases are more abrupt, direct, staccato.
T h e song begin s: " W o m a n , Shut u p ! " ( 1 2 1 ) O col is pungent, bitter, and
ultimately disillusioned with the u nkept promises of Uhuru. But he is
58
Explorations in Sights a n d Sou nds N o . 5 ( S u m m er 1 985)
disench anted with the past as well - a past th at c a nnot be reconstructed
for today, like the old homestead.
I see a large Pumpkin
Rotting
A thousand beetles
I n it ( 1 24 )
For h i m , Afric a is a n idle giant:
Diseased with a chronic illness
C hoking with black ignorance
C h ained to the rock
Of poverty. ( 1 25)
H e inveighs against the defe n ders of tradition-the poets, the myth­
makers, the schol ars, the Africanists-all apologists for things Afric a n.
They must b e elimin ated. But the n e w p o liticians w h o p r o m i s e d equ ality
take brides and oppress the poor. The n i n e s h ort c h apters of So ng of Deal
conclude in a s arcasti c eulogy of the colonizers, fou n d er s of the new
Africa: Leopold II, B i s m ark, Stanley, S p eke, a n d e n d i n a l ament for t h e
fallen and forgotten h e r o e s of the real Africa w h o could n ot fulfill the
promise of Uhuru.
As for Shaka
The Zulu general
How can w e praise him
When h e w a s utterly defeated
And killed by his o w n brothers?
W h at proud poem
C an we write
For the vanquished? ( 1 5 1 )
D espite t h e real success these t w o works achieved, s o m e Afric a n
readers h ave a r e a l aversion to O k o t ' s p o etic p ortraits . D o e s Lawino, with
all her tenderne s s and strength, gr aphically represent t h e s e c o n d ary
p o sition of the traditi o n al African wife which m a n y today would like to
deny? Okot hims elf said that " O col is more like me and my agemates . . .
The great deb ate i n the poem i s o n e which takes place inside u s . " Ocol is
o n e of the new elite: educated a br o a d , i n fused with Western ways and
v alues , blinded to traditi o n , a n d brainwashed b y a colonial educati o n .
Okot knew his detractors : " I t h i n k most Afric a n reviewers h av e n o t b e e n
v e r y fair to Oco l b e c a u s e t h e y s e e themselves i n him, a n d Western
reviewers h av e not be e n very fair t o h i m b e c a u s e they don't like the
human creature they have produced i n Africa, which is O c o l . "
Okot, after a l l , h a d reason to b e bitter. H e did belong to a n e t h n i c group
i n Uganda, the Acoli ( o r Luo) put dow n b y Briti s h a n d B a g a n d a alike. Idi
Amin intended to eradicate t h e Acoli. Amin had erected a statue of H ilter
o n government grounds and had v o w e d , like him, to pursue a policy of
genocide. O kot' s s atiric jibes at government officialdom i n L a wino and
Explorations in Sights a n d So u n ds N o . 5 ( S u m m er 1 985)
59
e l s ew here cost him his j o b in U g a n d a in the l ate sixties. U ntil sh ortly
b efore his death i n 1 982 h e was a dispossessed w a n d erer-at N ariobi, ! fe,
Texas, a n d Iowa. He did not bend to government censure but h e suffered
deeply fro m it a n d fro m the persecuti o n of his people. H e felt literature
must exp o s e current evils : "The terrible thi n g s : t h e m urders by govern­
ments, the destruction of systems of freedom of speech, the p olitical
detenti o n s , t h e coups . . . Why are w e n o t talking about these t h i n g s ? "
A l t h o u g h Song o f L a wino and Song o f O e o l a r e delightful, s atiric poems
with wide appeal, they are n o t s u p erficial. O kot' s wit, pithy statement,
and humor m ake their message all the more forcefu l .
- C h arlotte H . Bruner
I o w a State University
B ernd Peyer, ed. The Elders Wrote: An A ntho logy of Early
Prose by North A merican Indians 1 768 - 1 9 31 . ( Berlin: D i etrich
Reimer Verlag, 1 982) 1 9 6 pp., DM 48 p aper.
B er n d Peyer h a s collected a number of documents which, although
available elsewhere, are not easily accessible. The twenty-three selec­
ti o n s are arranged chronologically and are complem ented by several
p hotogr a p h s of the writers. A bibliography of materi a l s written by
A m erican Indian s between 1 7 72 a n d 1 9 3 8 provides a dditional resources
for t h e s c h o l ar interested i n reading the c o m p l ete works fro m which
m a n y of these selections are taken. B y coll ecti n g w h at was written
during this early peri o d by American Indians about their conditi o n s ,
P e y e r c h a l l enges reader s to r e v i s e m a n y stereotypes of the " s av ages . "
M o s t s u m m aries a n d anthologies o f Am erica n I n di a n literature ignore
the writers w h o are included h ere except for s o m e twentieth-century
writers s u c h a s C h arles E astman or Chief Luther Standing Bear.
Alth ough scholar s are doing more research on early writers such as
S am s o n O c c o m , William Apes , a n d George C o p w a y , there are others
i n c l u d e d h ere who r e m a i n g e n e r a l l y u n k n o w n - J o s e p h J o h n s o n ,
H e ndrick U p aumut, Elias B o u dinot, M aungwudaus, a n d other s .
P e y e r p o i n t s out that t h e s e writers , by virtue of their educ ati o n and
religious training, were not necess arily representative of the maj o rity of
American Indians. They represent, however, a point of view from Indian
people themsel ves which is seldom discussed in historical studies of the
period. I n spite of their often-voiced desires for assimil ation and educa­
tion, these writers make clear that their allegiance is still to their people.
Most of them have reached their conclusions by observing the upheaval
i n I n d i a n lives caused by the intrusion of government agencies and the
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Explorations in Sights and Sou nds N o . 5 ( S u m m er 1 985)