PaulMichael Mullally
Ms. DelGrego
English III CP
10/5/12
Native American Literature:
Ancient Poems vs. Contemporary Novel
Ancient Native American poetry exhibits the value of life, nature, their interrelatedness or dual
appreciation of the two. On the contrary, the contemporary Native American novel, The Absolutely True
Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, exhibits the Native American culture in a negative or
derogative tone, perceiving Native Americans as inferior to other cultures, and people who do not value
life to its maximum potential, unlike the perception readers gain in ancient native American poetry
perceives themselves. In the two poems, “Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle”
and “I Have Killed the Deer,” Native Americans are portrayed as those who strongly value nature, life
and their interrelatedness, a contradiction to how Native Americans are negatively portrayed at the
beginning of the contemporary novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and a similarity in
comparison to the conclusion of the novel.
The ancient Native American poems, “Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle
exhibits how greatly the Native Americans value both life and nature, and their interrelatedness
between of each other. The poem utilizes nature as a symbolic form to describe the Native Americans
appreciation of life; through this use, Native Americans also make prevalent their appreciation for
nature. “Everything the Power of the World does/ is done in a circle…/The wind, in its greatest power,
whirls…/ The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power
moves” (Black Elk of the Sioux 1). Culturally, one can notice the strong influence of nature, notated
within the quote; the author symbolically uses nature as a code for life and its cycles. For example, the
author states, “the wind, in its greatest power, whirls,” meaning, every living object has power to
cultivate change and affect everyone, the wind acts as the driving force that motivates people and gives
people power. Then the author states, “Everything the Power of the World does/ is done in a circle,”
meaning everything that one person does, affects another person; for example, when the wind blows,
everyone is affected by it. The author concludes with describing the cycle of life, stating that the life of a
man is a circle from childhood, to childhood, in other words, each sector of life, directly affects the
other.
The Native American value of life and nature is extremely prevalent in “Everything the Power
the World does is done in a circle,” but these attributes and their correlation are both more clearly
perceived in “I Have Killed the Deer.” Ancient Native American poems clearly distinguish their
importance of life’s role within nature, and nature’s role within life. “I have killed the deer…/ So that my
life can be. / When I die I must give life/ To what has nourished me. The earth receives my body/ And
gives it to the plants…/ The circle of life is never broken” (Taos Pueblo Indians 32). Similar to the
previous poem, both (poems) enlighten readers about how life is like a cycle or circle. However, “I Have
Killed the Deer” has greater references to nature. The author(s) use the deer as food, to survive, and
then when the person dies, they, essentially, give their life back to what has nourished them. As the
human’s body decomposes, it helps unite the points between killing the deer and death, to create and
regenerate the circle of life; this reveals the importance of life’s role within nature, and nature’s role
within life. Both ancient Native American poems exhibit Native American’s important values of life,
nature, and how the two essential factors are united.
Contradictory to the ancient Native American poetry, the contemporary novel The Absolutely
True Diary of a Part Time Indian negatively portrays Native Americans as a culture that does not
appreciate and value life to its maximum potential, at the beginning of the novel. “The only thing you
kids are being taught is how to give up. Your friend Rowdy, he’s given up. That’s why he likes to hurt
people. He wants them to feel as bad as he does” (Alexie 42). Throughout the contemporary novel,
Native Americans are strongly perceived as alcoholics, lazy, careless, people who are unwilling to try and
succeed. Native Americans were taught to give up, according to the novel; therefore they have a
negative attitude about life and its opportunities. Their view and perception of life is of lesser value,
than ancient Native American literature.
Though the contemporary novel is contradictory to historical Native American cultures, the end
of the novel sheds new light on the contradiction: Towards the conclusion of the novel, readers gain a
strong insight into a major turning point of Junior’s, the main character, perception of his own culture,
which shows his value of life:
Ever since I’ve been at Rearden, and seen how great parents do their parenting, I realize that my
folks were pretty good. Sure, my dad has a drinking problem and my mom can be a little
eccentric, but they make sacrifices for me. They worry about me, they talk to me. And best of
all, they listen to me. (Alexie 153)
Junior consciously becomes aware of how important his parents are, valuing life and its gifts, a similarity
to the ancient Native American poetry; he notes even though his family has some issues, they worry
about and listen to him. Junior realizes that really his culture lacked differences between the white
culture, which he viewed as ‘the superiors;’ every family or person has its issues and its downfalls, but
they appreciate what they do have and gain from their troubles and experiences.
Culturally, there is a drastic difference between the ancient poetry and the beginning of the
contemporary literature; towards the conclusion of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian,
readers see a similarity among between the two texts. The contradiction between the ancient poems
and the novel reveal the time difference and how the Native American culture is perceived; the
contemporary novel does not exhibit the ancient views of the Native Americans extensive appreciation
of nature. The similarity between the poems and novel reveal that Native Americans, essentially, still
value life, but do not express it in as much as an extent as the ancient civilizations did. Native American
cultures, both ancient and contemporary, majorly ascribe to their stereotypes of life, as a whole.
Works Cited
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutley True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. 153. New York, NY: Little, Brown
and Company. 2007.
Black Elk of the Sioux. “Everything the Power of the World does Is done in a circle.” 1. United Sates.
1863-1950.
Taos Pueblo Indian. “I Have Killed the Deer.” 32-33. Literature and Language, American
Literature. McDougal Littell Inc. 1994.