Three California Writers:
The Indian Wakes Up
by Samuel J. Rice
Edited by: Cindy Beck
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THE INDIAN WAKES UP
Lost and bewildered is the Indian. He
cannot comprehend why all this change. Silently and stoically to himself he
asks the questions:
Has the Great Spirit forgotten
me?
Has the Medicine Man lost all
his charm?
Is there no way out into that
happy hunting ground I have sacrificed and yearned for these many dark days
and years?
Must I lose all that I possess and no
longer follow in the trail of my father?
On the reservation I followed the rules.
See, I have changed my garments, I have cut my hair, and what is there for
me?
I am as a child – helpless! As a
blind-man, I grope and know not whither I go!
I thought this land belonging to the Great
Spirit? Are the white people Great Spirits? I am afraid there is something
wrong in me; and if you can see - lead me.
Maybe my child, here, can push the curtain
aside and make a way out from the plight I am in. Take him, teach him as
you would your own child. Then when I am gone he will like you, for he will
be with you.
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