It is hard not to think of Nebraska without thinking of its greatest writer. Here is a marvelous piece by Capote, Remembering Willa Cather . I remember seeing a stage production of O Pioneers! and being deeply moved by its raw emotions. I had read My Antonia before, and soon found myself hooked, like Capote was by the simple elegance of her prose and the way she was able to evoke so many feelings through her characters. Much of it came from the fact that she had lived those experiences herself. Her father dragged the family from Virginia to Nebraska in 1883, when it was still a young state, settling in the town of Red Cloud. named after one of the great Oglala chiefs. Red Cloud was still alive at the time, living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, in the aftermath of the "Great Sioux Wars" of 1876-77. I don't know whether Cather took any interest in the famous chief, although it is hard to imagine not. Upon his death in 1909, he was eulogi
There's a great quote from Black Elk on the Little Big Horn interpretive center:
ReplyDeleteKnow the power that is peace.
I've always loved that.
Unfortunately, I think Neihardt may have been more of the author than the editor of Black Elk's story. Same with a lot of what we consider the great Native American speeches -- a white interpreter may have taken great liberties in translating them for white audiences.
''a white interpreter may have taken great liberties ''
ReplyDeleteThat's something I hadn't considered when reading that book all those years ago. Back in the 60s and 70s it was held to be a great book though it is largely forgotten nowadays. But to me it remains timeless.
Apparently that was pretty common practice. The "I Will Fight No More Forever" speech is also suspect. Great speech, and entirely memorable, but probably not what was said, if Joseph said anything at all when he surrendered.
ReplyDeleteThe interpreter was a military man and frustrated poet who admired Joseph and went on to befriend him. He insisted they were Joseph's words, but there are no records to support that.