Compose an essay in which you explain the works’ relevance for a non-indigenous reader in the United States in 2020.
Write about one or more [up to three] of the following poems by Louise Erdrich: “Indian Boarding School: The Runaways,” “The Strange People,” and/or “Turtle Mountain Reservation” and/or the Paula Gunn Allen poems posted. Compose an essay in which you explain the works’ relevance for a non-indigenous reader in the United States in 2020. Refer to Tracks and the research you found when writing essay two or new research when analyzing the poem or poems you have chosen to write about. Also, what lessons can these authors teach you about your own relationships with your various identities—whether you come from a position of privilege or struggle or some combination? The Strange PeopleBY LOUISE ERDRICHThe antelope are strange people … they are beautiful to look at, and yet they are tricky. We do not trust them. They appear and disappear; they are like shadows on the plains. Because of their great beauty, young men sometimes follow the antelope and are lost forever. Even if those foolish ones find themselves and return, they are never again right in their heads.—Pretty Shield,Medicine Woman of the Crowstranscribed and edited byFrank Linderman (1932)
