I hear the owls in the distance,
friends who have moved on.
Archive for the ‘Chippewa’ Category
Friends Who Have Moved On
Posted in American Indian, Anishinabe, Chippewa, Native American, Nature, Owls, Poem, Poems, Poetry, Uncategorized, tagged Nature, Poem, Poems, Poetry on July 7, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Granpa Ben and Unknown Men
Posted in American Indian, Chippewa, Minnesota, Native American, Photography, Russian, Uncategorized, tagged American Indian, Anishinabe, Chippewa, Native American, Ojibwe on April 3, 2016| 6 Comments »
I recently came across this picture of my grandfather, Benjamin Odawa Littlecreek posing with a group of unknown men. I would like to know who they are. He traveled extensively during the winters when he wasn’t working at his Trading Post at Itaska State Park in Minnesota. He often went to other countries. He worked at Itaska from about 1947 to at least 1960 (That’s when I think I was about 5 when I saw him there). So I believe this was taken during that time period–most likely from the thin ties I would say in the fifties. At least it gives people a general period around which to look.
Who are these guys? Could they be Russians? Are they from the Minnesota state capitol? Are they U.S. Marshals? Does that weird column or lamp post on the right give any clues? The guy just on the right of gramps could be Indian, he could be Russian… Can anyone identify the badges? Any clues, help, or answers would be appreciated. If you work at the FBI, or the CIA, or MI6, or the KGB, or even the Minnesota Historical Society, anonymous, or other tips welcome.
Hazy Snow Flurries
Posted in American Indian, Anishinabe, Chippewa, Poem, Poems, Poetry, Uncategorized, tagged American Indian, Native American, Nature, Poems, Poetry on December 24, 2015| 1 Comment »
Hazy snow flurries.
Winter white waves
glisten in the headlights,
ebbing and flowing across the blacktop,
as I drive home late at night,
in Red Lake
The North Wind
Posted in American Indian, Anishinabe, Chippewa, Native American, Nature, Poem, Poems, Poetry, tagged American Indian, Anishinabe, Chippewa, Native American, Nature, Ojibwe, Poem, Poetry Poems on November 12, 2015| 3 Comments »
*Mŭ·kwŭg
Posted in American Indian, Anishinabe, Chippewa, Indian Values, Native American, Poem, tagged American Indian, Anishinabe, Chippewa, Culture, Family, Poems on October 13, 2015| 4 Comments »
Mom says, “Let’s stop and see if the bears are there.”
So we turn off into the dump grounds, where six large dumpsters are lined up on an asphalt pad inside a ten foot high chain link fence.
It is night.
Our headlights illuminate almost everything–to a height of about six feet.
The scene is ghostly.
A bear saunters out from between the dumpsters–wary, as any wild animal is on an Indian reservation.
He is huge for a bear, at least a good six hundred pounds.
He walks slowly away and out of the compound with a full white garbage bag clutched in his mouth.
He is followed closely by a black and white mother cat–her belly hanging down loosely–
as if she were his pet,
hoping for a morsel leftover from her master.
Another bear rises from scrounging within one of the far dumpsters.
His form towers three feet above its five foot high walls.
He regards us curiously.
then disappears again within.
Strangely enough, we do not see each bear.
They are holes in the night,
an absence of light
In the form of a bear
Although, at just the right angle,
we see the glint of their eyeshine–
the light of their spirit within them.
*Bears, plural, in Anishinabemowin.
The Frogs Are Shaking Their Rattles
Posted in American Indian, Anishinabe, Chippewa, Culture, Native American, Nature, Poem, Poems, Poetry, tagged American Indian, Anishinabe, Chippewa, Native American, Nature, Poem, Poems, Poetry on July 27, 2015| 4 Comments »
The Frogs are shaking their rattles
with no discernible rhythm.
They stand unseen
beyond the reach of the porch light.
surrounding the house
in the sultry night air
summoning me.
