The representation of native people in the Onondaga mother
Duncan Campbell Scott's Representation of Native People in "The Onondaga Duncan Campbell Scott was significantly renowned to be one of the greatestwriters during the Confederation period, in Canadian literature. Raised in the country of Ontario and Quebec, he spent many years working in the Department of Indian Affairs, where he was deputy superintendent from 1913, until his retirement in 1932 (Bennett and Brown, 190). His career kept him in contact with Native people in isolated communities in the Canadian wilderness, and he was inspired upon these experiences in his works. While his poems and works expressed sympathy towards the native culture and treatment, his compassion directly contrasted the severe policies of the department he headed. Much of his work about native people accurately portrayed the crude and hostile stereotypes circulating the culture in Canada during the 19th century. Scott's "The Onondaga Madonna," provides a clear illustration of a female member of the Onondaga tribe, and her son, during the time of Confederation. While the poem is accurate in its negative representation of native people, there is also a sense of empathy and compassion towards the deterioration of the culture. T
They baby is also suggested to be a "primal warrior," (12), who "sulks" (13). Through the word choice used, it is evident that Scott places the responsibility of the baby to endure and conquer the hopeless battle against European assimilation. He is placed with a great responsibility; his purpose is to preserve the race for his people. Her passion is a "fire that burns and glows," (4), while her "blood" (5), thrills with "war and Wilderness," (6). Through his dominant white and powerful voice, he attempts to create an awareness of the issues circulating, and possibly eliminate the prevalent stereotypes circulating the society of the 19th century. This is evident in the second stanza, when Scott portrays the baby as "the primal warrior gleaming from his eyes (14), emphasizing that the inherited savageness of the child is derived from his mother. The "feud and forays," (8) also indicates her ancestor's tension and hostility among neighboring tribes, and the mother's torn standpoint, in attempting to establish what is just. While this is rare, racial mixing did occur during this time period. Secondly, it can be suggested that Scott's portrays the Onondaga tribe as a strange or unusual race, indicating the races powerlessness to blend in the cultural mosaic of society, "this woman of a weird and waning race," (2). When examining this poem through a closer reading, Scott's use of sound, metaphors and sentence structure is also worth noting. Either way, it is evident the Scott is acknowledging the deterioration of their racial heritage, and their desperate quest to conserve it. In the first stanza, Scott describes the woman as a savage, violent member of an Iroquois tribe, "full-throated with a careless pose" (1), and possessing "rebel lips" (7). Scott's depiction of the child in the few lines of the second stanza can be easily interpreted. While the Onondaga mother struggles to decide what is just, the final line of the first stanza, 'her father woes," (8) indicates that her dualistic standpoint is in direct contrast with her fathers perception of the situation.
Common topics in this essay:
Pagan Passion,
Madonna Depicts,
Onondaga Madonna,
Bennett Brown,
Canada Confederation,
Campbell Scott,
Indian Affairs,
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native people,
word choice,
european assimilation,
Ontario Quebec,
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sentence structure,
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Duncan Campbell,
Scott's Onondaga,
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careless pose 1,
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