Dorothy Winona Davids

I N N E R DREAMS AND

O U T E R CIRCLES

Poems by Dorothy Winona Davids

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c9 ' Edited by Beatrice Ganley

Muh-he-con-neew Press 2007

INNER DREAMS AND OUTER CIRCLES POEMS BY DOROTHY WINONA DAVIDS

Edited by Beatrice Ganley

Copyright 2007 by Muh-he-con-neew Press N9136 Big Lake Road Gresham,WI 54128-8955 715-787-4427

ISBN # 0-935790-09-8

All rights reserved. Neither this book nor any part of it may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher.

Muh-he-con-neew Press wishes to sincerely thank the following: Bonnie Urfer, for her meaning-fuU graphic on the front

cover and title page; Judy Gosz, for her painstaking and loving design of the

front cover; Tim Wilke, Graphics Department, Mohican North Star

Casino and Bingo, and especially Brenda Buettner, for the technological wonders she performs for us on the computer and other equipment;

Greg Guenther and staff of Roto-Graphic Printing, Inc., 255 South 80th Avenue, Wausau, Wl 54401, for their talent and care in producing a beautiful book for Aunt Dot, her family, friends and others.

D E D I C A T I O N

To my mother Eureka Jourdan Davids

Ma taught me, among other things, gentleness, caring for others, and a love of beauty,

whether a sprig of flowers, a raspberry, a robin's song,

or a fresh trout on my dinner plate.

To my father Elmer Davids

Above all Pa taught me critical thinking

with a sense of humor.

To both of my parents who taught all of us kids respect,

for family, for community, for home.

POET'S PROLOGUE

Many of the poems selected for this book - especially those in the first and last sections - were written during my years as a public school teacher or while I was a student myself in a university, often in the Midwest. For me, these were years of pondering and self-searching.

The poems in the middle section reflect, often with a bit of humor, my years of growth from one state of beingness to another. They represent my years of change from a resistant yet colonized American Indian to an increasingly aware and resistant Native woman, sometimes trudging along, sometimes racing crazily.

To be accepted, I had cautiously conformed to white middle class standards of dress, behavior, beliefs and expectations, not realizing I was also resisting assimilation.

During the '60s and '70s, new learning experiences taught me what colonization was all about. These learnings changed my view of the world and taught me that some things need changing. The poems in this section reflect that change.

Those years' legacy to me has been an ever-new, ever-growing awareness that what my parents had taught me all along - to accept who I am and what I can do - is good, and that resistance to my own colonized mind, and those of others, is even better.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Special thanks go to Bea Ganley who carefiilly edited my poems and shared in the design of this book, to Ruth Gudinas, who, as my partner in Muh-he-con-neew Press, was responsible for all other details and tasks of publication, and to anyone else who contributed in any way to the production of this little volume.

Enjoy! Dorothy Winona Davids Winter, 2007

O R D E R OF POEMS

Thought 9

At Three A. M 10

On Mullet Key 11

Lower Plane 12

Sufficient unto the Day 13

Point of No Return 13

Answer 14

Weaver 15

Wind Song 16

Before It Dawns on Me, the Day 17

Haunts and Cobwebs 17

Little Boat 18

Where Is Spirit? 19

Slim Hope and Slippery Ground 20

Lifestream 21

Afterthought 22

A Lesson 24

Commemoration 26

It's All in Our Heads 28

Thought Beings Speaking 31

Weak Unk 32

Reflections 32

In the Classroom 33

A Self-Explanatory Poem 34

I'm for the Birds 35

Adaptation 36

Sesquipidalian? 37

Chi Square 37

We Must Get Something in the Minutes 38

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread 38

In Human Development 306 39

1 Have Had My Dinner 40

Duality 41

High, Anyone? 42

Perspective 42

Thoughts While Waiting and Drinking 43

More Thoughts after a Few More Drinks 43

Elevens: A Lesson in Poetic Discipline 44

Apology • 45

Publisher's Afterword 47

Thought

As if words were needed to cup a meaning!

Words cannot enclose the overflow of meaning

Spirit Essence Light Love.

And so each poem holds the meaning that

it holds, that's true. Meanings of the words

may come from you.

At Three A.M.

Mother Nature is having a mad streak. One can see her gray scowl across her

feel her cutting winds slapping at the naked limbs of trembling trees

hear the clanging clatter of her fury.

10

On Mullet Key

Royal palms sweeping clouds across the sky.

A Florida sun hovering for one last wink

before nesting in the inner springs of the horizon

under a silver-lined rose red cloud blanket.

Roaring rolling waves throwing themselves wrecklessly

against the naked sand - groping receding.

Two strengths giving and receiving

an intermingling of shore-soul

11

Lower Plane

My spirit taxis on the ground on blacktopped field, on rutted strip.

I t spreads its eager wings to fly but never has it made a trip.

Afraid to leave the earth behind and roam alone in open space.

Afraid that after spirit's flight it may not find a landing place.

12

Sufficient unto the Day

I have seen eyes that dare not open the door

to the thought of tomorrow.

To look into tomorrow without the hope

that is born with the birth of tomorrow is labor unbearable.

Point of No Return

Like earthworms we burrow deep in private darkness toward our private destiny.

Yet some would counselors be, say That's not the way to go.

But no one has to say We know.

13

Answer

She paused in her work. Her gaze traveled over

long spaces to mine.

Unspoken thoughts gathered in heaps in her eyes

and settled heavily on her tired shoulder.

Her arms sagged, the chair gathered the weight

of her tiredness. The room stilled.

I would have withdrawn the question that knitted together the years

that had passed — and the years yet to come.

To the everyday, "How are you?" she answered, " I don't know if I want

to take the time to think of all my problems."

My heart was burdened too.

14

Weaver . . . perhaps the skill involved in counseling is the art of coping with the terrors that attend self-disclosure.

- Jourard

My yarns?

Before you I spread the warp and weft of my thoughts

— undesigned — unwoven

from which looms the potential pattern

of my tomorrows.

My fear? That you may see a •' finished carpet and tread on it.

wind Song

The wild wind is screaming in the hollows in the cavities of Mother Earth.

Last autumn's leaves stir from their settled sleepiness sense fury and scatter out of the way missing the whispered message, the wild wind's word from the wilderness.

What did she say? What did she say?

16

Before I t Dawns on Me, the Day

In the darkness of a daytime you came

pausing at my threshold nothing more.

A ray of light! I grasped and clasped

yet you thanked me for opening the door.

Haunts and Cobwebs

Move gently, slowly, restless thoughts -and treat with care the ghosts you find

drifting carelessly about your suspicious haunted mind.

Move slowly, gently, restless thoughts -spirits longing to be free

leave ghosts of doubt. Let them keep their mystery.

17

Little Boat

Little boat tossing in the shuddering

waves of roaring sea

be patient don't worry.

Just resist, resist, resist. You'll crack up.

That's how driftwood comes to be!

18

Where I s Spirit?

Spirit longing for reunion with its greater self is like Prometheus

chained upon a rock where ego clings struggling to keep pace

with trends and greed social classes' ought to's high powered speed ever changing fashions modern lines labor saving gadgets new designs compact autos stereophonic tones color television princess phones.

Unshackled of the need of such security

where might Spirit be?

Slim Hope and Slippery Ground

Balanced on one hope a pin point

on an icy peak apprehensive of a gust of air

yet daring trust, I . . .

Silence blasts. What a chasm is despair!

20

Lifestream

Driplets drop. In rainbow dress

they join each other in togetherness.

White whiskered mountain-brooklets drool that cascade over ledges

to a pool

spill down pastured slopes through valley spin and swirl

past dandelion and cowslip eddy, weave and whirl

and bend the backs of overhanging marshland grass crumble weakened sod stumble over stones an angry roaring mass.

The muddy mauling river is grinding toward the sea.

So like humanity!

Afterthought

While drawing that circle of exclusiveness around

your precious self harboring doubt

remember, in ancient wisdom the pottery painters

of Pueblo Cochiti brushing a slim dark circle

around the baked clay lip

allowed a tiny gap to let the evil spirits out.

22

Dorothy, you are never static . . . You never sit back having "arrived." You are always moving forward - traveling toward the stars . . . always on the journey.

Angela

A Lesson

I came home f o r t h e weekend wear ing my ch ic su i t w i th padded shou lde r s high hee led shoes

w i th a l l i ga tor t r i m and p l a t f o rm so les dr iv ing my new 1959 Chev ro l e t Impa la

f ou r - doo r , blue and wh i t e w i th aerodynamic f ins

genuine ch rome, fu l l y equipped.

M y f o l k s we re g lad to see me wa lked around t h e ca r sa id it had f o u r good t i r e s and would do.

N e x t morning as we sa t d r ink ing c o f f e e I could see my new ca r out t h e window.

I sa id to my mothe r , " I f some o f t h e o t h e r f o l k s around he re would work ha rd and behave themse l ves t h e y could make someth ing o f t hemse l ves

and buy a new ca r l ike t h a t themse l ves . . . "

M a looked a t me f o r a long moment and sa id , " W h a t makes you th ink you a r e someth ing

because you d r i ve a big new ca r ? "

The hot a i r gushed out o f t h e gash in my bal loon and l e f t me s tand ing naked.

Maybe she hadn't no t i ced . Maybe she hadn't known how p u f f e d up I rea l l y was - but I th ink she d id!

But she cont inued.

24

"A l l you have to be is k ind and t hough t f u l and car ing and t h e bes t person you can poss ib ly be to be somebody w i th us."

W e washed up t h e b r e a k f a s t d i shes . Then M a sa id , "Let ' s go f ish ing."

I went ups ta i r s and put on my old jeans and tenn is shoes , f ound an old pork <& bean can and e i gh t - t i ned p i t c h f o r k went out beh ind t h e barn and dug angleworms.

Then M a and I went f i sh ing. W e t a l k ed about Pa, t h e garden , t h e f am i l i e s growing,

t h e b i r t h s and dea th s and Lad ies A i d ac t i v i t i e s . W e b rough t home f r e s h t r o u t f o r lunch. W e f e a s t e d .

N e v e r d id I quest ion my mother ' s love f o r me or f o r any o f her ch i l d r en or f o r my dad or any o f t h e ne ighbors o r f o r al l people o r f o r God.

M y mo the r was a lover. S h e was also a t ea che r . I fo l l owed in he r f o o t s t ep s . I have t r i e d

to fo l low in her f o o t s t e p s so many ways.

O h , I have been leve led many t imes in my l i f e , but never so lovingly, never so wise ly never so honest ly .

I t was M a who l ived he r words , p rac t i c i ng what she taught .

1960

25

Commemoration

I t was t h e Moon o f t h e Long N i g h t t h e Moon o f t h e Popping T r e e s t h e W i n t e r T ime — 3 5 0 yea r s ago.

O f f t h e s t e r n and rockbound New England coas t was moored a ship a m ise rab ly smal l , secondhand vesse l

a May f l ower , wh ich f o r weeks and weeks had been home to a hand fu l , perhaps a hundred

f r eedom-hung r y people.

And Lol t h e Wampanoag saw t h e i r p l ight , t h e P i lgr ims' P l ight

t h e y were t o s s ed about and t i r e d t h e y lacked housing, t h e y had no j ob s t h e y lacked knowledge and sk i l l

needed f o r w in te r surv iva l .

They obviously needed an expanded nu t r i t i on p rogram and Massaso i t , w i th g r ea t compass ion, sa id ,

" Su re l y t h e y a r e d i sadvantaged."

A G rand Counci l was ca l led . Samose t , sens ing t h a t t ho se people we re indeed d i f f e r e n t ,

caut ioned t h e e l de r s about s t r ange r s and what their coming would do to the neighborhood.

Ano t h e r Counci l member saw o t he r dangers . "They will become dependent on our handouts

and wil l not want to work. W e will have to give t hem f ood all w in te r and seed f o r spr ing plant ing."

26

And indeed t hey d id! T he Wampanoag c a r ed f o r t hem.

So t h e w in te r passed p r aye r f u l l y w i th housing p r o j e c t p rogress ing w i th hunt prov id ing f o od and f u r .

I n t h e spr ing , t h e y e x t e nded t h e i r services to p rov ide techn i ca l a s s i s t ance

on what t o plant how, when and where how to nu r tu re t h e p lants and d i s ce rn t h e ha rves t t ime.

The Wampanoag women taugh t t h em t h e p roper p repa ra t i on of t h e i r f ood .

A f t e r t h e p lant ing, t h e growing, t h e ha rves t i ng , W A S T H E T I M E O F T H A N K S G I V I N G !

A n d t hen . . . and l a te r . . . and f a r t h e r . . . deepe r . . . more . . . s t r onge r . . .

Un t i l now 3 5 0 yea r s have passed, and now t h e Wampanoag, t h e Pequots, t h e Na r r a gan s e t t s , t h e Passamaquoddy,

t h e Un i t ed American Ind ians o f New England have dec l a r ed Thanksg iv ing Day to be

A N A T I O N A L D A Y O F M O U R N I N G FOR N A T I V E A M E R I C A N S !

And t h e P i lgr ims are meet ing , d i scuss ing, planning t h e i r Ind i an programs.

And so! 1970

27

It's All in Our Heads

A n image is bu i l t f r o m a l i t t l e experience, or what we see , o r what we hear , o r what we f e e l .

T h e image is shaped by our value s y s t ems our f ee l i ngs r e i n f o r c emen t of o t h e r s what is sanc t i oned in our ins t i tu t i ons our ego and e t hno cen t r i c i t y e i t h e r - o r th ink ing t ho se w i th t h e power to shape

( t ha t power has large ly been he ld by wh i t e males).

T he image f o r m e d o f T h i r d W o r l d People ( those who we re co lon i zed and oppressed)

and o f women is usual ly d i s t o r t e d inaccura te negat ive d e s t r u c t i v e wide ly he ld and be l i eved

(somet imes by T h i r d W o r l d People themse l ves ) b iased unrea l i s t i c .

A mold is c r e a t e d - a s t e r eo t ype . A menta l image is c r e a t e d and he ld .

28

So we hear ourse lves desc r i b i ng t h e typ i ca l N a t i v e Ame r i c an typ i ca l B lack typ i ca l woman typ i ca l Ch inese typ i ca l Me x i c a n typ i ca l anyth ing.

S t e r e o t y p i c a l t h i n ke r s apply t h e image in t h e i r heads to whole groups

and ta l k about " those people."

W h e n a person who doesn't f i t t h e image is expe r i enced , she or he is labe led an excep t i on .

S t e r e o t y p i c a l t h i n k e r s have d i f f i c u l t y see ing person 1 person 2 person 3 . . . person 10,000.

W h e n we al low ourse lves to unlearn s t e r e o t y pe s we learn t h a t everyone is an ex cep t i on

in some ways but may sha r e s im i l a r i t i e s w i th o t h e r s

in many ways.

W h e n we r i sk having our s t e r e o t y pe s s h a t t e r e d and a r e wil l ing to cons tan t l y

r ea r r ange our t hough t pa t t e r n s t h en our minds (and f r equen t l y our hea r t s )

a r e l i b e r a t ed . 1980

29

Thought Beings Speaking

Love Though t s W e h ide beh ind t h e loving

in t h e hea r t and f e e l t h e wa rmth t h a t comes

f r o m loving . . . t r ue . W e read t h e t e nde r message

in one's eyes and know they ' r e see ing

eye- love too.

Happy Though t s W h i l e sun smi led on t h e b lossoms

and lake waved a t t h e sho re our hea r t s were doing whi r l ig igs

and ve ry l i t t l e more.

Res igned Though t s Fo r moments , any moments ,

you b rought happiness our way un locked your hea r t

and f r e e d t h i s hea r t .

Too bad you couldn't s tay .

Cynic Though t s The a t t i c

o f her mind is f i l l ed w i th dus t and cha f f .

W h e n she comes sea r ch ing he re f o r peace

we laugh and laugh and laugh.

Weak Link

And i f I laugh — I t ' s t h a t such g lor ious

heaps o f noth ingness ( l ike go ld, foo l 's gold)

can t e a se and win.

Fo rge ahead you sap. The chains t h a t b ind t h e soul

a r e in t h e mind — D id someth ing snap?

Reflections

I f I we re r e c r e a t e d and my cho i ce to be d eba t ed

I would choose t h e haughty s t a t u s o f g i r a f f e .

She ' s t h e h ighes t l iving c r e a t u r e and though th i s is not a f e a t u r e he r a loo fness makes t h e

human being laugh.

F r om her l o f t y penthouse viewing whi le she's noncha lant ly chewing

j u i c y g r eene r y f r o m a euca lyptus t r e e

she might poss ib ly be guess ing t h a t he r l i f e would be d i s t r e s s i ng

i f she, by chance, we re r e c r e a t e d me!

32

In the Classroom

Knuck les g rooved f r o m gr ipp ing daggered pen s t i l l d r ipp ing

whe re a gash has s l a shed a paragraph ,

c leaving t h e r e asunder a two - i deaed b lunder.

Charge! A n o t h e r mons te r hewn in hal f .

Chorus: S l i t t h e run-on sentence Smash t h e f e e b l e spel l ing S t a b t h e f ledg l ing b ra inch i l d

' t i l it 's dead. Go r e it t h r ough w i t h commas G rand paper - check ing damas. Leave beh ind your t r a i l

o f b loody r ed .

A Self-Explanatory Poem

A s c i e n t i s t ? (5) A poet? (4) They ' r e o f t h e same ilk. (6)

One (8) t h r e ad s (1) t hough t s (7) t h rough c o t t on (2)

t h e o t h e r (9) t h rough si lk. (3)

(1) connec ts (2) p rac t i ca l m a t t e r s (3) metaphors (4) one who poe t i ze s (5) one who s c i en t i z e s (6) p roduc t s o f t h e same

ba t ch o f mud (7) t h e segments o f ideas

wh ich will be concep tua l i zed into a whole idea (a)

(a ) fac t , t heo r y , hypothes i s , law depending upon ve r i f i ab i l i t y o f ev idence and s t a t u r e o f t h e s tudy . Assumpt ions might be inc luded.

(8) t h e s c i en t i s t (9) t h e poet

34

I'm for the Birds

I f I could t r a ve l l ike a goose I 'd e x t end my g r a ce fu l wings and c leave t h e a i r , t h e e a r t h shake loose. I 'd soar a l o f t t o look a t th ings l ike s i l ve r snakes on meta l ra i l s , a t f o r e s t , r i ve r , f i e ld and t r e e . I 'd r a ce t h rough space w i th s i l ve r g iants. O h what a happy goose I 'd be!

Adaptation

He took t h e ax.

7 /76 /v i sua l i z ed a row o f wooden houses f i rep lace logs p i led high roads t h rough t h e t r e e s

whe re whee ls might ro l l .

He s t r o k e d t h e w h e t t e d b lade and hewed ano the r wigwam pole.

36

Sesquipidalian?

W e l l , i f we can't d i cho tom i ze

t h e equivocat ions into s yn tac t i c a l and semant i ca l

ambigu i t ies , why argue?

Chi Square

H i Chi you square

out t h e r e whe re assoc ia t ions

s t a r e a t each o t h e r

and you t r y t o p ick t h em up

in your s t a t i s t i c a l cup.

We Must Get Something in the Minutes

Ou r purpose is -now how shal l we say it -is u l t imate ly to improve communicat ion

sk i l l s in our democ ra t i c soc i e ty .

Now les t t h e r e be misunders tand ing we must c l a r i f y our point;

ob j e c t i ve s , goals, outcomes may be necessary .

Yes , yes , you have a point t h e r e . W h a t do you mean by necessary?

But to cont inue . . . our nex t s t ep is t h e second i tem

on t h e agenda . . . to be fo l l owed by t h e t h i r d .

I have he re some mate r i a l s f o r your veszarch. N e x t t ime we'll d i scuss what we have learned.

The hour is up. T he meet ing s tands ad jou rned .

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

Suppos ing Pe t e r when J e s u s sa id Follow me

had answered Buf I have tenure!

38

In Human Development 306

L i t t l e spa r row b i r d came back today.

I n a bush she ch i r ped away

and d rowned out Dr . Hess .

S tamped ing c louds in w in te r sky and

w in te r winds w i th p ie rc ing c r y

s c a r e d poor th ing , I guess.

L i t t l e b i r d , you ' re qu i te alone and co ld

you ought t o change your ways -not ven tu re out so f a r to ch i rp

at me f o r company

and I ought to send you home f e a t h e r s f ly ing.

I n s t e a d I 'm s i t t i ng he re bo red and s ighing.

I Have Had My Dinner

I ' d l ike t o be a c r e a t u r e ca l led t h e cat .

T h e reason f o r my choice is s imply t h a t

t h e f e l i n e has an i n te l l ectua l mind.

And s t i l l a no ther qua l i ty you'll f i n d

is her f i t f u l f u r i o u s i t y in f i g h t s

and her r umored most romant ic roaming n ights .

I ' d e l im inate t h e loathsome mouse and r a t .

A l l t h i s would make me proud t o be a CAT!

40

Duality

W h i t e Snow, b l o t t e r o f c a r -dr i pped and c i t y - s e t t l e d smoke,

has m e l t e d t o a r i v e r g u t t e r gray .

I n g r ime sp l o tched boots , one eye f o r t r a f f i c splash, t o sundry t a sk we pick our way

t h r o u g h slush t h a t oozes t o w a r d a sewer w i t h gaping jaw .

Y e t even h e a r t can f e e l t h e season's thaw .

A res t l e s s dream has s t i r r e d t h e sleeping hopes.

T h e s p i r i t wakens, s t r e t c h e s , yawns and gropes .

Thus, sleeping beauty , sleeping ugly s igh

and sun gr ins smugly in t h e sky.

High. Anyone?

Lady in your flowered chapeau

and match ing gloves -one wonders i f you know

t h a t you whi le wa i t i ng f o r your flight

have managed t o become a l i t t l e t i g h t !

Perspective

I am a depot s i t t i n g squat beh ind smoked c o t t o n cur ta i n s watch ing s teamed up t r a i n s

o f t h o u g h t ro l l t h r o u g h .

I am a one - t rack heavy laden f r e i g h t car chugging, goggling depot ,

past you.

42

Thoughts While Waiting and Drinking

T h e m i r r o r hanging smugly on t h e wall reveals hard ly anyth ing a t al l .

* *

T h e j o y o f escape is t h e r e is a r e l i e f

be i t ever so t e n t a t i v e ever so b r i e f .

More Thoughts after a Few More Drinks

Some d r i n k t o calm t h e i r pa infu l inner cr ies .

O t h e r s . . . mere ly t ranqu i l i ze .

O u t t h e r e - someplace would a k i ndred soul

t a k e me by t h e hand and say, " I know,

you're t rave l i n g down a most uncommon road . "

L i ghtened somewhat o f t h i s nothingness I m ight bear t h e load.

Elevens: A Lesson in Poetic Discipline

Assignment

Capture a t h o u g h t in e\e\/er\.

Lotus Blossoms

Time

Each day you cut hour chunks

f r o m my d r e a m s t u f f

Once upon a Time

W h e n l i t t l e boat sought qu iet cove

what r ipp les !

Prayer to the Sun on a Spring Morning

Caress t h e crocuses cr ing ing

in t h e cold

One t a s t e s sweet hours and t h e n craves

E t e r n i t y .

Drip

T h e si lence I would cup t o hold deep

t h o u g h t s leaks.

Eternity

All-ness enclosing t h e unfo ld ing

Space - Time.

Apprentice to Master Builder

Eleven b r i c k s t o bu i ld a poem?

N o t e . . .

44

Apology

M y verses are s imple, conservat ive , l i gh t ,

express ions o f sen t iment carefree and b r i g h t .

But someday I ' l l w r i t e w i t h profoundness as wel l .

Then my l i t t l e verses wi l l shock you l i k e . . . ^ H'^

45

PUBLISHER'S AFTERWORD

The illustrations in this book were requested from family and

friends of Dorothy. Some came from professional artists, some

from folks who simply "love to draw" and some were doodles

lovingly left in Dot and Ruth's many guest books.

Permission for copyright was gratefully secured by M U H - H E -

CON-NEEW PRESS from the following:

Tricia Alexander for "Island" (p. 11) and "Flight" (p. 39).

Tricia is a pcrforming/heaUng artist and Reiki Master. She sings,

she writes, she draws, she dreams - and after many years of

hoping - she finally lives in Wisconsin.

Pauline V.Angione for "Corn Pitcher and Corn Flowers" (p. 30).

Pauline has been a friend of Dot and Ruth's for the last half

century or so. She Uves and volunteers in Downeast Maine with

her husband Bill and trust}' dog Miss Molly.

Mary Jo Bonner for "Hepatica" (p. 12). Mary Jo is a retired

teacher and active learner who lives among the trees and birds

with her beloved husband on Lower Turtle Lake in Wisconsin.

mjkbonncr@,chibardun.net.

5feve Comer for " H i , There!" (p.45). Steve is a Stockbridge

Mohican living within the bounds of the Original Homeland in

what is now New York State. He is currently a doctoral student

in Anthropology, specializing in Mohican Studies.

Bruce (Uncas) Davids for "Momasis" and "Bosie" (dedication

page) and "Wolf Testing Water" (p. 21). Bruce is largely self-

taught in the skills of several trades and hobbies, but will

interrupt the learning process abruptly to go golfing.

Glenn Davids, Sr. for "Illusion" (p. 36). Glenn enjoys nature, studied meteorology in the U.S. Navy and enjoys photography, about which he says "Once in a while you get lucky with a great shot!" [Publisher's Note: Try looking at this one from all directions.]

Angela Fina for "Traveling Toward the Stars" (p. 23). Angela

has been a potter in Amherst, Massachusetts for a quarter century.

Dorothy and Ruth have been cheering her on and supporting her the

whole time.

Laurie Frank for "Aunt Dot at the Pow-wow" (back cover). Laurie is

an educator who will never tire of Aunt Dot's stories about teaching.

There is much to be learned in those stories. Laurie lives with her

partner, friend and husband Bert Zipperer in Madison, W I .

Beatrice Ganleyiot "Orbiting Weave" (p. 15). Beatrice is not quite

sure yet who she is. Meanwhile, she is grateful to be a Sister of St.

Joseph of Rochester, NY. At Nazareth College she teaches poetry and

creative nonfiction. She also works at her own writing. As often as

possible she renews herself by visiting Ruth and Dorothy in Wisconsin.

Judith A. Gosz for "Spirit Tree" (p. 16), "Spring Return" (p. 35) and

"Grandmother Earth" (p. 46). Judy is an artist, teacher, grandmother

who enjoys embarrassing her grandchildren by singing and painting in

public. You can visit her at wwwJudyGosz.com.

AmyL. Niesen for "Retro Cat Wearing Stripes" (p. 40). Amy has

been an ESL teacher in the Madison (WI) Metropolitan School

District for the last nine years. She lives in Madison with her cat

Oliver who thinks he's a dog!

Maureen O'Shea for "Baby Snapping Turtle Climbing Driftwood"

(p. 18). Maureen, who lives in Shawano, Wisconsin, offers her

illustration not as a work of art but as a gift of love, remembering a

lovely afternoon spent sharing stories, eating ice cream and admiring

hundreds of baby turtles with Dot, Ruth and others.

48

Jamey Rucker for "Aunt Dot's Giraffe" (p. 32). Jamey is a

fourteen-year-old home-schooled artist who lives with his parents

in Maryville, T N . He loves fantasy books, and he collects dragon-

related items. He hopes to make a hit comic book series one day.

Bonnie Urfer for "Wind and Wheat" (cover and title page).

Bonnie is temporarily visiting EARTH and temporarily not soil.

Art and activism is on the agenda while living at the Anathoth

Community' Farm in northwest Wisconsin.

Michelle "Shelly" Vendiola (Swinomish/Filipina) for

"Gifts from Creator" (p. 20). Shelly is keen at identifying life's

possibilities and opportunities following upheaval. She is a certified

mediator and tribal consultant. She travels away from her home in

Bellingham, WA to work with tribes and organizations throughout

the United States and Canada. Websites: www.tribalpeacemaking.

mm and wwwindigenouswomgn.org.

Gina Washinawatok for "Flowering Branch" (p. 8 and below).

Gina is a member of the Menominee Nation in Wisconsin. She's a

teacher, caretaker, manager, legislator, mother and grandmother and

hopes she won't be a great-grandmother before turning 55. In her

precious spare time, she is also an artist. zL

49

O T H E R PUBLICATIONS OF D O R O T H Y WINONA DAVIDS

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MOHICAN NATION

STOCKBRIDGE-MUNSEE BAND

First (1991), Second (2001) and Third (2004) Editions.

Stockbridge-Munsee Historical Committee.

ANIISHIIK: WE ARE GRATEFUL

First (1994), Second (2001) and Third (2002) Editions.

Muh-he-con-neew Press.

"Rambling Through History with Dot Davids"

bimonthly column in MOHICAN NEWS

June, 1998 to present.

Mohican Nation Stockbridge-Munsee Band

Numerous magazine and journal articles, speeches, poems,

interviews, book reviews, school curricula and protest letters,

as well as acknowledgments by countless authors, editors,

linguists, historians, anthropologists, multi-media producers,

and professors and other teachers, students and readers of all

ages throughout the last fortt'-five years or so.

51

Dorothy Winona Davids was born May 2, 1923 on her father's farm on the Reservation of the Mohican people, assisted into this world by the loving, care of her mother's sister and midwife Aunt Wildie Putnam. She was educated in the local schools and went on to earn BS and MS degrees in Education ' from the Universities of Wisconsin in Stevens Point and Milwaukee.

Dorothy's life has been full of work for Native people and issues — personal advocacy; talks on colonization, diversit)' and "humanbeingness"; publications on Mohican history and culture; retreats, workshops and Talking Circles; influencing the thinking and lives of countless people.

D(in)ili\n liit I'ISOs

Dot's passion is twofold: she loves teaching and has, indeed, never stopped doing it, especially through her other love - writing. "Aunt

Dot" loves kids - of all ages, sizes, colors and backgrounds. She loves to tell her own stories, recite her own poetry and gam­ble her own money. But, as her friend Angela wrote to her, and as many of us already know, she is "never static, always moving forward, always on her own journey toward the stars."

As we read the lines of these pages, we may get glimpses of her inner dreams and the worlds that have encircled them as she moves forward toward the stars. Journey on, Aunt Dot!

Aunt Dot as a Mohican lildcr in 2(K)3

ISBN 0-935790-09-8 $10.00

Dorothy Winona Davids was born May 2, 1923 on her father's farm on the Reservation of the Mohican people, assisted into this world by the lovingr care of her mother's sister and midwife Aunt Wildie Putnam. She was educated in the local schools and went on to earn BS and MS degrees in Education from the Universities of Wisconsin in Stevens Point and Milwaukee.

Dorothy's life has been fuU of work for Native people and issues - personal advocacy; talks on colonization, diversitj' and "humanbeingness"; publications on Mohican history and culture; retreats, workshops and Talking Circles; influencing the thinking and lives of coundess people.

Duroiii) iciciimg in the 1950s

Dot's passion is twofold: she loves teaching and has, indeed, never stopped doing it, especialU through her other love — writing. "Aunt

Dot" loves kids — of all ages, sizes, colors and backgrounds. She loves to tell her own stories, recite her own poetry and gam­ble her own money. But, as her friend Angela wrote to her, and as many of us already know, she is "never static, always moving forward, always on her own journey toward the stars."

As we read the lines of these pages, we may get glimpses of her inner dreams and the worlds that have encircled them as she moves forward toward the stars. Journey on. Aunt Dot!

Aunt Dot as a Mohican Elder in 2003

ISBN 0-935790-09-8 $10.00