#Rhymes of the States

[uwmspeccoll]

Milestone Monday

Sacred Lands, Broken Promises

On this day, January 27, 1825, the U.S. Congress sanctioned Indian Territory, which is located in what is now Oklahoma. This decision was part of the United States’ broader policy of westward expansion, driven by the belief in Manifest Destiny—the idea that the U.S. was destined to expand across the North American continent. It laid the groundwork for the Indian Removal Act, which President Andrew Jackson signed into law in 1830. 

One of the most infamous outcomes of this policy was the Trail of Tears. This tragic event involved the forced relocation of Native Americans from their lands during the 1830s. The term particularly refers to the Cherokee Nation's tragic journey in 1838-1839, where thousands of Cherokee people were marched westward under harsh conditions. The journey was marked by immense suffering, including exposure to harsh weather, disease, and inadequate supplies. Estimates conclude that thousands of Native Americans died as they were uprooted from their ancestral lands to this designated territory.

The relocation and its consequences had lasting impacts on Native American communities, and it remains a significant and painful chapter in U.S. history. The era highlighted the conflicts between the U.S. government and Native American nations, as well as the broader issues of sovereignty, land rights, and cultural survival.

P. S. Sorry (not sorry), Mr. Jackson, we’re still here!

The images featured come from:

Rhymes of the States by Garrett Newkirk with drawings by Harry Fenn after sketches by the author. It was manufactured by De Vinne Press and published by Century Co. in New York in 1896. The work contains prose and verse that is intended to be entertaining and educational. However, the piece on Indian Territory is a prime example of colonial discourse. 

Pushing the Bear: A Novel of the Trail of Tears is a historical novel by Diane Glancy (Cherokee). Our copy is a first edition published by Harcourt Brace (New York) in 1996. The novel tells the story of Cherokee removal and their journey along the Trail of Tears. 

Songs from the Native Lands: poetry by Victoria Lena Manyarrows (Tsalagi/Eastern Cherokee), published by Nopal Press (San Francisco) in 1995. The poems featured are titled We Remember/The Trail of Tears and Unthanksgiving/We Will Not Be Invisible.

View more posts from our Native American Literature Collection.

View more Milestone Monday posts.

 -- Melissa (Stockbridge-Munsee), Special Collections Library Assistant 

[mumblesplash]

part 2!!!! [read part one here]

transcript below the cut arranged into stanzas to help show where the rhymes are:

“that’s why they brought gem in? as a failsafe?” as a pawn. we were told to point her at whoever we need gone

“gem won’t hurt her allies. …yet.” the curse she carries will it’s had its eye on her since she lost the other eye she was specially selected for her hunting skill it’s quite the high honor. “wow. how generous.” we try

think about it: why does almost no one fight the curse? “given how fast scott killed skizz last season, i can guess.” [“any pain you spare your friends, you’ll have to suffer worse”?] it’s designed to shut down higher reasoning with stress

[luck-of-the-drawings]

FOR A BEAT OF HEART, THE BREATH IS SHOT. AND WITHIN A BREATH, THE HEART IS CAUGHT. THE PIPES ARE BURSTING, UNDER GREAT STRESS, BOLTS TORN ASUNDER, MAKING A MESS. A FINAL COUGH, A FINAL RETCH, A GOREY SLOUGH, CLAIMED BY WRETCH.

[idiopathicsmile]

there is a level where i'm delighted that Fall Out Boy wrote a continuation of We Didn't Start the Fire. both because it exists, and because more songs should have sequels.

the meanest thing i can say about it is that the nicest thing i can say about it is that it exists.

[bmpmp3]

from a linguistic standpoint i dont care about the word zine being used for both glossy independently published commercially bound fan books and the less glossy and more traditional self printed and bound magazine. from a historical and cultural standpoint i am not immersed enough in the subcultural aspects of zines to have an informed and useful opinion. BUT from a search engine optimization standpoint i am fighting for my life out here looking for nice cheap printer paper stuff and having to sift through pages and pages of glossy paged perfect bound 30 united states doll hair priced books. i am fighting for my life.

[velvetjune]

the nursery rhyme puzzles might be one of my favorite parts of game. They’re one of the aspects of Saga’s storyline that early on introduce the FBC and the theme of fiction with reality that would be an entire case for her, and later a major source of conflict. All the whimsical poems and dolls that are soon revealed to have direct correlation to Saga and her worries. Is it all a coincidence? Was the act of making this art already affected by Saga’s role and that’s why some of the rhymes are personal? It adds to the mystery that’ll likely never be fully answered, and makes Saga and the player uneasy.

Then, the final doll!—the father that looks like a certain talk show host in the dark place, holding his child. Specifically contained away from any other dolls and the witchfinder’s station, but never given a reason why. Of course, there’s a creepy poem repeated over the station paralleling Saga’s life, but I love that it speaks of the father, Door, keeping an eye on and trying to protect the hero, Saga.

Naturally, Campbell, the annoying FBC researcher, was listening in and wanted to see Saga face the consequences of opening a threshold and seeing what comes through the “doorway.” Only for him to die (?) instead. Such a classic mad scientist ending; It’s comically funny after the haunting mystery of the station. While it could simply be him being sent or consumed by the Dark Place, the chance that it could be Mr. Door watching Campbell try to sabotage his daughter and opening a door for Campbell to face whatever Horrors of the dark place is. so good. What a conclusion to what seemed like a fairly nonsensical puzzle side quest.

[gwydionae]

Anyone have that post about "you ask for better female characters but you couldn't even handle Katara" because after two episodes of the live action, I feel like I need to send it to the writers.

[tha-wrecka-stow]

You Can Find The Original Version -> Here

[kogetaikid]

January is My Favorite Time of Year. (Poem??? Idk)

(Sorry this kinda sucks!)

January is my favorite time of year,

And though such opinion may sound queer,

When it comes around that time of year,

There are no big holidays left to fear.

Can it be real?

Can it be true?

The holiday season over

For me and you?

Well lucky for me,

As when the cold December winter falls,

My mixed soul freezes,

It splits its identity

Into different pieces.

Nothing to celebrate,

Just to watch, and

Just to buy.

Just another year

Before you die.

But hey

It’s another year you survived

It’s another year you tried

Now it’s time for 2024 to peacefully die.

Although to some

The new year may see glum,

Though the only thing on its mind is harm

We tried,

And survived last year.

We can do it again.

Now the snow with now no superficial meaning

Welcomes me with open arms

And though life may not seem that fun,

Until next time,

My identity melts back into one.

January is my favorite time of year,

And though such opinion may sound queer,

When it comes around that time of year,

There are no big holidays left to fear.

[stateofitall]

📜Was That a LIMERICK?📜

[alazarrr]

Sigel & Freeway Killed Every Track on HOT 97

[serenanymph]

find the word tag

tagged by @space-writes over here, with the words gentle, subtle, ample, and substantial. gonna tag uhhh @halfbit, @faytelumos, @writingamongther0ses, @lyssa-ink and @reneesbooks with the words silence, section, shallow and shatter!

gentle

Iri drops the man back onto the ground, and Beatriz stares at the spike dissolving into the soil with a hiss, turning it black and gooey. There’s a layer of dust hovering above the ground, kicked up from all of the commotion, and she barely has the presence of mind to guide in a gentle breeze, clearing the area so they won’t launch into a coughing fit mid-battle. Any moment now, the Noxx will be coming, but all she can do is stare at the man. The man who had just used the same kind of magic Noxx possess.

subtle (surprisingly this came from the most recent paragraph, though written when I was half-asleep so it makes less sense than usual. does this count as a last line tag I have way too many of those in my drafts)

She plunks the sole chunk of lirstone they have left in the center. The light throws stretching, malformed shadows onto the surrounding walls, paints everyone’s faces in pale, washed-out grey that almost makes them look ghostly. The tunnel stretches before them, winding and dark and no different from every other tunnel they’d passed through. They’d been sticking to the larger ones, the ones that sloped upwards, in the hopes of finding another exit, but she can barely notice any change. She hopes it’s just because of how subtle the transition had been; not because they’ve been going in circles.

no ample, but I did find one instance of plenty

“He’s a kid,” Icarus says. “He’s the same age as us,” she retorts. “That’s plenty old enough to make a decision like this, especially when you’re half Beast. Hell, look at Crys – he’s had anti-Beast values drilled into him since he was a kid. Didn’t stop him from seeing you like an actual person and helping you,” Rhyme points out, though her expression is a little sour. “But the Witchhunter’s Mutt? You saw what went down just now. He hates your bloody guts.”

substantial

Around her, magic flares – Icarus – tugging at the wind, too panicked to actually do anything substantial save for generate a weak breeze, grip dulled by his scattered focus and the fact that he’s currently struggling not to start flipping head over heels.

taglist (lmk if you want to be +/-): @deer-in-headlights-stare, @allianaavelinjackson, @arctic-oceans, @space-writes, @reneesbooks

[lacnunga]

Debating if I'm deep enough in the brainrot to write a jsamn version of The Political House That Jack Built

[lotuswitch4]

bro the underworld saga 😭😭😭😭 has me in tears. there's so much beauty and thought through all of the songs.

[gorgeousgreymatter-x]

how fucking sick and disgusting and absolutely morally bankrupt do you have to be to think a floating pier where aid still has to be approved by Israel is some kind of achievement WHILE AT THE SAME TIME ALSO STILL PROVIDING WEAPONS TO COMMIT MORE GENOCIDE AGAINST THE PEOPLE YOU'RE "AIDING" ???

THIS IS HELL WE LIVE IN HELL

[nonstandardrepertoire]

once, many years ago, a foreign army came into a little piece of land that had long been a punching bag for the larger states on all sides of it. the people running that army didn't really care about the people who were already living there, altho they were certainly happy to use those people as labor for their state-building projects and to extract food and money and other forms of wealth from them in the form of taxes

after a time, the people in charge of this more powerful state decided that the traditional ways of life of the people who had been living there before the army rolled in were no longer acceptable to the ruling elite and had to be stamped out (to some degree at least). a big group of the people who had already been living there decided they weren't very happy with that and started waging a guerilla war to regain political control of the place they lived

like all wars, this one was bloody. and the people who were fighting to regain political control of the place they had lived for generations killed a whole lot of innocent people, including people who thought they were on the same side. so did the state-organized army they were fighting

after years and years of this, the powerful state decided they had had enough of this and up and left. the guerilla warriors had carried the day. (the state they set up themselves didn't do too well, but that's a story for another day)

tonight, a whole bunch of people are going to start lighting candles in commemoration of this guerilla military victory and then some number of them are going to use this bloody, asymmetrical struggle against a more powerful centrally organized state as a rhetorical argument to valorize a centrally organized state doing war crimes against a population they have been systematically dispossessing and culturally erasing as punishment for a portion of that population waging a bloody, asymmetrical struggle and the irony of it all is going to be the end of me