#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

[rassblerry]

UhhHhHhH outfits 🎭🍦

[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.

[sherbertilluminated]

Both Don Carlos (1787) and Egmont (1788) get way funnier if you imagine them as taking place in the same continuity. After the events of Don Carlos, the Duke of Alba departs for Flanders thinking. Wow. That was both deeply stressful and preventable. Seeing my king like that made me feel emotions that I as a military man do not want to confront. Time to do some violence that reifies my position in the unstable imperial hierarchy. Clear my head. Good thing I'll never have to deal with my son falling for such an idealistic rebel traitor.

And then guess what. Guess what happens.

[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.

[alazarrr]

Sigel & Freeway Killed Every Track on HOT 97

[maddie-grove]

I was a little bit like an early philosopher as a small child. I had a lot of ideas and pondered them extensively, but I did not have access to a lot of modern information because I went to preschool and mostly learned things like “what animals live in the desert” and “what does a quarter look like” and “please don’t wipe your nose on the wallpaper.”

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

The Bone Collector (1999, Phillip Noyce)

23/02/2025

[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?📜

[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

[binch-i-might-be]

I spend thirty minutes walking to the burger king. I enter the burger king. I see that literally all of the seating area is taken up by some kind of large horde of elementary schoolers. I exit the burger king.

[lacnunga]

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