"The Powwow at the End of the World" - Group B

This poem emphasizes the ridiculousness of the request of some people for American Indians to forgive what was done to them in the past.  It does so by highlighting the lack of reparations made in pursuit of that forgiveness.

The passage appears as one large paragraph because it is but one statement, namely when the poet will proffer forgiveness for past transgressions.  He uses the repetitious "I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall after..." to keep the the state of giving forgiveness continuously close to the redress of the past transgressions against him.  Those past transgressions are how his culture and way of life were taken away from him when European civilization rode into his home.

In many other circumstances, forgiveness is offered after redress and reparations are issued.  "The Powwow at the End of the World" illustrates how impossible that redress would be and by doing so also how the likelihood of forgiveness from him is impossible.  He wrote this poem in hopes of demonstrating how he wasn't the one being unreasonable refusing to give forgiveness.

I'm not sure what more can be added without re-transcribing the poem here to point out what specifically would make redress so improbable.  If you have any ideas on something to further elaborate this poem, please share them.