Removals, and: Columbus Day 2092, and: Dialectic

Let facts show how the benevolent design has been prosecuted.

—Memorial of Protest of the Cherokee Nation June 22, 1836

I. Vietnam

each soldier was assigned a family to "round up"but Uncle Billy's was the lastout of the village and, fearing snipersand Sarge's ridicule, he reached throughtheir wailing and snatched up the grandmotherfrom where she lay on the floor, chanting the namesmy uncle did not recognize as namesand crying the tears that burnedhis arms as he lifted her easily onto the wooden cartthat was lopsided with their sorrowsand he tried to shout louder than the embarrassmentand shame that roared in his ears and he shoutedfor them to get moving because there were snipersin the treeline and Sarge would be there any secondcalling him "Chief"and flipping his Zippo.

II. Oklahoma

one of so many boat peoplewho washed ashore in Oklahoma

a grandmother

sat on the cool tiles of the Piggly Wigglyand cradled the papaya in her armsstartled to see this pieceof home so far from home

it seemed out of place among the apples and nectarineslike her own family among these giant, noisy people

like the dark-skinned man who stood above her

who was equally startled to seethis woman from his pastagain before him

I am so sorry, Grandmother.

each in tearsthey left the storeshe frightened by the manbut clutching the papayaand he followinghis arms outstretched

III. A Song for my Uncle

when the column of soldiersand Vietnamese familieswith buffalos and chickensarrived at the new villagebuilt by Army engineers solid, sterile,even a new templebut with no ancestors

you helped the familyunload their cartbut the frail grandmotheryou had lifted so easily beforewas dead

pick her up againas light as a sparrowdon't fear the tearsthe wailingof her sonhis wifeher grandchildrendon't fear your own fearyour own guilt

turn from the cartand face the old homein the distancewhere the smoke risesfrom the green horizon

ask her to forgive youand lift her into the air

higher

a little birdshe will fly home

her house is now ashesbut she will alight

in the cemeterysurrounded by flowersgreeted by so manylittle birdssinging happilythat she is back

imagine it

Columbus Day 2092

the letters flewon Columbus Daylittle messengerslanding on porches and desksto tell the Europeansthey must leavemust imitate the salmonand return to their homes

the Europeans had never heardof the company on the letterhead:Wovoka Real Estate Investment Trustthe talking heads on cable networkswere puzzled at firstthey thought it was a Polish company

the trust had been hidden beneatha coat of other namesa coat of papers and papers and paperslayers of shell companiesshells had once served the California nativesso well and had become useful again

the Europeans had been trickedat their own game, with their own magic—contracts, signatures, laws, money hundreds of paper masks were pulledback to reveal one dancer beneath

fueled by a century of bouncing ballsspinning wheelsthick chips caressed and stackedby the blue-hairedand the sun-starvedthe Wovoka Real Estate Investment Trusthad bought every piece of Americathat had been for salesecretlypatientlyand it was all for saleeventually

the famous Indian poet and Hollywood Squares regularSherman Running Jump Shot used his ownpersonal wealth to buy a barcalled the Crazy Horseand close its doors on Columbus Day—and then set it on fireCNN broadcast his smiling announcement:"The Happy Hour of American History is over, folks!We don't care where you go, but you can't stay here!"

the Ghost Dance vision was not fully realizednot all the Europeans leftsince many were not Europeans anymorethey...