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Monday, October 8, 2018

Oct. 8, 2018

|| ethnic, beige, iguana, saying, (keep) it in (his) "genes".

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9 comments:

Sandyanon said...

Just saying that if you post this early, my compulsive nature will force me to get into it and try to solve -- even without a poem.

OwenKL said...

Today is Columbus Day, a Monday holiday.
To mark the arrival of a crew from far away.
Three ships from Spain exploring 'cross the sea.
Discovering animals: flamingo, iguana, manatee.

They disrupted natives with pillage and disease.
Brought waves of Europeans, Indian lands to seize.
In remembrance of these old ethnic depredations
This is Indigenous People's Day, honoring First Nations.

We repudiate racist sayings that in olden days were cast.
"The only good Indian is a dead Indian" was of the past.
We show regret for broken treaties of another age,
Written out on paper, pages faded with time to beige.

Generation have gone by since the early colonizers,
Who made it thru the winters with Indian advisors.
Today there are few ancestral lines of blue bloods
That don't include some genes from our Indian buds!

Ol' Man Keith said...

Owen ~
Appreciate your poem's sentiments, reminding me of the "holiday," which used to be a big deal when I was a kid, but is now largely forgotten or ignored. When I was a Boy Scout in San Francisco, we marched in a grand parade to honor Columbus Day - from downtown to a North Beach marina where three fishing boats, decked out as C's ships, landed & an elderly Italian gent (from SF's large Genovese community) would step ashore & be welcomed by a swarthy fellow in "Injun" gear (a rep from some fraternal lodge).
I dunno about your final couplet. We used to think we had NA genes. My paternal grandma lived in Oklahoma & swore she was part Pawnee. She would send us pics of her wearing a feather & native dress. But if the DNA spit test my son & I took is to be believed, she was living a fantasy - unless of course there were enclaves of Chaticks in Cornwall or Wales.
~ OMK

Wilbur Charles said...

I meant to add this my earlier* post. I'm referring to a word in Owen's Saturday poem vs the Sunday xword

WC

Ps. There it is. Prescience. FRACTAL from yesterday's poem and there it is in today's Jeff Wesch xword.

Sandyanon said...

Owen, I so much agree with the sentiments in your poem. Ethical challenges face humans every day and so often we fall short. But recognizing that we can change and improve is our saving grace.

In terms of the Jumble, I did solve pre-poem, by dint of strenuous effort. That recalcitrant reptile gave me the most trouble, naturally.

OMK, my family story is that somewhere is a Mohawk ancestor. But in my far from expert understanding of DNA transmission, I believe that individual segments are inherited, not exactly randomly but unpredictably, and that over generations segments can disappear. I.e., the percent of dna one inherits from a particular ancestor four or five or more generations back can vary enormously even among siblings, and may be zero for some. So your grandmother could be correct.

OwenKL said...

I have a similar story. My blue-eyed blond LW claims Cherokee ancestry, brags about it annoyingly. I want her to take one of those DNA tests. My paternal line has been in North America for several generations. I imagine there have been a few First Nations in the extended family, but not any direct ancestors that I know of.

Actually I think Columbus has been given a raw deal recently. He acted no worse than any man of his era would have, probably gentler than many. To try to judge him by our standards of morality is unreasonable.

Wilbur Charles said...

I had 3 words and the riddle . I wrote down all the letters. I still couldn't get it because my kindergarten skills have erodes .

Sandy, your late Friday post went right over my head . You did well to refrain from politics .

Owen, you saw my FRACTAL post, eh?

WC

Sandyanon said...

Wilbur, could you elaborate a little on what you said about my Friday post(s)? I don't quite get what went over your head, and I'm not sure I really refrained from politics. I'd love to hear from you. Thx.

OwenKL said...

You didn't see CAPON? 9/30, so a week ago, but still, a word I hadn't known before.