Explain how "Indian" reveals a contrasting point of view of life in early America 1 Indian
2 by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benét
3
4 I don't know who this Indian is,
5 A bow within his hand,
6 But he is hiding by a tree
7 And watching white men land.
8 They may be gods -- they may be fiends --
9 They certainly look rum.
10 He wonders who on earth they are
11 And why on earth they've come.
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13 He knows his streams are full of fish,
14 His forests full of deer,
15 And his tribe is the mighty tribe
16 That all the others fear.
17 -- And, when the French or English land,
18 The Spanish or the Dutch,
19 They'll tell him they're the mighty tribe
20 And no one else is much.
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22 They'll kill his deer and net his fish
23 And clear away his wood,
24 And frequently remark to him
25 They do it for his good.
26 Then he will scalp and he will shoot
27 And he will burn and slay
28 And break the treaties he has made
29 -- And, children, so will they.
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31 We won't go into all of that
32 For it's too long a story,
33 And some is brave and some is sad
34 And nearly all is gory.
35 But, just remember this about
36 Our ancestors so dear:
37 They didn't find an empty land.
38 The Indians were here.