We Shall Wait Forever

Darlene Sinyella

As we are reading the poem try to figure out who the speaker of the poem is.

The speaker is “the voice that talks to the reader in a poem, as the narrator does in a work of

fiction. The speaker in the poem is not necessarily the poet.”

Back in the past

we, the ancestors, ruled

the quiet lands.

We would sit around camp fires

and sing with harmony.

Is the poet talking about her personal experiences?

The beating of the drums sounded

like the heart of an Indian. The cry

of a wolf, the howl of an owl, put us

into the secrets of ourselves.

Canyou tell who the speaker is?What could the quiet lands be referring to?

Then we woke in the early mist of May

and found ourselves in front

of our enemies, who had come to fight.

Why do you think the speaker specifically refers to May?

Who do you think their enemies were?

The children hid and the women ran

and hid. The men who were brave

stood up for us.

What is the mood of this poem?So far what has happened in the poem?

We fought, but many of us died.

our spirits now haunt

the lands we walked on.

What lands do you think they walked on?Is the author talking about herself here?

Now we sing, laugh, dance, and lie

under the bright blue sky. We are waiting

for our enemies who killed us to pass by.

How do the speakers feel in this poem? What is the topic of this poem? How would you summarize this poem? Why would the author choose the speaker of the

poem to be someone other then herself?

Extra InformationThis poem was written by a Hualapai Indian.

The Hualapai War took place in May of 1865, the war is estimated to have killed 1/3 of the

Hualapai Indians.

Sources• http://www.twu.ca/life/ministries/gps/global/fall/phoenix/grand-canyon.jpg• http://www.wallkillcsd.k12.ny.us/glt.htm• http://www.eft-downloads.com/images/iStock_000001957113SmallMicrophone.jp

g• http://imagineannie.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/campfire1.jpg• http://www.firstpeople.us/pictures/wolves/1024x768/Warming_Up_for_the_Nigh

ts_Howl_Gray_Wolf-(1024x768).jpg• http://best.berkeley.edu/~jhey03/img/photo_albums/grand_canyon_antelope_ca

nyon_lake_powell_feb06/Zion%20National%20Park%20in%20February%20mist-41.jpg

• http://www.hualapai-nsn.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1&Itemid=1

• http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-indianwarsbattles-1.html