Interpretation of "The Forsaken"


When I first read The Forsaken and indeed other poems included in Duncan Campbell Scott's Indian Poetry my impressions where that the authors view on the north american culture where favourable and that he was saddened by a seemingly dying noble race. However, after researching into Scott's political life as well as different in depth interpretations of this particular poem, I find his sympathetic attitude much harder to believe.

To begin my look into The Forsaken I would like to first look at its possible sources. Through his government work with Native Affaires, we seen in his biography that Scott would have had plenty of first hand experiences with native americans but this particular tale is one that is very intimate and as noted by R.H. Cockburn, most likely comes from a story told by Thomas Anderson that was later published in The Arctic Prairies: A Canoe-Joumey of 2,000 Miles in Search of the Caribou; being the Account of a Voyage to the Region North of Aylmer Lake. The story tells of an Algonquin mother who survived with her baby after her band had all starved to death. She finds a cash with a small bone fish hook and makes the quick decision to cut a piece of flesh from her own leg to use as bait. She survived by fishing throughout the winter until she rejoined the rest of her people but her son grows to be a cruel man and later leaves her to die of starvation. As you can see, the resemblances between these two stories are uncanny and although The Forsaken was published 6 years earlier, it is very possible that Scott would have heard Anderson's tale before then. Scott takes this specific tale and turns it into a generic type of fairy tale beginning with “Once” and without specifying time or place.


Victorian Picture of a Cheyenne Chief with european style clothing and weapons
<http://www.victorianpicturelibrary.com/cheyenne-native-american-chief>


The poem is split into two parts. The first part consists of 53 lines all between 4 and 7 syllables with irregular meter and tells of a young mother using her own flesh to bait a hook and fish for her starving child. The fast pace lends to the dire situation she finds herself in and echoes the adrenaline and fast heart beat that comes with the fear of starvation. We can sense her stress and determination. The second part consists of 41 lines ranging from 5 to 16 syllables. The longer lines and the much more irregular meter slows down the reading and adds to the melancholy of the theme where the mother is now “old and withered” and is eventually left to die. There is a noteworthy repetition of the line “Valiant, unshaken” appearing twice in part 1 and once again in part 2. This helps to bring the two parts together and begs the reader to draw comparisons. Although much is changing around her, the woman in the poem retains her composure through these two very different moments in her life. Is this to say that native americans can retain their essence whilst being assimilated by the encroaching european civilization? Could this simply be a subtle form of propaganda? The significance of these two parts and their correspondence was brought to life by an essay by Lee B. Meckler entitled Rabbit-Skin Robes and Mink-Traps: Indian and European in “The Forsaken”. This text focuses primarily on this particular issue of encroaching european culture on native americans which it says is at the heart of much of Scott's poetry. In part 1 of the poem, the vocabulary is all of the natural world for example she fishes “With a line of the twisted / Bark of the cedar, / And a rabbit-bone hook” and there is even an instance of a native word “tikanagan” whilst in the second, there is the appearance of “kettles”, a “shawl” and a “kerchief”. The speech pattern differs as well from one that is of a more simple english to a more complex one, from phrases such as “Bark of the cedar” to “ Then folded her hands ridged with sinews and corded with veins”. The growing influence of white man is also seen in the ways and attitudes of the characters in the second part. Not only do they use tools gotten from european trade, but they now use christian symbols surrounding death since the aged and dying woman crosses her arms over her breasts and is covered in a “crystal shroud”. The main cultural disconnect in this poem which may show a lack of understanding and sympathy for the native americans comes in the attitude of the family who leave her to die. As Lee Meckler states, the word “slunk” in reference to their moving off has been very controversial and has been much debated. Although it may have been custom for some native peoples to leave their old to die alone, it is the imprint of a christian faith in this poem that would have them feel guilt. The effect this word had on my reading is that of a judgement being made on their actions, one that is very much an outsiders point of view. It makes the natives look selfish and cruel since their own sense of guilt emphasizes the external christian impression of such a scene whereas if their own culture dictates such customs, then perhaps the old are prepared to die alone and embrace their return to the earth. These types of misinterpretations can be very dangerous to the impression the rest of the population has of native cultures since it is a hidden criticism amongst a beautiful and seemingly sympathetic poem.

Residential school classroom
<http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2012/12/14/ruth-reconciliation-lawsuit-wants-records-to-residential-school-program/>