“The History Lesson”
“The History Lesson” subverts the written history on how the White People brought about Civilization to the Americas. Although the historical chronicles concentrate on the affirmative consequence of civilization in the Americas, the poem repudiates the history lessons by giving prominence the antagonistic repercussions of the takeover of the Americas by the whites. First, the whites devastated wildlife through haphazard bombardment which cannot be written off as a practice of civilization as it would be satirical. Furthermore, through the ‘civilization’ fatal ailments that the Native Indians had not been susceptible to prior to the conquest such as smallpox, reached the Americas and they devastated the Native Indians. Furthermore, the whites took part in activities that turned out to: “ burying/ breathing forests and fields/ beneath concrete and steel.” The poem puts dents on the widespread history about the eminence of Americas before and after colonization by arguing that the civilization furthered to the demolition of the natural environment.
“The Indian Woman”
“The Indian Woman” makes evident the concept of self-stereotyping among the Native Indian women. The Indian woman establishes (in the first half of the poem) that she does not herself in high regard; thus she furthers the principal ideology of the poem which is to explicate the repercussions of commodification on the self-esteem of the Native Indians. The Indian woman espouses a near to the ground self-esteem which is centered on how society identifies her. The Indian woman’s feelings are nonexistence she views herself as an object that cannot undergo any sentiment.
While the second half of the poem portrays an Indian Woman who appreciates her worth, the outlook of triviality that is accentuated in the first half of the poem eclipses the affirmative image that the Indian woman wants to project in the second half of the poem. Seemingly, the Indian woman is ideologically conflicted At times she attaches importance to herself and in other cases she degrades herself. The ideological illogicality is endorsed by the Native Indian culture that views the woman an object without devoid of emotions. The lack of ability to go above the cultural prospects makes the woman to co-opt their dehumanization which obstructs them from being acquainted with their substance.
“Artifacts”
“Artifacts” condemns the role of archaeology in studying communities by juxtaposing artifacts to living history (which is emblazoned in the hearts of the people who underwrote the history). According to the speaker, the artifacts are lifeless;thus, they cannot be as precise as the specifics that people have about what they have lived through in the past. Artifacts destabilizes the sincerity of archaeological studies by typifying them as disremembered. Discounting the people’s first-hand explanations of their pasts when recreating history diminishes the materiality of the deductions that are drawn in archaeological readings.
