"INVOCATION: To My Maternal Grandfather..." by Jane Johnston Schoolcraft
To My Maternal Grandfather
On Hearing His Descent From Chippewa Ancestors
Misrepresented
Rise bravest chief! of the mark of the noble deer
With eagle glance,
Resume thy lance,
And wield again thy warlike spear!
The foes of thy line,
With coward design,
Have dar'd, with black envy, to garble the truth,
And stain, with a falsehood, thy valorous youth.
They say, when a child, though wert ta'en from the Sioux,
And with impotent aim,
To lessen thy fame
Thy warlike lineage basely abuse,
For they know that our band,
Tread a far distant land,
And thou noble cheiftain! art nerveless and dead,
Thy bow all unstrungm and thy proud spirit fled.
Can the sports of thy youth, or they deeds ever fade?
Or those ever forget,
Who are mortal men yet,
The scenes where so bravely thou'st lifted the blade,
Who have fought by thy side,
And remember thy pride,
When rushing to battle, with valor and ire,
Thou saw'st the fell foes of thy nation expire.
Can the warrior forget how sublimely you rose?
Like a star in the west,
When the sun's sunk to rest,
That shines in bright splendor to dazzle our foes:
Thy arm and thy yell,
Once the tale could repel
Which slander invented, and minions detail,
And still shall thy actions refute the false tale.
Rest thou, noblest chief! in thy dark house of clay,
Thy deeds and thy name
Thy child's child shall proclaim,
And make the dark forests resound with the lay;
Though thy spirit has fled,
To the hills of the dead,
Yet thy name shall be held in my heart's warmest care,
And cherish'd till valor and love be no more.