The Powwow at the End of the World.

By
Jitrawan (Ning)

Everyone in this world is destined. The newborn infant is automatically given a nationality

and distinguished by the ethnicity. People have their own attitudes due to their experiences, and the

difference of ethnicity is one of the factors that can affect as well. Sherman Alexie can be an

example of a person whose life is different because of his ethnic group. He is a member of Spokane

and Coeur dAlene tribe. He was born in 1966, and grows up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in

Wellpinit, Washington, U.S. (Jaggi, 2008). The Spokane Tribe is a Native American who first lived

by the Spokane river, and have their own civilisations. Yet, they were threatened by the European

colonisers. The European greed for power and killed the Native American, which became an

unforgettable genocide. As a result, the native became powerless and now own only area in the

reservation (Pauls, 2016). Alexie who was born and lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation is

interested in reading and writing. He applies his emotions and visions into the poetry. Poetry =

Anger x Imagination, Alexie states in his book One Stick Song. For this reason, he makes uses of

various poetry devices, such as refrain, symbolism, and imagery, to emphasise his attitudes as a

member of a Native American tribe in the poemThe Powwow at the End of the World.

Alexie uses refrain to emphasise his attitudes about forgiveness. Each sentence in this poem

is organised into two main parts; a starter phrase and follow by different conditions. The most

noticeable part of this poem is I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall (Dove,

2011, p. 557). It is the phrase that Alexie repeats as the starting part for every sentence existing in

the poem. The way that he uses refrain along the poem since the beginning to the end can convince

the readers that forgiveness is something that he always realises. He has been thinking of

forgiveness for a long time, and he considers it as a long-term problem. Moreover, the repetition can
draw attention from the readers to consider the main idea of the poem, which is forgiveness of a

Native American towards the European colonisers. It is clear that this forgiveness is referred to the

native people and the European. The reason is the poet uses the words Indian and Grand Coulee

Dam. I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall after an Indian woman puts her

shoulder to the Grand Coulee Dam and topples it, he states at the beginning of the poem (Dove,

2011, p. 557). The Indian is another way to call the Native American, and the Grand Coulee dam is

the huge European invention that located in the Columbia River in Washington- the same state with

the Spokane Indian Reservation (Harrison, 2016). Referring to the poem, he is also angry with the

European that he wants to remove them. He is using the term topples the Grand Coulee Dam to

represent the idea of overthrowing the European power and influence over the Native American. In

addition, the refrain works with the follow-up sentence to create a strong and ironic idea. Alexie is

contributing the theme of forgiveness in a sarcastic way. The strong refrain phrase introduces an

Indian woman who uses her shoulder to topples the dam, which is a very unusually condition. It is a

very weird human behaviour to destroy a concrete construction with their own bodies. In every

refrain that he writes, he stresses that there is no way that he can forgive. He is saying that he shall

forgive after the impossible things could ever happen, which is totally impossible. It creates a strong

sense to the readers that he is not willing and able to forgive those European at all.

Salmon is used as a symbol in The powwow at the end of the world. As a Native American,

salmon is very important because it shapes how they live. For thousands of years that native people

have settled down and lived along the river, they have to rely on the nature, especially the salmon.

Salmon is the foundation of livelihood for the native people. They go fishing to feed themselves and

to trade, which creates peoples livelihood. Furthermore, salmon is also influential in the tribal

culture as well; for example, special Salmon Dances and the First Salmon Ceremonies (CRITFC,

n.d.). Salmon and Native American people are considered as a longtime partner that cannot be

separated. Salmon is a part of the tribes spiritual and cultural identity. Without salmon, they do not
cease to be the real native people. Thus, Alexie uses salmon to symbolise Native American people.

The salmon that symbolise the Native American is in a distressed position, which shows the

difficulties of the native people. After the first drop of floodwater is swallowed by that salmon

waiting in the pacific, Alexie mentions (Dove, 2011, p. 557). In this phrase, the salmon is in a

hopeless situation. Salmon is actually an animal and cannot do anything more than swim. Referring

to the phrase, salmon does not swim or have any movement but it just keeps on waiting in the

ocean. There is no way that the floodwater can reach the motionless fish in the gigantic ocean. The

probability is too low for that situation to happen. This makes the readers feel the strongly ironic

idea throughout the poem that the Native American may want to do something but it is impossible

to do or to be successful. In Alexies perspective, the Native American is not only hopeless but is

also struggling. He writes, Salmon swims upstream, through the mouth of the Columbia and then

past the flooded cities (Dove, 2011, p. 557). This sentence describes a path of the salmon journey.

Traveling in a rough and long path, salmon also has to face with the unavoidable difficulty. Normal

living things on Earth live with the gravity. Yet, the salmon must swim upward against the gravity

and fight against the water current that is rushing down without any sympathy. It needs to do it to be

able to reach the destination even if it does not want to. It is the same when symbolise as the Native

American people that they have to fight through many obstacles. The poet is emphasising that the

native people always deal with many terrible hardships that happen in their lifetime from the

beginning of life until the end.

Imagery is used in a non-fictional way to express his opinions about the Native American

culture. Alexie creates a picture of an isolation ; In the shallows of a secret bay on the reservation

where I wait alone (Dove, 2011, p. 557). The reservation that he refers to is the Spokane Indian

Reservation where he lives. The environment of the reservation is portrayed clearly in this phrase,

and shows how loneliness the Native American people are. He is telling that the place is small and

not very well-known, which like a separated piece of land. It is directly related the isolation of the
people and, of course, their culture. The sense of a mysterious land makes the reservation secluded

from the majority society. They are living the outside world and may not have an interaction with

the others as much as they can. He represents the idea that the Native American culture is different

and isolated because of the disconnection between his tribe and the rest of the world. Nevertheless,

Alexie still wants to remain it. He mentions a real tribal ceremony known as Powwow, which is a

part of the culture. Powwow is a Native American ceremony or social gathering that filled with

dancing, singing and other rituals (Browner, 2016). It is a sacred event because it is used

to honour their ancestors and cultures. In each Powwow, many Native American tribes join

and celebrate. They wears traditional fancy clothes and accessories. Many songs that they use in

the ceremony are still sung in Native American Languages but some of them has no lyrics. Each

dance that they perform is also very original and notable; such as, the Jingle Dress Dance that the

dancers wear skirts contained tins to create a sound. When they all gathering and meet each other,

they can teach the traditional ways to a younger generation and exchange ideas. When I am

dancing with my tribe during the powwow at the end of the world, he writes at the last past of the

poem (Dove, 2011, p. 557). The phrase creates a picture of a happy unity of all the Native American

and leads to the revival and survival of the Native American culture. Alexis refers to the time when

they can meet each other and share their cultures within their own tribe and the others. The time that

he is the part of restoring the culture. The powwow where all the various tribes are connected and

become a reminder of the cultural heritage for everyone.

Refrain, symbolism, and imagery are the key factors that lay a strong foundation to the

poem and lead Alexie to his goal. The idea that he pays attention to and wants the readers to

consider is forgiveness. Thus, refrain is used to emphasise the central idea of the whole poem. As a

Native American, he experiences that there is no true forgiveness towards the European even

though the time has passed so long. Symbolism is used for the representation of the Native

American who are facing many difficulties. He uses salmon to be the symbol because it is the
thing that related directly to the Native American for a long time so it fits in the poem really well.

He also uses the reservation environment and ceremony as a part of the poem because it can create a

picture of a place filled with meanings, and it can serve as an imagery. Without these poetry

devices, Alexie cannot success the poem, and the idea cannot be clear enough to convince and truly

express his attitudes.

 References

Dove, R. (Ed.). (2011). The Penguin anthology of the twentieth century American poetry. New

York, NY: Penguin Books.

Pauls E. (2016). Native American. Retrieved from http://global.britannica.com/topic/Native-

American

Harrison, J. (2016, March 23). Grand Coulee Dam: history and purpose. Retrieved from https://

www.nwcouncil.org/history/GrandCouleeHistory

Jaggi, M. (2008, May 3). Sherman Alexie. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/

2008/may/03/featuresreviews.guardianreview13

CRITFC - Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. (n.d.).Tribal Salmon Culture Retrieved

from http://www.critfc.org/salmon-culture/tribal-salmon-culture/

Browner, T. (2016, May 14). Overview of Powwow tradition. Retrieved from http://www.sicc.sk.ca/

overview-of-pow-wow-tradition.html