The Northwest Rebellion of 1885 brought questions of indigenous identity to the forefront in Canadian literary dialogue. The North-West Rebellion, a five-month rebellion against the Canadian government, was fought by the Métis and their indigenous allies in what is now Saskatchewan and Alberta (Beal and Macleod). Indigenous peoples fought this rebellion largely out of fear of assimilation and frustration with the Canadian government (Beal and Macleod). wrote poems about this question of Native identity in the context of the Northwest Rebellion, but their racial positions placed them on opposite sides of the table. Duncan Campbell Scott wrote "The Onondaga Madonna" in 1898, in which his view of Native identity stands in stark contrast. with Pauline Johnson's perspective on Native identity in her 1885 poem, "A Cry From an Indian Wife." In "A Cry From an Indian Wife", Johnson's position as an insider prompts her to invoke empathy for the Native woman she describes, while in "The Onondaga Madonna", the position of Scott's stranger motivates him to characterize the native woman in his poem as savage and inhuman. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayDuncan Campbell Scott wrote “The Onondaga Madonna” from a place of distrust and misconceptions about people natives as deputy superintendent of Indian affairs, and this led him to represent the poem's native subject as inhumane. Scott strongly believed in Native assimilation through intermarriage and education, as he believed that Native nations had primitive cultures that needed to be replaced by superior white civilization and culture (Fee 54). In his writings, Scott expressed the belief that an individual's character was determined by their blood heritage and that an Aboriginal person would therefore be likely to display wild behavior (Salem). This belief is illustrated in one of Scott's poems, "The Half-Breed Girl", where Scott speaks of a "half-breed" girl who, despite her white blood, continues to lead a wild life because she is half native (Salem). Thus, in his role as Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs from 1913 to 1932, Scott pushed for assimilation and was "convinced that intermarriage was in the best interests of Native peoples" because he believed that Native peoples had a tendency towards savagery (Salem). Accordingly, in his poem "The Onondaga Madonna", Scott characterizes the native woman as savage and inhumane, based on his belief that native blood determines a savage character. Scott achieves this characterization by primarily describing the Native woman through her outward appearance and neglecting to mention her inner feelings and emotions as a human being. For example, he describes her as a “woman of a strange and fading race, / The tragic savage that lies before her face” (Scott 2-3). He even describes her in a sexual way, speaking of her "pagan passion" and her "rebellious lips", but there is still no indication of her emotional side (Scott 4-7). The only references he makes to this woman's feelings are characterized as primitive and pagan feelings: "The tragic savage that lurks in her face, / Where all her pagan passion burns and shines" (Scott 3-4). Additionally, Scott's characterization of the native woman is further strengthened by the use of the sonnet form, as the sonnet is a more impersonal poetic form that simply describes and does not probe the mindof the subject. Additionally, Scott emphasizes the inevitability of assimilation. for the indigenous nations through the decline of their race in "The Onondaga Madonna", while continuing to represent the indigenous woman and her baby as inhumane so that the reader feels no empathy for them. In the sesset, the native woman's baby is presented as "the last promise of her nation's destiny" because he is "paler than she" and thus represents the dilution of the native race through intermarriage (Scott 10 -11). However, Scott describes the baby as inhuman, just like his mother, describing him as fierce, savage, and warlike even though he is only a child: "the primordial warrior that shines in his eyes" (12). Thus, he refuses to show or invoke any empathy for the indigenous “catastrophe of the nation” while he continues to represent the mother and her child as inhuman and savage (10). Additionally, the native women's race is described as "strange and declining", thus indicating that although the native race is in decline, they are a "strange" and "wild" race and that the reader does not So there is no need to feel empathy for these people. for it is beneficial that this uncivilized race is disappearing (Scott 2). This accurately reflects Scott's beliefs as Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs, as he believed that Native nations had primitive cultures that needed to be replaced by superior white civilization and culture and, therefore, Native assimilation needed to occur. done through intermarriage and education (Fee 54). . Thus, by refusing to show the Native woman as a person with human emotions and feelings, Scott deliberately closes off any possibility for the reader to empathize with this Native woman because of her own role in assimilating her and her people. If he recognizes that this indigenous woman is a human being with emotions and feelings just like him and his people, then he must also recognize that it is wrong to force the assimilation of indigenous peoples without any thought for them in as human beings. But if he can continue to view and represent them as a distinct class of people without feelings or emotions and almost inhuman, then he can characterize them as "the other" and thus feel or invoke any empathy for them or their close ones. On the other hand, Pauline Johnson in “A Cry From an Indian Wife” does exactly the opposite: she invokes empathy in her poem for the plight of the Native woman because of her position as a Native woman herself. Pauline Johnson was born on the Six Nations reserve in Canada West in 1861, the daughter of a white woman, Emily Susannah Howells, and Mohawk chief George Henry Johnson (Jones and Ferris). She was educated in both English social customs and literary traditions by her mother and in Mohawk cultural and oral traditions by her father and grandfather (Jones and Ferris). She became a writer and poetic performer and represented her Mohawk and British identities (Jones and Ferris) on stage. Johnson "maintained that Indigenous peoples were the intellectual, social, and political equals of other Canadians" (Fee 53), which stood in stark contrast to Scott's view of Indigenous nations as savage, uncivilized peoples inferior to whites () . As a member of the Indigenous community herself, Johnson knew what it meant to be part of an oppressed and colonized community and could provide important insight. Thus, she strove to evoke empathy towards indigenous peoples in her poems and stage performances concerning indigenous identity, notably in her poem "ACry From an Indian Wife.” In "A Cry From an Indian Wife", Johnson barely mentions the woman's outward appearance but instead focuses on her inner feelings and emotions, unlike Scott who focuses almost entirely on the woman's outward appearance in his poem. Johnson achieves this effect through poetic form. of a dramatic monologue which allows the reader to listen to a private conversation between the Aboriginal woman and her husband. The reader is led to sympathize with a woman who must say goodbye to her beloved husband going to war: “My Forest Brave, my Red-skin love, farewell” (Johnson 1). Johnson will describe the inner struggle of Native women over whether her husband should go and fight in the Northwest Rebellion. Constantly, the speaker orders her husband to go win the war, because they cannot "bow to the greed of white men's hands", because "by right, by birth, we Indians own these lands” (Johnson 57-58). Thus, she invokes empathy for this woman and her people who have a legitimate right to their land that was stolen from them by the greed of white men. Her use of a dramatic monologue here makes the woman more real and allows the audience to put themselves in her shoes. However, on many occasions the wife wavers in her resolve and begs her husband to stay, because she does not want to lose him and she does not want the war to cause casualties on both sides. Johnson highlights the woman’s deepest emotions: “Yet stay. Revolt not against the Union Jack, / Nor raise your hand against this pack of youths / Of white-faced warriors, marching West to suppress / Our fallen tribe rising to rebel. / They are all young and fair and good: / Curse to war that drinks their harmless blood” (Johnson 11-16). Here Johnson reveals the deepest feelings of this woman's heart; this woman does not blame the young white men who came to fight her people, but blames the war and laments the lives that will surely be lost. The speaker also says that she will lose her husband and that her heart will break if he goes to war: "Threatened by a thousand rifle bullets, / My heart will be the target if my warrior falls" (Johnson 53-54) . In this way, Johnson makes this woman accessible to anyone who has experienced or fears heartbreak. Moreover, the woman not only considers herself in this inner struggle, but also considers the feeling of others: “Still, stay, my heart is not alone. / It mourns the loss of husband and son; / Think of the mothers of the inland seas; / Think of the pale-faced maiden on her knees” (Johnson 41-44). By showing the parallels between the Native woman and the white woman, Johnson shows that their deepest emotions and fears are truly no different from each other, and thus shows that the Native woman is just as human as the white woman. But then the woman says, “She never thinks of my wild and aching breast, / Nor prays for thy dark face and eagle crest” (Johnson 51-52). Here, “she” refers to the soldiers’ white mothers and wives; while the native woman herself considers the feelings of white women whose sons and husbands might be killed, these same white women do not consider their feelings and fears about their husbands leaving for the war. Thus, in this poem, Johnson manages to address the mistreatment of indigenous people primarily through the description of the woman's emotions and inner struggle over her husband's departure for war. The reader is made to feel empathy for the Native woman and her inner struggle - a struggle that most people would have if they.