Blue Winds Dancing
The narrator in "Blue Winds Dancing," by Tom Whitecloud, talks about the day he comes home to his Indian community from college. The narrator is making his journey home for Christmas break. He explains the differences between the community which he lives in at school and the Indian community he is going home to. When the narrator gets home, he feels out of place. He is not sure if everyone is even going to remember him from before. As he is walking down the railroad tracks he talks about how peaceful he feels with the snow and the forest surrounding him, and the reason that the railroad tracks were put there. The city came about because of the surrounding lake. He also talks about how the city, around the Indian community, has people who don't even know each other and how it takes away from the country around it. It has all the stores, the police, the criminals, the movies, and the apartment houses. He continues to talk about how it also has the politics, the libraries, and the zoos. He makes it seem like the only reason that these things are there is because of the city and they otherwise wouldn't be there.
At this point the narrator has realized that nothing has changed. He is still a part of his community even though he has been gone for a while. Everything is still the same. "All the eyes are friendly; they all laugh. No one questions my being here. The drums begin to beat again, and I catch the invitation in the eyes of the old men. My feet begin to lift to the rhythm, and I look out beyond the wall into the night and see the lights. I am happy. It is beautiful. I am home." age, he hears the beating of the drums and sees the houses faintly in the background. They are simple houses. Christmas in his village is not about the parties and the presents but about being together and sharing together. The narrator goes on to say that some of the people in the village are trying to imitate the white people, and the more they do that, the more tragic the result. Even though he says that the village is not a place to feel pride towards, he is also not ashamed to be a part of it. "...One can never be ashamed of his own people when he knows they have dreams as beautiful as white snow on a tall pine." In the lodge, there are many Indians. Some are s
Some common words found in the essay are:
Tom Whitecloud, Happiness Indians, white people, indian community, , white people people, railroad tracks, people people, people don't,
Approximate Word count = 785
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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