Daughter of an Ojibwe woman and an Irish settler, Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, also known as Bamewawagezhikaquay, was one of the earliest Native American literary writers. She wrote many poems in English and Ojibwe, as well as versions of Ojibwe stories, songs, and other traditionally oral texts.
Here in my native inland sea
From pain and sickness would I flee
And from its shores and island bright
Gather a store of sweet delight.
Lone island of the saltless sea!
How wide, how sweet, how
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Sweet pink of northern wood and glen,
E'er first to greet the eyes of men
In early spring,—a tender flower
Whilst still the wintry wind hath power.
How welcome, in the sunny glade,
Or hazel
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To my Maternal Grand-father 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
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