ABSTRACT

Columbus's inadvertent discoveries led to the occupation of the lands of the 'Americas', and the overexploitation of the vast resources of this 'New World' began in earnest after 1492. Columbus, and indeed the European conquistadors that followed him, had a greater interest in the possessions of the natives and what could be had from their land, and the humble inhabitants were just mere obstacles in their way. The poem, 'Ode of the Lost Indian Nation' is an appropriate sequel to 'There was an Indian' by John Squire. It tells the story of the American native long after Columbus's ships came ashore. It tells the story of the plight of the indigenous Americans, and the beginning of the plight of the Earth, and the point where both global environmental democracy and social justice began gasping for breath in synchronous unity. Equally significant, the anonymity of the poem's author is a telling reminder of the lost identity of the American native.