Native American Poet: Suzanne Rancourt

Presenter: Oriana Duran

Presenter Status: Undergraduate student

Academic Year: 20-21

Semester: Fall

Faculty Mentor: Jeffrey Reeder

Department: Native American Studies

Funding Source/Sponsor: SYRCE Symposium

Screenshot URL: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1iy6BUTM804lrfqpiccqn7nFYHe-F51tr

Abstract:
I was interested in learning more about Native American poetry especially after reading Native American literature in some of the courses I have taken this semester which I have truly enjoyed reading. When looking for poems and the history behind them I came across a lot of different Native American poets and novelists, some that I had heard of before such as Sherman Alexie. I chose to make a poster on Suzanne S. Rancourt and more specifically on her poem Whose Mouth Do I Speak With mostly because when reading it I felt like I could connect to it as well. Her poem talks about how even though her father might have not been able to buy them store-bought gum he found a way to still provide some kind of treat for his children such as spruce gum which I didn’t even know about until searching it up after reading this poem. Even though it was something small, the value behind the gesture from her father was priceless. I was able to learn more about the role art plays in Native American culture and how it helps keeps cultures alive while being able to teach us about the events that took place in history.