Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel
Autobiography of a Wolf

Nunik muks. I am born a wolf.
My grandmother calls me Morning Star
Because I dance into the dawn
With a smiling false face
That seems to love the morning
When I should prefer the night
Like the other wolf children

Yo kisk wuski kisusq tohkit. One day a new Sun awakens.
I wince at its brightness
Growling with bared teeth
Along with the rest
of the young wolves
Because it challenges
The old familiar sky

Nuwáhtám. I am concerned.
I tell my grandmother
I am afraid our world
Will never be the same
But the elder shrugs and says
Things may turn out fine
We must wait and see

Nupáhô. I wait.
Many moons pass
And my old grandmother
Passes on her final gifts
Including giving me
The new name of Ôsowunáw
Which means the flower on the corn plant

Numisôtam nuwisuwôk wáskák. I consider my new name.
Yet I can only guess at its full meaning
Until I find an old text
That says Ôsowunáw
Is also the word for Change
And I recall my grandmother's words
On the day that new Sun first appeared

Iyo Nutáputôtam wuci nuwisuwôk. Now, I am thankful for my name.
I raise my arms to the sky and say
Thank you for the things that are forever
Thank you for the things that change
Thank you for the chance to greet each day
Thank you for the strength of our wolf family
Which continues to howl and sing with one voice

Nutáh yumwáyi. My heart is full.
Until another new Sun appears and then another
And the sky becomes crowded
Causing the wolves to growl
And one young wolf tells me
I am afraid our world will never be the same
I am afraid we will lose ourselves

Numako nihtowôk wuci nucáyhs. I offer my elder's lesson.
Things may turn out fine.
We must wait and see
But the young wolf growls at the bright sky
And others snarl and snap at one another
Until the spirits of the ancestors enter their dreams
To remind them that they have seen all this before

Muks kucáhsháyuwôkun mucimáhtiyá. Our wolf family endures forever.

* This poem was the author's gift to the Mohegan people on the twentieth anniversary of Mohegan Sun, in October, 2016. Mohegan means “Wolf People.” T ranslations by Stephanie Fielding.

<< return to the Table of Contents for New Series #5: Summer 2018, Volume 3 Number 1