Fraternity-Testvériség, 1961 (39. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1961-02-01 / 2. szám

FRATERNITY

11

IF I HAD KNOWN

If I had known what trouble you were bearing;

What griefs were in the silence of your face;

I would have been more gentle, and more caring,

And tried to give you gladness for a space.

I would have brought more warmth into the place,

If I had known.

If I had known what thoughts despairing drew you;

(Why do we never try to understand?)

I would have lent a little friendship to you,

And slipped my hand within your hand,

And made your stay more pleasant in the land,

If I had known.

MARY CAROLYN DAVIES

•••H03US2BH—■

Indians Joined Inaugural Parade As “First Americans”

Nearly 300 American Indians were in Washington for the Inauguration — ready to tell the world that if it hadn’t been for their ancestors, President Kennedy’s ancestors might have starved to death.

After all, they say, the Irish famines were fought with potatoes developed by American Indians. “Irish” potatoes should really be called “Indian” potatoes.

The Indians depicted their agricultural and other contributions to the world on a three-decker white float.

One of the girls of the float wore a banner reading “Language” — a reminder that the Navajo language was the only code used in the Pacific that the Japanese could not break during the whole of World War II.

As a Navy officer in the Pacific, Mr. Kennedy may have been helped again by the Indians.

Under the co-ordination of the National Congress of American Indians, the first Americans had five floats, an all-Eskimo Scout battalion from Alaska and a 70-man band in the inaugural parade. All the Indians there could not participate, so a few extra had been squeezed in by letting them play paleface Quakers in one float’s scene.

The Indians also had their own Presidential Pow-wow at the Hotel 2400, where tribal dances alternated with periods of conventional dancing. Palefaces attended for $5.00 per person. Children 12 years of age and under viewed the tribal dancing free.