Louis V. Clark III signing his first book, "How to Be An Indian in the 21st Century."
Seldom recalled, probably because it’s lousy, “The Four Lakes of Madison” (1876) was penned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as a favor for his son’s mother-in-law, who lived here.
He called the city “visionary” and the lakes “azure.” He obviously never looked at a lake during algae season. In fact, he never saw Madison at all.
With similar ignorance, he helped perpetuate the archetypal image of the “noble savage.” Set in the Upper Peninsula, you know its model instantly:
By the shore of Gitche Gumee, By the shining Big-Sea-Water
Blowing the hell out of Longfellow’s “The Song of Hiawatha” is Oneida poet and author Louis V. Clark III (Two Shoes). This fall, the Wisconsin Historical Society Press releases his autobiographical Rebel Poet: More Stories from a 21st Century Indian.
He was born and raised on one of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin’s reservations. His family was plagued with health issues and alcoholism.
Married at 18, he and his wife, Debbie, “ran away from home” with their two children so he could attend UW-Oshkosh. They eventually had six kids, all of whom graduated from college — a point of pride. In 2017, Isthmus interviewed him about his earlier book, How to Be an Indian in the 21st Century, also published by the Historical Society Press.
Benjamin Franklin advised, “Write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” For Clark you could add, “Or be subjected to immense hardship. And be damn near genius.”
Rebel Poet has love and joy, too, and Clark’s conversational style belies immense complexity. He is extremely clever and careful, a spellbinder, calling the reader into a dream state.
I am a poet
Exposing sins, shadows
Hidden in the crevasses
Of one’s mind
Clark’s is the brilliance of simplicity, completely concealing craft. He’s also very funny in an “or else you’d cry” sort of way:
One little two little three little Indians
Fast asleep while Daddy’s driving drunk again
Grim statistics blame it on his race again
Three Little Indian Boys
We’re far from Big-Sea-Water and noble savage. But Longfellow got one thing right. The Native experience as revealed by Clark is not only immensely noble, but implicitly ennobling.
Highest recommendation.
Clark will appear at Madison College at 3 p.m. on Oct. 14 and noon on Nov. 20. He will also appear at A Room of One’s Own at noon on Oct. 19, as part of the Wisconsin Book Festival.
