Thanks, that's not the one I was thinking of, so it's not the one about the smithy.
I just did a search and can't find the particular one. It's been about 25 years and I'm wondering now if I've confused the author. I'd be tempted to retract, except I have this very clear recollection of a very short poem - no more than about 12 to 14 lines, maybe, that was in the same book with Hiawatha.
It does seem possible though, that I misunderstood the reference in the other poem and got myself worked up over nothing.
Okay, let me drop this one for now and concentrate on Hiawatha. I loved the poem - one of my all time favorites. But I thought it was pretty racist (maybe that's not the right term, people seem to use that word for everything these days). At least it was seriously condescending - offensive even. Still, I loved it. And even if I didn't love it, I think it should be in school libraries, but that, say, native american kids shouldn't be compelled to read it.
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