"I Went to Kill the Deer"

For thousands of years, Native Americans have learned to obtain a special relationship with nature. Their specific beliefs all come from a great being named Manitou. In the transcendental belief, Manitou is the all powerful God, who created a garden from which all life came from. Not only was life created but the spirit of Manitou exists in all things. Manitou is a part of everything, in which all things are represented. This belief takes years to be appreciated and understood. As Native American children age, the extent at which this belief is grasped brings them to a level of their own interpretation.
Many stories, pictures and poems have been created to express this level of understanding. In the poem, “I Went to Kill the Deer” (written by a Taos Pueblo Indian), a young Native American boy shares his experience with nature, and his failed ...