The Last Wolf

“Soogha” by Mary TallMountain (1991)

Poems written by Mary TallMountain can be difficult to find on reputable online sources. For instance, the Academy of American Poets and the Poetry Foundation do not include any poems by TallMountain, nor her mentor, the more well-known poet Paula Gunn Allen. However, on TallMountain’s publisher’s website, an excerpt from the book Until We Are Strong Together: Women Writers in the Tenderloin features one of her poems. “Soogha” is about Bernie, the “eldest brother” (Line 1) TallMountain never met, as well the role of men in Koyukon culture. As in “The Last Wolf,” the Koyukon language plays an important role. Soogha is the word for brother in the Koyukon language. Furthermore, in Line 14, “people sang thirteen Koyukon songs” (Line 14), emphasizing the orality of this indigenous dialect.

“The Return” by Paula Allen Gunn (1980)

As mentioned above, Paula Allen Gunn’s works are difficult to locate online. “The Return” can be seen in a preview of The American Indian Culture and Research Journal, Volume 4, Issue 4. Like “The Last Wolf,” this poem is set in San Francisco, as noted in the epigraph of the poem. The iconic hills of San Francisco once again emerge from a more naturalist diorama, with the actions of wheeling birds and their songs replacing the wandering wolf of “The Last Wolf.