Nine Places Where You Can Still See Wheel Tracks from the Oregon Trail

Nine Places Where You Can Still See Wheel Tracks from the Oregon Trail Beth Piatote (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Oregon Trail Ruts State Historic Site On my right metatarsusyou can see the swale caused by wet wagon wheelscoming out of the Big Blue River, heavingtheir sodden burdens over the topof my arched foot, crackingthe delicate bones below. On my skin you see their namescarved with sharp knives, markingthe springs that offeredfresh water. They took long drinks and leftwhite scars. The climb up my right calfwas so steep that heavy wagonsmade deep rutsstill visible today. This gradewas the first major acclivityand likely to givethe faint-hearted doubt. A bare road runsthe length of my thigh,sharp double lines billedas pristine trail rutsas though my body did not existfor itself:háawtnin'perfectsacredholy. [End Page 20] Click for larger view View full resolution My lower belly, made of sandstoneyielded to the roll of the wheelso soft was the sandstonethat it wore awayunder each creaking load –this patient erosionhewed tracksfive feet deep,tracks deep enoughto swallow a child. To avoid the winterthey raced to reachmy left hipboneby the fourth of July. Tocelebratethey etched whitenamesin the jutting darkgranite of my hip,calling itIndependence Rock. The climb up my gluteswas so long and steepthat the descent was even moredangerousas testifiedby ruts like claw markson both sides,a reminderof what it meansto rut,to mounta body muscled and soft. In the wide-open plain of my backsingle tracks spreadto doubles and triples –so vast and invitingwas my backas it shreddedunder the gyreof passing lanes. Across the sharp edgeof my cheekbone,on the cliff faceis planted the historical signthat indicates the finalset of tracksand providesan impressive viewof the Columbia Riveras it rollsto the sea. [End Page 21] ________ Author's note: This poem highlights the Nez Perce word háawtnin', which means holy, sacred, sanctified. Its root is the verb háawt, which means "to keep clean" or "to keep or make something as sacred." Following missionization, these terms also refer to Christian piety. The poem reveals the land's self-conception in Indigenous terms, while offering the term's new valence as a form of critique. Beth Piatote Beth Piatote is a Nez Perce writer, scholar, and language activist committed to using creative expression for Indigenous language revitalization. She is the author of The Beadworkers: Stories and an associate professor of English and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley. Photo by Kirsten Lara Getchel Copyright © 2022 World Literature Today and the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma

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