Nationalism is displayed through Malcolm’s Katie and Cry from an Indian Wife through their conflicting ideas of ownership to the land, the ideologies that shape their nation, and the opponents that challenge these ideologies. The Oxford English dictionary defines nationalism as “advocacy of or support for the interests of one's own nation, esp. to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations” (Oxford University Press). This is demonstrated through the poems Malcolm’s Katie and Cry from an Indian Wife in how they deal with the issue of ownership of the land; both the Mohawk and the colonizers feel support for their nation in fighting for or justifying their ownership over Canada. The human qualities valued in each poem illustrate the differing ideologies between the First Nations and the settlers and how they inform their sense of nationalism. Moreover, the…show more content… The concept of “owning” land was uniquely European and was a mindset that was imposed upon the First Nations when the colonizers first arrived. In Malcolm’s Katie and Cry from an Indian Wife, the conflict of ownership is highlighted in very different ways. For the Mohawk people, this issue is illustrated through Johnson’s accusation of the settlers, “They but forget we Indians owned the land / From ocean unto ocean; that they stand” (Johnson, 21-22). Her use of “ocean unto ocean” is allusive to Canada’s motto “A Mari usque Mare” (“From Sea to Sea”), which was derived from Psalm 72:8, which stated, “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea”; the term “dominion” was also used when designating “The Dominion of
