There Is No Word For Goodbye Analysis

There is No Word for Goodbye Analysis The poem There is No Word for Goodbye by Mary Tallmountain, she is of Native American descent and wrote the poem about the culture and language of Athabaskan. Tallmountain was born in 1918 in a village that runs along the Yukon River in Alaska called Nulato. She lived with her mother and when her mother became terminally ill with tuberculosis, she and her brother, Billy, were adopted by the the doctor who was treating their mother. After being taken away from her homeland and being separated from her family at the age of six, she was brought to live in the harsh, mainstream American culture. Tallmountain uses writing as a way of connecting with her culture and family back home. In this poem, she writes about a conversation that she has with her aunt, it is written in first person. In the first line she uses the word “Sokoya” instead of

(Line 17-18). This line shows the love that the Athabaskan people have for each other, this line explains that even when they are away, they still love them. And even if you come back, they will still be welcoming to you. Your mouth does not say goodbye to your heart because you don’t ever want to be apart from your heart. And even if someone leaves, then that person will always stay in the hearts of their friends and family. The Athabaskan people use the word “Tlaa” which means see you later. They say tlaa because there is no word for goodbye, the Athabaskan people don’t have a word for goodbye because they don’t believe in goodbyes, they believe that they will always see each other again. In Tallmountain’s case, she did see her friends and family again. She left her village when her mother could no longer take care of her and when she grew up, she came back to her homeland. Her friends and family were so happy to see her and they all believed that they will see her again and sure enough, they