THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604260224
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Olde Towne Journal
SOURCE: Alan Flanders
LENGTH: Long : 131 lines
Frances Woodard just won national recognition with the publication of her poem, ``Neath a Carolina Sky.''
For many who know the Chowan Drive resident that's no surprise. She's been writing poetry since childhood.
The Portsmouth poet's works had already earned five straight ``Awards of Merits'' and one other ``Editor Choice'' in 1994.
Woodard admits to living two lives. She's the Norfolk Naval Shipyard budget analyst who retired after 38 years. She's also Wind Song, ``poet laureate'' of the Nansemond Indians, who first made their home in this area over 400 years ago.
Focusing on the history, culture and natural environment of the Native American tribe, Woodard's verses have graced the pages of the Nansemond's annual Pow Wow program for nearly a decade.
But what has startled the literary community is that her most recent poem selected by the prestigious National Library of Poetry as their ``Editor's Choice'' was written almost 63 years ago when she was just nine years old.
``I still have the original copy of `Neath a Carolina Sky,' although the paper has turned yellow with age,'' said Woodard.
``I don't know exactly why I felt like entering it this year except that I still enjoyed reading it with the same joy it gave me when I wrote it,'' she said.
Fortunately, the judges on the board of the National Library of Poetry felt the same way.
``It isn't exactly one of my Nansemond poems,'' Woodard admits, ``but it does fit generally in the category of my ancestral people and that is a love and respect for nature.''
What was created by the hands of the former child writer could easily have been considered for the state's national song with its simple, but musical verse:
Down in Carolina's where I long to be;
That is the only place on earth for me
That is where I always want to live and die,
Just somewhere underneath a Carolina sky.
Three more verses follow that every natural-born Tar Heel and those who have any connection with ``Carolina Blue'' would stand up to hear. But it is her love for the Nansemonds and the preservation of their story that has been at the center of most of Woodard's writing.
A direct descendant of Colonial planter Nathaniel Basse, who built a sizable 17th century plantation in Isle of Wight County, Woodard and her sister, Norfolk resident Mrs. James R. Coates, have spent a lifetime researching their family history.
One of Basse's sons, John, married Keziah, the daughter of the Nansemond chief.
``Her first name was loosely translated into English as ``Elizabeth,'' said Woodard. ``From their August 14th, 1638, union sprang the present Bass family that is at the center of the Nansemond genealogy.
``In fact, one of the family, Earl Bass who lives on tribal land at Bowers Hill, is chief today,'' she added.
Many of Woodard's Nansemond poems offer rare glimpses back into a time when her people camped, fished and hunted from their camps and villages along the Elizabeth and Pagan Rivers.
Woodard's ``Hunting Drums'' is one example:
Sometimes you sound like rolling thunder
As your voice travels far and wide
Are you telling all who listen
Of a peoples'' pain and pride?
Perhaps you speak of ``Chief Powhatan''
Who lived in an era past,
Or of ``Pocahontas'' his favorite child
A beautiful ``Algonquian'' lass.
Let the haunting drums beat again
From the rising to setting of sun
And tell of a people that yet remain
The proud and ancient ``Nansemond.''
Soon after the Revolutionary War, more and more of the Nansemond tribal land was claimed by local farmers and merchantmen. Without written deeds or legal papers, the land was simply seized and tobacco planted over the numerous Nansemond campsites.
Other village sites at Craney Island, Chuckatuck and Bowers Hill fell to the same fate with little resistance.
Stories are still passed down in the Bass family that the English made the law and took what they wanted with the horse, ship and gun.
Some of Woodard's poetry, including ``Braves and Deer,'' laments the passing of her people from their land:
Where are the braves so strong and proud
Great hunters who knew no lack of game, of fish, or fowl?
Where are the deer of priceless worth
Who roamed ``Great Dismal'' from their birth,
So strong, so wild, so free?
Who gave pelts for the clothes, and meat for the food
skins for the feet and bones for the tool
So fleet of foot and keen of ear,
Where oh where are the braves and deer?
By the time of the Civil War, only a few small pockets of Nansemonds remained in the area. One enclave was at Bowers Hill where a church and school was organized in 1850.
By the end of the 19th century, many of the Bass family and other tribal members scattered across Hampton Roads as shipyard workers, boatbuilders and farmers.
Although there is some sadness even today among tribal members that much of their history has been erased, Woodard's poetry is seen as a symbol of strength and renewal at the Pow Wows where Nansemonds give thanks for their heritage.
``I would like to see more young people return to the tribe; dance with us, share our culture,'' she said. ``As a child, I remember sitting with and listening to the tribal elders talk about the days when the Nansemonds were the majority.
``I would like to teach our children that they truly are the descendants of Virginia's first families,'' she said. ``It is a proud heritage and it belongs to them.'' MEMO: Persons interested in learning more about the Nansemonds or attending
the annual Pow Wow in August, should contact Frances Woodard at
488-5167.
In addition, Dr. Edwin Randolph Turner III will give a talk on
``Portsmouth's First Inhabitants, The Chesapeake Indians'' at a dinner
meeting of the Portsmouth Historical Association on May 21. For more
information, write: Portsmouth Historical Association, 221 North St.,
Portsmouth, Va. 23704, or call 393-0241.
Information is also available by calling the Portsmouth Naval
Shipyard Museum at 393-8591. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by ALAN FLANDERS
Frances Woodard edits some of her poetry in her home on Chowan
Drive. The poet laureate of the Nansemond Indians has won national
recognition with ``Neath a Carolina Sky,'' a poem she wrote when
she was 9.
by CNB