Native Blood
By @VinceSchilling
If you want to wear my headdress
Then wear the blood that fell down our temple as we were beaten by a settler's rifle
If you want to wear our feathers
The wear the cries of animals killed for sport when we were left starving
(cont.)
By @VinceSchilling
If you want to wear my headdress
Then wear the blood that fell down our temple as we were beaten by a settler's rifle
If you want to wear our feathers
The wear the cries of animals killed for sport when we were left starving
(cont.)
If you want to wear paint on your face as my ancestors did
The wear the mud stuffed into the mouths of babies, silenced and suffocated
to let the tribe, hiding from hunters, survive
The land we belong to, gifted to us by the Creator
Was stolen from under us
(cont.)
The wear the mud stuffed into the mouths of babies, silenced and suffocated
to let the tribe, hiding from hunters, survive
The land we belong to, gifted to us by the Creator
Was stolen from under us
(cont.)
Our children ate ‘candy’ which was urine mixed with sugar from laughing soldiers
Our elders were killed and handcuffed
They were forced to walk barefoot in the snow
After being told to leave their homes
But you don’t want any of that
(cont.)
Our elders were killed and handcuffed
They were forced to walk barefoot in the snow
After being told to leave their homes
But you don’t want any of that
(cont.)
You only want the bright colors of our culture
Not the missing and murdered women
Not the suicides of our teen children
Not the loss of our languages
Not the genocide
(cont.)
Not the missing and murdered women
Not the suicides of our teen children
Not the loss of our languages
Not the genocide
(cont.)
Only the plastic masks with red and blue paint
Or the plastic bear claw necklaces
Or the white-beaded plastic breastplates made in some strange factory
Or the turkey feathers dyed to match your eyeshadow
Or the plastic bear claw necklaces
Or the white-beaded plastic breastplates made in some strange factory
Or the turkey feathers dyed to match your eyeshadow
You don’t want the real blood that
It's connected to our culture
You want the fake blood called ‘Savage War Paint’ Available on Halloween
(cont.)
It's connected to our culture
You want the fake blood called ‘Savage War Paint’ Available on Halloween
(cont.)
You don’t want anything to do with our culture
You only want to fill the forever empty hole
Of your own missing culture
That you left behind when you came to our land
To kill us and remove us
(cont.)
You only want to fill the forever empty hole
Of your own missing culture
That you left behind when you came to our land
To kill us and remove us
(cont.)
But you didn’t kill us all
And it’s no longer gauche to shoot us with a lead ball
The proper legislation is now much more popular
And so now here we sit
A horrible reminder of the mess you created
You can’t get rid of us any longer
(cont.)
And it’s no longer gauche to shoot us with a lead ball
The proper legislation is now much more popular
And so now here we sit
A horrible reminder of the mess you created
You can’t get rid of us any longer
(cont.)
But now we are a painful reminder
Of what you took from us
And what you left behind
Never to recover again
We are the ones who are not lost
We are the ones who will not forget who we are
(cont.)
Of what you took from us
And what you left behind
Never to recover again
We are the ones who are not lost
We are the ones who will not forget who we are
(cont.)
We don’t need to dress in false versions of you
But you need to dress in false versions of us
It’s an attempt to dismantle who we are
But it hasn’t worked yet
And truthfully it never will
###
"Native Blood"
By @VinceSchilling
But you need to dress in false versions of us
It’s an attempt to dismantle who we are
But it hasn’t worked yet
And truthfully it never will
###
"Native Blood"
By @VinceSchilling
