By: PandaYuki
We were hunted.
We were scalped.
We were murdered in our homes.
We died from diseases our Great Creator couldn’t save us from.
Our spirits broken and imprisoned in parcels of land shared with warring nations.
Our women were violated and our children taken from our heart.
The buffalo massacred for fun, not for survival.
Being chased and hunted like wild game, less than what we truly are.
The heads of our leaders on display in the town, a reminder that we are just another animal.
They shoved grass in our dead women’s mouth, calling them beasts.
Our land stolen from under us like a rug pulled from under our feet.
Treaties with confusing words and unclear statements, presented to us.
The men in suits say one thing while their other face says something else to their foolish government.
Our language may have beaten out of us.
Our culture stripped from us.
But we are still here.
Centuries after the massacre of the First Peoples and the rape of Mother Earth.
We are still here.
We never left, we adapted to your ways.
We fought along side of you.
For freedom and equality.
Filling out applications, checking the box marked ‘other’ for the longest time.
Assimilating our children into the white school, reading books that falsely accuse us of acts against the human body.
The truth buried under red tape and politics.
Now as we face our own destruction, we still cling to our culture.
Our ways coming to light after years of hiding our skin under a suit.
As our ancestors did so many years ago, we fight.
Fight for our rights and liberties.
The same rights that were stripped from us.
We love this land.
We stand for this land.
We die for this land.
This land is not just the dirt we walk on.
This land is my soul, my heart and my body.
This land is where the bones of my ancestors rest.
This land is where I’ll go when it’s my time.
This land is my mother. The sky is my father. The moon in my grandmother. The sun is my grandfather.
We are all family, tied to each other through a common bond of Turtle Island.
Hear us sing our songs.
Feel the beat of the drum in your heart.
Feel the energy of our dancers fill your heart so completely.
Shed tears as our veterans carry the flag with pride written on their faces.
Now we check American Indian on all applications.
We display our heritage proudly on our sleeves.
Honor those who’ve fought so hard for our freedoms.
Remember those who’ve passed.
We will never fade away.
© May 3, 2009
PandaYuki Community Member 
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