The Story

The Story
When the pale skin reached these shores
The wind brought change through our eastern door
Our people and Mother Earth would have hell to pay
A land of plenty at the white man’s feet
Occupied by a people they saw as meek
Our elders had foretold us of this day

There were the mighty forests and the clear blue streams
A people they could easily exploit to the extreme
The Creator’s sky above those pristine lakes
And 10,000 years of culture now at stake

How does one prepare for rape
The land and people they’d forsake
Using their religion to mask the greed
Set up their government to ensure
There was no way we could endure
This land could satisfy their every need

First they gathered the native nation
Removed our tepees and led us all to reservations
The intent was cruel and the path precise
The method cold but clear as ice

For thousands of years Mother Earth had sustained us
We understood the balance and life flowed on
Now she had open wounds that were getting
Deeper and deeper
How could one not see that this was wrong

In their attempts to integrate our people
They replaced our sweat lodge with a steeple
Hoping we couldn’t practice our traditional ways
But our ancestors did not falter
Under the weight of this great white altar
Their spirits guide us to this very day

But the mighty forests and the clear blue streams
Had to pay their dues to fulfill the white man’s dreams
Like the thunderous bison who once owned the plains
Brought to rotting heaps in the name of fun and games

We became children of the state

The government now controlled our fate
The next step of their plan was underway
They sent agents who had no qualms
About stealing children from their homes
With police escorts they took them all away

Had a law that allowed them to take our young
And put their knives to their native tongue
Children alone fear and despair
Now hidden deep in the bowels of the white man’s lair

Thousands of innocents felt their fright
Many died while learning to be white
A predicament they didn’t comprehend I’m sure
How many more as we turn the sod
Undiscovered victims to this cause
A secret not so holy or so pure

Now you’re left with those who survived that misery
Their culture gone can’t remember who they used to be
They know they’re not white so they walk alone
Carrying their demons from the great white father’s home

How does one describe the trauma that resides
In the heart of each and every Anishinabe
The damage that was don’t can’t say I love you to your son
Or hug your daughter in a normal loving way

Now the government will debate and attempt to set the dollar rate
For the children lost and a culture almost gone
We only wish they could comprehend
The impacts to those on the receiving end
Of a plan that disregarded right and wrong

Now they own the forests all the streams and lakes
Not much left to steal not much left to take
They couldn’t take our spirit and till the end of days
We shall remain PROUD ANISHINABE

ANISHINABE