Grimly Inspired

[Atehequa]

Sometime ago I read where Rand Paul, son of Ron Paul, both darlings of the Libertarian and even perhaps the Tea Party has aspirations of cutting indigenous tribal annuities, programs and take away reservations, the last bits of NDN homelands.

Curious, I came upon the Ron Paul forums and what did I see? A Libertarian posting hokey "Native American" prayers and blessings. To me this appears a pathetic attempt at making people think all NDNs fully support their partisan party.

They idolize founding fathers who saw us as enemies of and obstacles standing in the way of their manifest destiny. Shortly after he took the office of president, George Washington initiated a policy of removal or extermination of tribal people living in what is now Ohio and Indiana. Their beloved Thomas Jefferson saw us as an inferior people who either had to be removed from their homelands, assimilate into a peasant farming culture or else be exterminated.

I left them a poem -

*To those of the Donkey, Elephant and Porcupine*

Colorful gift wrap, props, a clever theme
An exotic garnish to enhance one's scheme
It sometimes seems this is all we are to you
Our plight already being part of your American dream
Now a mockery of us goes into your religious stew

Some of us have remained and serve to remind
Our reasons to be wary when around your kind
Having yet to heal from your ignominious past
Deceived by feigned friendships, your treaties we signed
Long coming to know such friendships will never last

Expected to cooperate or do nothing at all
Surviving your empire's rise, decline and fall
As you greedily apply our old words and names
While you blatantly ignore the injustices it pains us to call
Angered when we are able to figure out your games

Now wanting what is left of our homelands
More power and money in your greedy hands
To your founding fathers we were enemies
Defending our sense of being and deemed hostile bands
Obstacles to be removed by their punitive remedies

We are now expected to happily dance and sing
Loosen our grasp on the ways to which we cling
In buckskins and feathers, you want us to cater
While having an inclination of what feigned friendships bring
Assisting you for now, but only to be knocked off later

[Arcadia]

bravo for your poem, Atehequa !!

I´ve read last week this article about the 4th of July, it has some relation what you were saying (didn´t know about it in details...).

http://argentina.indymedia.org/news/2014/07/862701.php

In my country some of the may revolutionaries with more open heads & hearts towards the pueblos originarios and the esclavos could do what they could in a brief time (Belgrano, Castelli, Moreno), after that the civil war and after that the "Campaña del desierto"...

And yeah, it´s quite probably that someone still be wanting to make you dance & sing & put feathers only for his/her own benefit (pueblo originario or not)... Healing & seeing & listening is the tarea!!