Nancy Haskett, Modesto, CA Branch President
Dakota, Choctaw, Wampanoag, Comanche –
names that echo off canyon walls,
blow in the wind over prairies,
rise fiercely from flames of burned villages
in smoke as ephemeral as government promises
proven false.
Warriors, weavers, hunters, herders,
once their drums were the heartbeat of this nation
they called home
before they lost the land,
sacrificed it in trade for horses, guns,
measles, smallpox,
boundless land exchanged
for desolate reservations,
countless lives lost in vain.
Yet, the names live on
as we speak the places:
Ma-sa-chu-sett, Minnesota, Monongahela,
Tehachapi, Narragansett, Rappahannock –
as we breathe life into the names
every day
the land remembers
Well Done, It honors the Native American Nation and lauds their place in our country’s history.
Love the poem… especially like how the syncopation of names and places evoke the beat of their
drums long silenced.
Beautiful visions of a beautiful culture.
What kind of moderation?
Well written with sincere American History naming Tribes and territories once owned by Native Americans. We should honor this American History in poems.
A strongly stated poem.