We Shine

There is a light in the eyes of an Indigenous child. / A beautiful life once hidden from sight. / But now standing proud shining light onto lies. / They buried our children in unmarked graves, / Indian Boarding Schools where they claimed / to “save” the man by killing the “Indian” in us. / Pried our mouths open, and stole languages. / Claimed Manifest Destiny was heavenly / then prohibited our prayers.

But today we unearth what is truly holy. / Sage smoke got her lifted, can’t stop her. She’s gifted. / Overcame attempted genocide, keyword: attempted. / All these years of oppression, bring out your feathers and dust them. / The grace of our elders reminds us that love wins. / Love wins against hate embodied in those who called themselves free. / Then named us animals in the Doctrine of Discovery.

But you cannot discover a people who already exist. / And you cannot find something that was never lost. / When history is written by colonizers they are always the heroes. / So we re-write these books with the stories that we know. / They plundered our wealth and burned down our orchards. / Then turned around and labeled us impoverished and worthless. / Told us we were nothing and held us as captives. / When we’re the ones who gave the world corn, rubber and aspirin.

Boarding schools cut our hair, nuns had their whips cracking. / They came and went like lightning, but look who’s still standing. / Settler systems rise to power and then crumble. / Like a stone we remain because we‘re taught to stay humble. / We were called stupid and primitive by the world’s colonial forces. / But the world can thank our people for 60% of global food sources. We have always known who we are - / scientists, artists, astronomers, deserving of dignity. / Overseers of 80% of the world’s total biodiversity. / Across the land the prayers of Ancestors come to fruition. / Beautiful Indigenous minds working in unison towards the same vision. / Peeling off these labels, like a butterfly born of resilience. / We outstretch our wings, the world finally ready to embrace our brilliance.

Colonization proves that hurt people hurt people. / But healed people, heal people, and nourish the future. / We’re the seventh generation, we’re forgiving our abuser. / Breaking the cycles, and healing the tumors. / From Turtle Island to Abya Yala. / All our knowledge comes through her. / With feet on the land we honor our roots. / We stand here today calling out to Native Youth: / There’s a light in your eyes, walk tall and shine bright. / We’re not here to survive, no, it’s our time to thrive. / You shine like the sun, you are always enough. / The prayers that we make and the actions we take. / Will nourish our descendants, generations from today.