PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

CUSTODIANS OF THE LAND

Most of us came
through the gleaming Golden Gate
or by the Statue of Liberty's
welcoming heart
or the roaring Horseshoe
Falls with
their Canadian Rainbow Arch
or through charismatic
Mexican portals
to abide with those
who have been here
communing with Great Spirit
from times immmortal

CANOE

One had a gas powered
propeller driven boat..
creating noise, and foam
wake, slicing the fins off of fish
The native a canoe...
slipping through the water
silently.

WOMEN DO NOT LIKE TO KILL

Writer dreamt she was in the male
body of a Native American perhaps
3 centuries ago.. watching
a white male hunting party
going through the woods as
he crouched from behind a tree.
He saw that a 13 year old
boy was dressed in women's
clothes.. and knew intuitively
that the boy was doing this
to avoid killing animals.

SMALLPOX

With smallpox infected blankets
With the ax
  the bullet
and alcohol, whites
drove out natives,
The Miami were driven from
Ohio and Indiana at gunpoint.
The Seminole were driven from
Florida at gunpoint.
The Department of the Interior
has stolen untold billions
perhaps trillions from Native
Americans.. in corrupt
mining, lumber, cattlemen,
and other operations.
Everywhere the soft tread
of natives has been replaced
by the heavy footprints
of the booted.

EVERYWHERE SPIRIT

Great Spirit,
Everywhere Spirit,
Eternal Home of the
Four Points of the Wind,
in the name of
all, heal this land.
In the name of every
tribe which ever was or ever will be..
every Chippewa and Cherokee
Cheyenne and Apache
Sioux and Erie
Seminole and Miami
Choctaw and Lakota
Hopi
and Dakota
In the name of

Shawnee and Navajo
Blackfoot
Iriquois and Arapaho
Mohawk
Seneca
Aleut
A'ane Abenaki Abnaki-Penobscot, Acoma, Ahahnelin, Ahe, Akainawa, Akimel O'odham, Alabama-Coushatta, Algonquin Alkansea, Alnobak Amalecite, Anishinaabe Anishinabemowin, Anishinabeg, Anishinabek, Anishnabay), Aniyunwiya, Apache, Apsaaloke, Arapaho Arikara ( Asakiwaki, Assiniboine (Assiniboin), Atakapa, Atikamekw (Atikamek, Attikamek, Attimewk), Atsina, Ayisiyiniwok, Aztec
Bannock, Bella Bella, Bella Coola, Beothuks Betoukuag), Biloxi, Black Carib, Blackfoot , Blood Indians, Bode'wadmi
Caddo , Cahuilla, Carolina Algonquian, Catawba, Cayuga, Chahta, Chalaque, Cheraw, Cherokee, Cheyenne , Chickamaugan, Chickasaw , Chipewyan (Chipewyin, Chippewyin), Chippewa, Chitimacha , Choctaw, Coastal Cree, Cochimi, Cochiti, Coeur d'Alene, Comanche, Conestoga, Coushatta, Cowlitz, Cree, Creek, Croatan (Croatoan), Crow (Western name)
Dakota, Delaware, Dene, Diegueno, Dine
Eastern Inland Cree, Eenou (Eeyou), Eskimo Etchemin
Fox, French Cree
Gaigwu, Garifuna, Gros Ventre, Gulf
Haida, Haisla, Hatteras, Haudenosaunee, Havasupai, Hawaiian, Heiltsuk, Hiaki, Hidatsa (Hinatsa), Hinonoeino, Hocak (Ho-Chunk, Hochunk), Hoopa, Hopi, Hualapai, Hupa, Huron
Illini (Illiniwek, Illinois), Inca, Innu, Inuktitut (Inuit, Inupiat, Inupiaq, Inupiatun), Inuna-Ina, Iowa-Oto (Ioway), Iroquois Confederacy, Ishak, Isleta, Iynu
James Bay Cree, Jemez
Kainai (Kainaiwa), Kanien'kehaka (Kanienkehaka), Kansa (Kanza, Kanze), Karok (Karuk), Kaskaskia, Kaw, Kechan, Keres (Keresan), Kichai, Kickapoo (Kikapoo, Kikapu), Kiowa, Kiowa Apache, Kitsai (K'itsash), Klickitat, Koasati, Kootenai (Ktunaxa, Kutenai), Kumeyaay/Kumiai, Kwakiutl (Kwakwala), Kweedishchaaht (Kweneecheeaht)
Laguna, Lakhota (Lakota), Lenape (Lenni Lenape), Lipan Apache, Listiguj (Listuguj), Lnuk (L'nuk, L'nu'k, Lnu), Loup, Luiseno, Lumbee, Lushootseed
Mahican, Makah, Maliseet (Malecite, Malcite, Maliceet, Malisit, Malisset), Maliseet-Passamaquoddy, Mamaceqtaw, Mandan, Maricopa, Massachusett (Massachusetts), Massasoit (Massassoit, Mashpee), Maumee, Mayan, Menominee (Menomini), Mescalero-Chiricahua, Meskwaki (Mesquaki-Sauk, Mesquakie), Metis Creole, Mewoc, Miami-Illinois, Miccosukee, Michif, Micmac (Micmaq, Mickmack, Mi'gmaq), Mikasuki, Mi'kmaq  Mikmak, Mikmaw, Mi'kmaw, Mi'kmawi'simk, Mikmawisimk, Mkmaq, Mkmaw, Mkmawsimk), Mingo, Minsi, Missouria, Mitchif, Miwok (Miwoc, Miwuk), Mohave, Mohawk, Mohegan, Mohican, Mojave, Monache (Mono), Montagnais, Montauk, Munsee Muskogee
Nahuatl, Nakoda (Nakota), Nambe, Nanticoke, Nantucket, Narragansett, Naskapi, Natchez, Natick, Navajo (Navaho), Nayhiyuwayin, Nde, Nee-me-poo, New Blackfoot, Nez Perce, Niantic, Nimipu, Nipmuc, Nootka (Nutka), Northern Cheyenne, Nuxalk
Odawa, Ojibwa (Ojibway, Ojibwe, Ojibwemowin), Old Blackfoot, Omaha-Ponca, Oneida, Onondaga, O'odham (Oodham), Osage, Otchipwe, Otoe, Ottawa
Pai, Paiute, Palaihnihan, Pamlico, Panoan, Papago-Pima, Pascua Yaqui, Passamaquoddy, Paviotso, Pawnee, Peigan, Penobscot (Penobscott, Pentagoet), Peoria, Pequot, Peskotomuhkati, Picuris, Piegan (Piikani, Pikani, Pikanii, Pikuni), Pima, Plains Indian Sign Language, Pojoaque, Ponca, Porcupine Indians, Potawatomi (Potowatomi, Pottawatomie, Potawatomie), Powhatan (Powhattan, Powhaten, Powatan), Pueblo, Puget Sound Salish
Quechan, Quechua
Raramuri, Red Indians, Restigouche
Sac, Sahaptin, Salish, Sandia, Sanish San Felipe, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Savannah, Sauk, Seminoles, Seneca, Serrano, Shawnee Shinnecock, Shoshone , Siksika , Sioux, Skagit, Skicin, Skraeling, Sm'algyax, Snohomish, Souriquois (Sourquois), Southern Paiute, Stockbridge, Stoney, Suquamish, Susquehannock, Swampy Cree, Swinomish
Taino, Tano, Taos, Tarahumara, Tesuque, Tete-de-Boule , Tewa, Tigua, Tinde, Tiwa, Tjekan, Tlingit , Tohono O'odham, Tonkawa, Towa, Tsalagi ), Tsetsehestahese, Tsimshian Tsitsistas, Tubatulabal, Tunica, Tupi, Tuscarora, Twightwee
Unami, Ute Algonkin ,
Wabanaki, Walapai, Wampanoag, Wappinger, Wendat, Weott, White Clay People, Wichita, Winnebago, Wiyot Wobanaki, Wolastoqewi Wyandot
Yakama, Yakima, Yavapai, Yaqui, Ysleta del Sur, Yucatec Maya , Yucatan), Yuma, Yurok
Zapotec , Zia, Zimshian, Zuni