Resilience

Today you are asking me to sell my sacred homeland.
Today you ask me to do something I do not understand.
You do not know what you are asking me to "give" to you.
In my language there is no word for what you are asking me to do.

I do not want to agree, I know of your broken promises and lies.
But I have been one forced to watch my people die.
I have seen our children being taken from your disease.
I have seen our men to forget their pain ask for "cod liver oil please."

I have seen my people being told our former lives were full of shame.
I have seen my people forced to lose our identity and pick a meaningless name.
I have seen my people being stripped of their pride.
I have seen our poverty stricken nation unable to feed their children and wives.

I know our way of life will never be the same again.
It will never be the same for our nation, my family, or my friends.
I look around the room at my people, seeing their pain is mine.
I look at the two papers, so torn about which one to sign...

Then I see Sitting Bull, the last to surrender his land.
This once great chief who was reduced to a common man.
He pointed out the ever frequent flaws of this deal.
He destroyed the white mans lie, and showed us what was real.

He told them no matter what they did, we would not let them snuff out our light.
We would not let them take our land, not in our entire lives.
Inspired by Sitting Bull, Red Cloud stood in the midst of the crowd.
In front of all the people the wise man clearly spoke aloud.

At the time he thought he could put the tension to an end.
If he knew the lies then that he knows now, he never would have touched the pen.
Never again would you see his mark on white mans paper,
Not today, not tomorrow, not now, not later.

With those words of wisdom, I see that they are right.
I am a Sioux Indian, and you cannot take the spirit of my life.
Through all of these hardships, we have survived and we are strong.
Deep down I know that this deal is wrong.

Without making a mark, I walk out with all the rest.
Though the whites argue that this is wrong, In my heart I know it's for the best.
If my people fall, then bury my heart at wounded knee,
No matter what happens, our people and our land will always be forever free.