1492 - 1992

I read your angry letter
in the paper today
You don't like the name
Native American you say
That we came from China
Arriving just before
You set your foot upon
This sacred land that day
We were created from this earth
Out of the Mother's body
Life breathed in by Creator Father
Sacred life, FOREVER HERE
You came here in flight
From your kings and churches
Let free from prisons
Banished from your homelands
Seeking freedom and equality
You took away mine
To build your myths and lies
You call it American History
Little truth has survived
Columbus did not discover
A land never lost
Do you tell your children
Of small pox blankets
Genocide you can't deny
Deliberately introduced to
THE PEOPLE with no immunity
Do you see the innocent child
trapped by the horrors
of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Genocide was not invented
by that mad man in Germany
Your greed steals land and resources
You cannot hold a thing lightly
Life struggles in your grasp
You don't like the name
Native American
Our name is THE PEOPLE
Protectors of this land