On being Native

I am as ancient, as indigenous, as native, as you are, except for perhaps this lifetime.  When you speak the truth, I know it in my heart to be true as well, because I have lived many lives as have you, and I too know how far we have drifted from our essential connection, this Earth that is our home.  

And perhaps there is something in this situation of this lifetime, when you have chosen to be native and I have not.  

So, lead us.  Those of you who have fought to remember the old stories, ceremonies, and dances, lead us.  Help us all to remember what nurtured and sustained us for thousands of years, before the darkness came.

For our part, we will honour past treaties and continue to acknowledge injustices, especially those that have taken place in our lifetimes, for by doing nothing, we must share responsibility with the perpetrators.  And then,  space will be created so that you can begin the process to  create the future for yourselves that you have always imagined and dreamed of.

And as you heal, so shall we heal.  And as the leaders lead, we will begin to wake up. And then, we shall all become leaders.  And when the day comes for the big parade, there will no longer be watchers.  

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I am inspired and thankful to have the spirit of Leanne Simpson in my life.  Read her book “Islands of Decolonial Love”.  As Lee Maracle said of the book, “it is going to wake up everything that is brilliant in everyone that reads it.”