from the earth woman
i know as i watch our mother be prodded emptied, taken away for profit and greed,
the same things are happening to you
too many times to count
names spilling from paper records and recollected memories
onto the streets into drains and continue to grow the sea
whos keeping count?
someone should be keeping count of every Native woman that goes murdered or missing, but there falling like wildrose petals in late summer blown across the concrete to never be seen again
mother where have they taken you?
sister where have you gone?
this epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous woman shit has to stop.
my eyes out of tears,
i dont want to become desensitized
i dont want to be any more numb from the suicides, and genocides, i know if half as many white women were killed theyd have called in the national guard, the military, the police, shit even the politicians would get their hands dirty for the photo op, but these ARE the muthafakas killing them
every death by meth, is counted as a death by colonization.
every native woman selling her body in downtown vancouver for drugs is a result of a finely tuned process of self destruction taught by uncles who were abused by church fathers and religion. how are we supposed to see the trees when we lost in this forest this incomparable wave of destruction
no words no words can equal such outrageous loss
i want to plant a flower for you, a tree, a berry bush, sing prayer songs as i water them in your memory, indigenous women, i wont let you become just a memory, some ghost story lingering beneath the surface of pacific north west cities, these are still our lands,
these crackers need to hear our screams,
cause it aint on the tv, though we march through the streets and sing, carry pictures, and have ceremony to mark those indigenous women we are missing,
missing, the land and its sacred beauty, indigenous woman your body was created in the likeness of the earth, thats probably why you are attacked first, im working to make an offering to you first before asking for something in return, cause there needs to be more balance, balance we cannot have balance without you here cousin, sister, daughter, auntie mother, i apologize that i have not been there to protect you, to fight for you, and thus you are missing and murdered, by the 10s, the 100s the thousands! women raped by provincial police in quebec taken out in the middle of no where and dropped off by law enforcement- what law have they broken? or rather what law are they enforcing by doing these things to us? and why do we still pay them to do this to us? what grand illusion has been keeping us subjugated into complacency? missing and murdered indigenous women, we hear your voices in cries of birds soaring high and flying low, see your faces in a momentary stranger passing by, in stacks of police reports filed and ignored, next to crosses beneath bridges along highways in the cold november fogs, we miss you, we know that everything happens for a reason, but this situation is fuckin senseless, rote, and unacceptably violent. we are here trying to mend our families back together but we have no glue, no backbone, no beauty without you, Indigenous woman, may your heartbeats echo across the lands through the hand drums of singers with thoughts of you in their minds as they sing, may their songs. (…freestyle spoken word)

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/grim-number-jumps-in-study-241776001.html

by Nahaan

Nahaan is of Łingít, Iñupiaq, and Paiute tribes. His work reflects his teachings and cultural background. As a tattoo artist of 5 years and running he focuses exclusively on working within the spirit and design style of northern formline. As a carver, painter and designer he emulates the visual storytelling crafts so dear to his people of Southeast Alaska. He is a spoken word poet and helped to found “Woosh Kinaadeiyeí” in Juneau Alaska which has since grown into a thriving creative mainstay in the capitol city. He teaches the Tlingit language and song, and is the spokesperson for Náakw Dancers, a group which he started in Seattle, Washington in order to perpetuate the rich expressions of the Pacific Northwests native population. He focuses on the aspects of community empowerment and self mastery through the methods of decolonization indigenization and activism.