i will teach you to say

First Nations

i will demand respect
for my rules
and for myself

you will look closely
study
the grammar
both of injustice
and dignity

not to defend your innocence
in the canon of lies known as
canada's history
but to more eloquently pronounce

Justice

you will look into my eyes
"indian" comes to your mouth
comes to your mind

i come with my liver

who knows my skin is soft at night
hard by day

i will teach you
the anatomy of a people
that if you flood the Piegan
i will choke and sputter
my lungs filled with water
if you drill for oil in the Lubicon territory
the wind blows through
the holes left in my heart
point a gun at the Mohawk
and we
as a people
all see the barrel

you will look at a body
a people
learn the differences

not separate it parts
but to more fully understand
the whole
to be considered educated
the whole
to be considered educated
you must learn to identify
Tlingit and Algonquin
pronounce Huron and Beothuk

I will sit down with you
I will whisper it gently in your ear
I may stand up against you
I will raise a flag and shout it

you will learn to say

I will teach you my language
not Mohawk or Cree
not Ojibway or Micmak
I will teach you to say

Nation

FIRST Nation

    -from Piece of my Heart
            Anthologized by Makeda Silvera

    Toronto: Sister Vision, 1992.