When
Can
I
Stop citing history,
The Facts,
the truth.
And begin
To
Have
a
Conversation
About race
& class
& religion
& gender
& ability
Or who i sleep with..
When will the minds of today
Live with the knowledge
That
What-EVER-we-do is a product
Of our theft
And murder
And erasure
Of
Indigenous peoples
That we're not the first
Or only
To love this land...
That our benefit
Is
Not second cousin
Twice removed
Nor the parent of an aunt
through marriage,
But a stem cut from the root of humanity
When..
When..
When
?
I was working at the office and “Dance Me Outside” by Craig Cardiff came on CBC Radio 2 – Canadian Songwriters. Lately that’s the radio channel I’ve been listening to at work and I must say I’m impressed with the artists it plays. Anyway, Mr. Cardiff came on and intrigued me with his song. Take a look, listen and be moved:
Excerpted lyrics for “Dance Me Outside” by Craig Cardiff this indian girl walks out into traffic
the traffic stops then she’s causing havok and then
roll up the windows dial the cellphone
get the cops to get out here i just want to get home
she says do you remember
buffalo?
the dumb white people they all say do you mean niel young springfield?
she says no, and
cleveland isn’t the home of indians
not even eskimos it feels like you just don’t want to know
she says take me around
dance me outside
show me a place where we might hide
what i want then i’m afraid that you can’t afford to buy
—
Aboriginal people are so invisible to us. If you’ve watched the news you’ve probably noticed the trend of missing persons reports; if you’re like me you probably haven’t given that much thought. Until you notice that the missing people are White. And the cases of rape are mostly White women. But this happens in First Nations communities around us every day, and this happens in our community everyday, because First Nations people are a part of our community. People (women) go missing or are sexually assaulted, many of aboriginal descent. The news crew filming in another part of town.
