Thanksgiving
the past is part of the present
the future is part of the present
~John Trudell
It was during the week of my 48th Thanksgiving
that I read about English colonists
digging up a basket of Wampanoag corn
and taking it home with them.
My education brought
brown construction paper headbands
sporting colorful feathers.
Black buckled hats topped
the heads of the conquerors.
Consider this:
Pilgrims seek religious freedom.
English colonists impose rule upon a people.
Aggressors or persecuted seekers of freedom?
Guilt incites indignance.
It’s not our fault, it happened over a century ago.
English colonists intentionally began a process of elimination.
Its insidious residue poisons and persists.
Kill the Indian, Save the Child!
Turn them into the shadows of white kids
copies of the ethnic rich.
It lives in you. It lives in me.
Listen for it. Be aware.
The past is part of the present.
The present is part of the future.
Colonists, dirty corn thieves, pilgrims, you, me.
Us.
Them.
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