We Are the Granddaughters

"I've been relocated and given a room, in a downtown hotel, they call the Tune, they gave me job and they cut my hair, I trip on rats when I climb the stairs, I get letters from my cousins on the rez, they wonder when they are gonna see me next..." ~Urban Indian Blues~Jim Boyd

Here is a new poem about my Ojibway Grandfather. He is a very important part of my life. He passed away when I was four years old. His life was very hard and his heart was sad most of the time. He moved from the reservation to one the largest industrial cities in the world in the 1950's. I say he had the Urban Indian Blues.

I am The Granddaughter

April 14th 2008

The 4 Directions were passed on in my DNA,
My Grandfathers,
Sorrows,
Pains,
Wounds,
I move through and heal these,
He smiles,
Surrounds me with love,
To heal the traumas,
Of generations,
I am honored.
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Dozens this weekend protested the shock jocks derogatory remarks towards Native woman in Anchorage, Alaska. Julie Kitka who is the President of Alaska Federation of Natives has a commentary stating that there is nothing funny about violence against women.

The First International Forum of Indigenous Women, which gathers more than 200 leaders of the three Americas, began on Monday at the 9th floor of a modern hotel in San Isidro, Lima. “This is a great opportunity to promote dialogue and exchange of experiences among Indigenous women of the region", said the hostess Tarcila Rivera, representative of the Peruvian organization Chirapaq, in the opening ceremony.