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Comment Morph's into a Diary: Is that OK? Thank You Winter Rabbit for the Historical Truth! [1]
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Date: 2025-03-14
Earlier today I read a diary by Winter Rabbit.
A Historical Truth: It Didn't Matter What American Indians Did
After reading this important reflection on our past I wanted to leave a simple Thank You comment, well that comment ended up being more than I originally set out to write. Since then I wondered if maybe it was more diary than comment so here goes, and again a shout out to Winter Rabbit. It might make more sense if you read his work beforehand.
My comment:
Thank you for opening a door I have wanted to walk thru for many years. Time to take the next step, one that I hope will turn into many.
My journey started in 1987 when I first heard Bruce Cockburn’s song Stolen Land:
Stolen Land"
From Tierra del Fuego to Ungava Bay
The history of betrayal continues to today
The spirit of Almighty Voice, the ghost of Anna Mae
Call like thunder from the mountains, you can hear them say
It's a stolen land
Apartheid in Arizona, slaughter in Brazil
If bullets don't get good PR there's other ways to kill
Kidnap all the children, put 'em in a foreign system
Bring them up in no-man's land where no one really wants them
It's a stolen land
Stolen land, but it's all we've got
Stolen land, and there's no going back
Stolen land, and we'll never forget
Stolen land, and we're not through yet
In my mind I catch a picture, big black raven in the sky
Looking at the ocean, sail reflected in black eye
Sail as white as heroin, white like weathered bones
Rum and guns and smallpox gonna change the face of home
In this stolen land...
If you're like me you'd like to think we've learned from our mistakes
Enough to know we can't play god with others' lives at stake
So now we've all discovered the world wasn't only made for whites
What step are you gonna take to try and set things right
In this stolen land
Stolen land, but it's all we've got
Stolen land, and there's no going back
Stolen land, and we'll never forget
Stolen land, and we're not through yet
It saddens me to think I spent 30 years of my life thinking/believing the BS on how we white people saved this beautiful land and the first people from themselves.
There are three lines in this song I am presently obsessed with.
So now we've all discovered the world wasn't only made for whites
What step are you gonna take to try and set things right
In this stolen land
Giving moral support, your time, money and maybe wearing an orange shirt one day a year is great but is it enough? We can not give back the children we stole and deported to residential schools to strip them of there hair, believes, language and parents. We can’t return the stolen land, or can we?
I have an idea, set up a foundation where people like myself can bequeath the land I presently live on and supposedly own back to where it belongs.
Some say to just sell it and donate the proceeds but that sidesteps the whole point. Return the land and let the first people decide on what to do with it.
Choice is not something we have given in the past other than leave or die. Imagine islands of native land popping up throughout the land. Utilized as language centers, schools, support homes or sold at their discretion.
I have done some outreach on this but it is still in it’s infancy stage.
With that, Winter Rabbit I would like to introduce you to Marek Tyler, host of a CKUA Radio show called takahgi. (CKUA streams live around the world)
“Marek Tyler (nêhiyaw/Scottish) lives and works in amiskwacîy (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory. Marek is an educator, entrepreneur, project liaison, manager, facilitator, and touring musician.”
With that I leave you with a great take of Stolen Land by Bruce Cockburn.
This rendition features rhythmic drumming as opposed to the electric guitar featured on the original.
Addendum to first comment:
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