[ I am returning to “500 Years Dwelling Among Savages.”]
Holland, summer, 1972. UN Conference on Human Environment at Stockholm, Sweden just concluded.
The place where dwells the seat of “justice”
that has not the spirit
to defend innocent people from deadly assault
A SEARCH FOR JUSTICE
ZUIDER ZEE
Little home of Zuider Zee
resting uneasy under grey clouds
trembling with each cresting of the waves
For many seasons
you were to my dreams
a place of beautiful wonder,
a land dwelling only in stories told to me by my mother
in the dancing light of whispering fire
when I was a small child
in the darkness long ago
But as time grew older
the fairytale lands became real places
and my people remained threatened
by invading armies of much agony that
burned our homes
plundered our water and forests
and destroyed the lives of our children
They changed the land of our dreams
into a place that our Grandmothers cannot recognize
although they struggle to do this
In our search of many seasons for justice
we learned of the great house of much peace
resting upon earth
among the gardens in the land of many tulips
The Council
around the flickering fire of evening spoke,
“We have exhausted all of the laws of the Americans
none will give us justice
none will give us consideration
“We have exhausted our patience
with the grey words of the Indian Bureau
and all of the American Presidents
“We must wait no longer for justice to be delivered to us
for with each passing day
there are many new laws
that remove us farther from truth, as a stick floating down stream moves away
“Officers of the United Nations
refuse to stand beside us in out correct position of never being defeated
and never saying, “surrender”
They, working with Americans, elect to deny us our sovereignty
and to acknowledge that we will never surrender
“Let us send a messenger
to the land of flowers and windmills
where people wear shoes made from the trees in the forest
For there is a palace there, we are told,
and justice is not denied to any people
for it is the council-heart of the world
“We have given Americans too many seasons to be true with us
now we must go beyond the boundaries of America
seeking that dignity which is ours by birth
“We must make America face us
as the world sits in judgment
and we bring our charges and lay them before the law-people
who live only for justice for all nations
who dream only of freedom for all children
who spend their days and their nights
thinking only of
equal sharing of powers that are of earth.”
This is how my tribal council thought as the coyotes yodeled and stars danced blue and red in the night sky and moon looked through the tops of the tall pines, thinking
This is how my people thought as we gathered beneath the seasons wondering of our future
Soon the power led me across the great eastern salt-waters
To the land where the heartless statue
of the one called Napoleon
stands upon every corner of the city, Paris
To the place where Hitler and ignorance smiled
at the death of the poor and the Jewish people
To the place of many agreements-that-have-no-binding-of-the-heart, Geneva
To the land of the fighting people of Lyon
To the beautiful rolling hills of the sweet people,
and that place has been known for all seasons, Larzac
To the land of tulips-of-all-colors, to the shores of Zuider Zee, and peace
Aztec, Mayan, Mohawk, Hopi, Navajo, Itam Is
Together we walked towards
the huge building of red stone
called by many people, palace-where-peace-dwells
My thoughts whispered to my being
“Here, after many seasons
my people will finally find justice”
We spoke to a man-of-no-spirit but who held a gun
We spoke to a man-of-no-knowledge but who stood behind a power desk
We spoke to a man-of-no-understanding
but who said he knew all there was to know
about world justice
and native homelands were not nations
We spoke to a man who said many times, “can’t”
.
And the old black man sweeping floors
was the only one in the palace
with enough dignity to know what he was doing
O’Holland, you must no longer honor America’s interpretation of justice
or you will always be a frightened thought of peace
a trembling people doubting truth,
a confused purpose in a small land
pretending to have direction and destination
Sul’ma’ejote
