Dawnland Voices: An Anthology of Indigenous Writing from New England

Shirley Bear

134 Shirley Bear (Tribal Elder) Born in the Tobique First Nation, Shirley Bear is a well-known writer, multimedia artist, activist, and traditional herbalist. She has exhibited her visual art in cities across Canada and the United States and has published her poetry and essays in numerous anthologies. She was also the subject of a short film, Minqwon Minqwon , directed by Catherine Martin (Mi’kmaq) for Canada’s National Film Board in 1990. The poems below come from her book Virgin Bones. Freeport, Maine Gap, L.L. Bean and Patagonia Freeport Maine Children leading mum and dad By the credit card Blank faces, Brown races Gap, L.L. Bean and Patagonia Name brands, not cheap All look alike, smell alike Blank faces Flashing neon eyes Blank checks Freeport Maine Blank faces, White races Blank checks History Resource Material Martin, Paul, Gabriel and Peter. Arrogant men in long black robes, baptizing and renaming. Shirley Bear 135 “Because you are Soulless Savages, We shall rename you. You should be Saved. You shall be renamed!” Isaac, Francis, Daniel and John. These are names of priests in long black robes, vicariously renaming their children. For God’s sake. Baqwa’sun, Wuli Baqwa’sun Tilly Road, Tobique Reserve I basked in the brilliant colours of the maples and left old memories where they live in 1965 winter spring summer Five ochre bones you wrote: Two nights ago I went to snowshoe in the moonlight Baqwa’sun, Wuli baqwa’sun I riffle through some old letters you wrote: I never knew of these things before I met you and I remember: God the father and his son casting long shadows on the midnight snow Grandmother’s generous light a man of the cloth, a cloth of wool Baqwa’sun, Wuli baqwa’sun Yesterday I filled my memory eyes with the autumn colours 136 maliseet yellow orange red and brown route 1-a: Houlton to Calais Maine I gulped down the golden spread and burped out old memories in the moonlight on your snowshoes God the father’s son leaving only the protruding skeletal filigree after a warm spring and summer growth leaving the old memories where they live Kugh, kugh of your snowshoes how gently you crept into my life playing gently on the ebony keys bypassing all the ivory keys man of cloth, cloth of wool Baqwa’sun, Wuli baqwa’sun The memories pan across this maple brilliance of Lake Edwards Watercolour fall of 1965 the autumn lake the winter moon the spring rain the summer farewell again in 1972 you’re in Tibet you write: I’m home, I’m home you’ve shed your cloth of wool the snowshoe etches prints printing moonlit shadows in my memories deep God the father’s son we leave old memories where they live Today: October 1995 revisiting letters long forgotten after a windy night Shirley Bear 137 the leaves have fallen to the ground leaving only the protruding skeletal filigree after a warm spring and new summer growth September Morning Wulustook runs shallow, rippling softly in the morning sun. Warm breezes caress my feet, my hair, my heart. Water hemlock looks harmless against the azure sky. Intense blue, deep indigo. Secret memories run below the surface of the current, sparkle erratically as the stars at midnight, cobalt memories creating energy. Sparkling stars on the surface dance in the reflecting light of the morning sun. Rainbow virgins dance on the surface of Wulustookuk. Fragile Freedoms Fragile Freedoms are the delicate balancing acts played by the indian act politicians and the canadian government bureaucrats in the plush carpeted offices of the inner governmental chambers, a game that affects the original men and women who have survived unrecognized from 138 maliseet 1492–1992, the games that continue to deny the original people the right to self-determination. Fragile Freedoms is the backlash that further denied freedoms to the warriors at Wounded Knee and Kanesatake. Fragile Freedoms is the fragility of the paper made from the disappearing grasses of the rain forests of south america, the herb medicines of the amerikan continent, the air that we breathe, the water as it drips its final drops, our skin as it slowly blotches and disintegrates from the radiated pollutants in the air that affects this whole planet. Fragile Freedoms is the delicate hope for the possibility of making...