I am Indigenous

I am Indigenous and my skin is brown
All this land is sacred ground
Do you know how it feels to be removed from your land
And to have your child ripped from your hand
To be taken away to a place unknown
And be told to forget the way of life you’ve been shown
To forget your language and convert your pagan soul
Only to be left with a large void of a hole
To forget your parents and your other family members
Leaving a broken heart with only dying embers
Forget where you’ve come from and to whom you belong
Forget your ceremonies and all those sacred songs
Move on in this world and you will be accepted
Only to find out you have only been rejected
Losing your language and your sacred way of life
Only to have acquired a burden of shame and strife
There is no intent of blaming, or trying to prove who’s right
Just acknowledge what has become our plight
We’ve survived our destiny through all of these years
And all have walked our own Trail of Tears
It is the time that we learn how to forgive
And to return to our old ways and begin to live
We’ve all been given our own sacred direction
It’s up to us all to make the connection