They say the boarding schools did a job on us.
I guess they did:
They separated us…from our families!
our culture and our language!
They beat the language out of us!
They washed our mouths out with soap
every time we tried to use it!
There was a disconnect that followed…
There was a path of alcoholism
And generations of native people
that didn’t know how to be parents!
My two brothers and I helped break that vicious cycle
for one generation anyway!
Our sons and daughters grew up with the same parents
we were always there for our children!
When my people have namings,
dances, and deaths:
My two brothers speak Potawatomi for those ceremonies!
I don’t speak Potawatomi
but two out of three ain’t bad!
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