DANCING FOR OUR GRANDCHILDREN
To know the gentleness of the deer, the elk, the caribou, the moose dancing with electric eyes
Caribou goes a little crazy in heart and storm,
in this dance of the night
Caribou loses his land and his life into extinction, without a fight
Dancing to continue over half die out to less then one hundred,
are gone in one generation
As a blight the size of Florida finds its money in Alberta sands
The BP’s and Syncrude’s kill this land the Anishinabe live off
The fish, and birds die, are left with tumors and cancers, and the waters and land, toxic
Peoples are buried into the cries that can’t undie
Taking away family from a people,
the corporation is the cancer with no remorse
leaching into once potable Athabasca
There seems no plans to change this, or recourse
Dancing with electric eyes is to know the poets, the artists, the philosophers of the land
Who see and speak the truth that lay spoiled in front of the sleeping
Creating they waken the stories become the record keepers
I hear it in my mind that change comes from visions of the visionaries
I hear it in my heart that the universe listens to these prayers
I hear it in my spirit that we are all connected to this knowledge
I hear it in my hand that I create in this understanding with this same water
From these trees that grew from seeds of promise, I try to echo what was lost
But we are only human beings and the corporation is not
As my left knee comes up it holds my fears and humbleness in turned in toes
My right knee holds my foot to the ground keeps my spirit name Turtle Shadow Woman
My wolf clan inspirits me underneath to dance for who I belong to
One hundred and seventy five years ago my grandmothers said prayers for me
I dance in the waters my great grandmothers protected for me seven generations later
I am their granddaughter an Anishinabekwe with the responsibility of the water
I am that caribou dancing for my great grandchildren seven into the future
Even though it took the ones of greed just two generations to undo
What the Creator conceived over 3.9 billion years
What my Ancestors kept since their Creation. I know no divides to this land I call Mother.
LauraLee K. Harris
“ Destructive extractive industries are not the things we need when there are clean, just alternatives available.
It is everyone’s fundamental human right to have unhindered access to clean water, air, and land;
we need to be able to live on a healthy planet. Everyone deserves access to basic needs for survival, this is environmental justice.”
Jasmine Thomas, Carrier First Nation youth resisting Enbridge pipeline developments through her land.
DEDICATED TO THE MIKISEW CREE, FORT CHIPEWYAN AND FORT MCMURRAY ALBERTA WHO CONTINUE TO STAND
UP FOR THE LAND THE WATER AND THE ANIMALS
Dancing For Our Grandchildren, 16"x48" Acrylic on Spruce