INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY (2024)
With all the science and experiments that have brought destruction to our planet, humanity has a chance to make better choices for future generations. Yet, we must never forget the values colonialism imposed upon us. The mentality that claimed power over everything and everyone.
When the white man arrived in the “New World,” he sought to destroy what he didn’t understand: our cultures, heritage, and the lives of First Nations Peoples. We were not “civilized” enough for him. Thousands of years of tradition were disregarded in his quest for conquest. Today, we are still marginalized, our identities often reduced by those in power.
Our strength is rising, shifting in our favor. But must we forget that we are all one nation, bound to Mother Earth? Must we forget that violence breeds more division, more bloodshed, unless we take steps to heal one another?
Mother Earth is all we have. We are of the land. We are from the earth.
The desire to leave this planet is a testament to our failures. It reflects our species’ willingness to pollute the very soil we depend on and destroy future generations by robbing them of harmony with one another and the planet.
The white man’s dream, built on conquering lands and spreading disease, now turns to the sky. Rockets are launched in pursuit of escape, as though fleeing to another planet will let them forget the horrors created here. But this dream is an illusion, one that brings devastating consequences. I do not want to leave. I love this planet. It is my home. It is our home.
Indigenous knowledge, rooted in the earth, has always had a place here. To sever ourselves from Mother Earth’s embrace would sever that connection. And for those who leave, they will become new immigrants, drifting without ties to their true birthright, forgetting where they came from because they never truly had a home.
”Invisible Problems Well Documented” Essay by ©Ramon Shiloh 2024 (Indigenous Peoples Day)
©Art by: “1986 FORENINGEN BIG MOUNTAIN” DAN MARK
