By Ginikachi Obah, 1st year MDP student
My current sojourn at Blue Quills has inspired my lost
creativity in poetry which was re-enkindled by the amazing cultural experience
in the college. I wrote the following poem to whisper in my personal feelings
on the history of residential school and the cultural camp experience.
Echoes From The Eagle Spirit Society
The reverberating sounds of the Drums and the sweet melodies
The wavering movements of the tree suggest
that they enjoy the rhythm that they hear
Tepees and feathers creating an artistic
view of cultural connotation
Men and women blown away in preparation
I can see generations connecting to the
ways of their forefathers
I can see the land and its spirituality
through the teaching of Neyihaw
Mother Earth smiles to the spirituality and
reciprocity hovering round the indigenous mind
I can see disembodied walls coming together
to create a wonderful atmosphere for social interaction
I can see children and youth strolling back
to cultural identity
I can hear the healing process echoing
through the circles
I see the world views flowing within my
mind through the cultural teachings of ceremonies
When I stand in the mirror am drenched in
the reflection of the similarities that exist between the two cultures
The similarities keeps crawling back like a
recurring decimal each time am lost in cultural oblivion
Culture indeed is an art that sits patiently
in our heart waiting to be expressed by ceremonies
Culture is a parrot or porte-parole that
speaks volumes of our identity
Culture is the sustaining power of our four
dimensions that keep our body and soul together
Culture was brutalised and kicked out in
the hands of residential schools
Children becoming strangers to whom they
are
Oh my God it killed their culture it killed
their spirit
It dismantled the social fabric of family
and community
Like lost but found item my creativity has
found me in this wilderness of cultural revitalisation
Which I wish to empty with my busy hands
dancing to the songs of my creativity
These are the echoes from the Eagle Spirit Society
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| Ginikachi (L) with Ferlin McGillivery, Cree Language Instructor (R) |
