Wounded Knee Creek
Crazy Horse, War Chief of the Sioux Indians of the North American plains, was murdered by white soldiers on September 5th,1877. He was 35.
Soldiers from Fort Robinson came smiling
Pretending friendship to Crazy Horse
Offering the Sioux a lasting peace treaty
But only if the War Chief returned with them.
Trusting lies of those who never honoured any treaty
Crazy Horse rode unarmed into the fort
They barred the gates and held him by the arms
While private William Gentles bayoneted him twice.
Parents of Crazy Horse came to the fort
Took away the body of their warrior son
Secretly buried his majestic heart
At a place called Wounded Knee Creek.
American history records the Indian nations were finally defeated by white soldiers at a place called Wounded Knee Creek on December 29,1890. But it was a massacre. The Indians had surrendered. They were unarmed prisoners when the soldiers opened fire.300 men, women and children were killed.4 men, and 47 women and children survived.
poem by Colin Ian Jeffery

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Related quotes
I'm An Indian Too
Like the Seminole, Navajo, Kickapoo
Like those Indians
I'm an Indian too
A Sioux
A Sioux
Just like Battle Axe, Hatchet Face, Eagle Nose
Like those Indians
I'm an Indian too
A Sioux
A Sioux
Some Indian summer's day
Without a sound
I may hide away
With Big Chief Hole-in-the-Ground
And I'll have totem poles, tomahawks, pipes of peace
Which will go to prove
I'm an Indian too
A Sioux
A Sioux
With my chief in his teepee
We'll raise an Indian family
And I'll be busy night and day
Looking like a flour sack
With two papooses on my back
And three papooses on the way
Like the Chippewa, Iroquois, Omaha
Like those Indians
I'm an Indian too
A Sioux
A Sioux
Just like Rising Moon, Falling Pants, Running Nose
Like those Indians
I'm an Indian too
A Sioux
A Sioux
Some Indian summer's day
Without a care
I may run away
With Big Chief Son-of-a-Bear
And I'll wear moccasins, wampum beads, feather hats
Which will go to prove
I'm an Indian too
A Sioux
A Sioux
song performed by by Irving Berlin

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Black Hills: Sacred Tribal Land
Behold great and noble Government
Constitutional United States of America
gave the land to the tribe in perpetuity
gave back that which was already
theirs sacred tribal land of ancestors
that which was most precious birthright
which could not be bought owned sold
bestowed in ceremony upon parchment
but the white man spoke with fork tongue
broke treaty for yellow flakes of lust dirt
Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868 confirmed
Lakota Sioux ownership of the Black Hills
to Cheyenne and Lakota these Black Hills
an island of trees in a sea of grass prairie
is axis mundi the sacred center of the world
Major General George Armstrong Custer
of 7th US Cavalry fame led an expedition
into sacred Black Hills in1874 Yellow Hair
discovered gold in French Creek gold fever
locusts thousands of miners swept into Hills
gold rush1875–1878 sparks Black Hills War
the last major Indian War on the Great Plains
Battles Powder River, Rosebud, Little Bighorn
Yellow Hair Custer 270 men killed 5 cavalry
companies were annihilated without survivors
in violation of the Treaty of Fort Laramie the
United States steals the Black Hills in 1876
after defeating the Cheyenne Lakota Arapaho
gold silver mines strike pay dirt Iron Horse comes
post Bighorn defeat army seizes horses weapons
of friendly agency Indians; January 1877 Crazy
Horse fights on at the Battle of Wolf Mountain
but shame surrenders follow two-thirds of all
Lakota; had settled at Indian agencies accepted
rations accepted subsistence life and did not fight
but the Lakota never accepted the validity of the
United States appropriation of the Black Hills and
continue to try to reclaim their property; July 1980
United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians; verdict
Supreme Stealing Court of the United States ruled
the Black Hills were illegally stolen; payment for
inconvenience caused? An offer of initial offering
price be paid; Lakota refused the settlement; plus
interest; claiming accepting bribe settlement would
validate government theft; stolen sacred tribal land.
poem by Terence George Craddock

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Half Mass
american soldiers were slaughtered
on a military base today.
by an arab american officer
who held everyone at bay.
and for these departed soldiers
all of america will pray.
but a question was put to me
and i was'nt sure just what to say.
if they are flying the american flag
at half mass for those who died today
what about the ones who've given their lives
to protect the american way?
why should we fly the flag at half mass
just for those who died at FORT HOOD.
it should be for all soldiers
and they would argue if they could.
keep our flags at half mass for all
that put their lives at stake.
there will be many more that we will honor
and their families at their wakes.
we should also put a yellow ribbon
on our red, white, and blue
until our soldiers come home
and this fighting is finally through.
poem by Louis Rams

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On That Day
Some people say
Its what we deserve
For sins against g-d
For crimes in the world
I wouldnt know
Im just holding the fort
Since that day
They wounded New York
Some people say
They hate us of old
Our women unveiled
Our slaves and our gold
I wouldnt know
Im just holding the fort
But answer me this
I wont take you to court
Did you go crazy
Or did you report
On that day
On that day
They wounded New York
song performed by by Leonard Cohen

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I Want to be a Soldier
I will be a soldier
Only when soldiers realize
They are not animals or
cattles
Only if soldiers can ask
'Why should I shoot that
innocent man? '
I would be a soldier
If soldiers can ask the
commander
'Why should we shoot at
the children? '
I would be a soldier
If soldiers know that
The red blood that runs
through their veins
Runs in the rest peopl's too.
I would be a soldier if
Soldiers know they aren't
what they ask them to be
When they know that
The Emperor will never ask
them to kill his children
I would be a soldier
When soldiers realize war
is inhuman
When soldiers know war
always starts war
When they know that
World peace can not be
reached through war
When United Nations can
ask themselves
Is war the only way to end
corruption in the globe?
When soldiers know the
distance between peace and
war.
When soldiers realize how
intoxicative the gun is.
When soldiers realize
that gun does not control
them, but they control it.
I would be a soldier only if
soldiers know
why Martin Luther King jnr.
was killed.
If they know Adolf Hitler
also tried to make peace
through war.
I would be a soldier
If they can tell me why they
are only trained to kill.
I would be a soldier if
soldier can say
NO TO BRUTE LEADERS.
I would be a soldier if
soldiers know
the difference between
death and birth.
I would be a soldier if they
can tell
Why they are weapons of
destruction?
If they can explain why they
killed at Vietnam?
Why they killed at Somalia?
Why Ghadafi was killed
without trial?
Why Abraham Lincoln was
shot
Why Ghandi was killed,
Why they dont care if they
die in war in the name of
peace.
I would be a soldier If soldiers know they have rights If soldiers know they need Freedom. I would be a soldier If the goverments around the world realize How wonderful the world would be If the money invests in atomic weapons can be spent To feed billions of children on the streets of India, Nigeria, Brazil, South Africa The United States and all the streets of the World. I would be a soldier when soldiers can fight for liberty And not for slavery When soldiers know that nobody should think for them When soldiers know they are humans not cattles, When they realize that nobody should tell them what to think and what to feel. If soldiers can be humans, I would be a soldier.
poem by Idris Adesina

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Crazy Man
A guy came to me the other day saying some crazy stuff
He said he hate what I do and what i stand for, to not hit him was ruff
Why do people tend to not look from outside of the boots
I say they need to read a history book on american roots
Some of the comments I hear, I see people can be very crazy
They dont see the pride in the soldiers I fight with daily
Out here where Im at, we are all we got
Even tho we know americans back home got our back
I wish that guy could have seen the day a lil iraqi boy gave me a flower
He said thank you america for your courage and power
His english was kind of broken but I knew what he ment to say
We made it so at least that one lil boy can come back out and play
At my level we dont see saving the world
All we see is making a way for some little boy or little girl
So think twice when you approach me with somthing crazy to say
I fight for so much more than what you saw on the news today
So go have sweet dreams and sleep peaceful tonite
All will be secure, cause american soldiers will continue to fight
poem by Daniel Chapman

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Nigerian Biafran War
The Biafrans cry separate
Nigerians cry we are one
The Nigerians and Biafrans
in a royal rumble
For non would submit to humble
as non would come to agreement
so they decided to fumble
and settle themselves on the battle field
The Nigerian soldiers fully prepared
Biafran soldiers thought they were ready
the opposing soldiers were excited
on the day of thier first outing
The soldiers filled with joy
the men filled with hatred
the women filled with fear
and the children with innocence
A bomb blast is heard
the soldiers quack their guns
the men getting ready to attack
the women in absolute confussion
The youths pick up weapons
the children sheding out blood
the soldiers held unto thier triggers
as men fell like woods
The rich flying abroad
the poor into the bush
women and children trampled
while some died at the instance
The children cries are heard
the shout of the women aswell
the grumbling of the men
and the mummuring of the youths
Nigerian soldiers chant their war songs
as they return with Biafrans defeated
though they still cry separate
the echoes of oneness is louder
The bodies of the dead were gathered
and the injured too
non could bear to stand and stare
at the worst of scenes
Women and children cried out thier hearts
the men were left with shocks
as every one reaised that war means death
and the reign of peace brings life
poem by Micheal Udenyi

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What treaty have the Sioux made with the white man that we have broken Not one. What treaty have the white man ever made with us that they have kept Not one. When I was a boy the Sioux owned the world the sun rose and set on their land they sent ten thousand men to battle. Where are the warriors today Who slew them Where are our lands Who owns them....What law have I broken Is it wrong for me to love my own Is it wicked for me because my skin is red Because I am a Sioux because I was born where my father lived because I would die for my people and my country
quote by Sitting Bull

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Report To Crazy Horse
All the Sioux were defeated. Our clan
got poor, but a few got richer.
They fought two wars. I did not
take part. No one remembers your vision
or even your real name. Now
the children go to town and like
loud music. I married a Christian.
Crazy Horse, it is not fair
to hide a new vision from you.
In our schools we are learning
to take aim when we talk, and we have
found out our enemies. They shift when
words do; they even change and hide
in every person. A teacher here says
hurt or scorned people are places
where real enemies hide. He says
we should not hurt or scorn anyone,
but help them. And I will tell you
in a brave way, the way Crazy Horse
talked: that teacher is right.
I will tell you a strange thing:
at the rodeo, close to the grandstand,
I saw a farm lady scared by a blown
piece of paper; and at that place
horses and policemen were no longer
frightening, but suffering faces were,
and the hunched-over backs of the old.
Crazy Horse, tell me if I am right:
these are the things we thought we were
doing something about.
In your life you saw many strange things,
and I will tell you another: now I salute
the white man's flag. But when I salute
I hold my hand alertly on the heartbeat
and remember all of us and how we depend
on a steady pulse together. There are those
who salute because they fear other flags
or mean to use ours to chase them:
I must not allow my part of saluting
to mean this. All of our promises,
our generous sayings to each other, our
honorable intentions—those I affirm
when I salute. At these times it is like
shutting my eyes and joining a religious
colony at prayer in the gray dawn
in the deep aisles of a church.
Now I have told you about new times.
Yes, I know others will report
different things. They have been caught
by weak ways. I tell you straight
the way it is now, and it is our way,
the way we were trying to find.
The chokecherries along our valley
still bear a bright fruit. There is good
pottery clay north of here. I remember
our old places. When I pass the Musselshell
I run my hand along those old grooves in the rock.
poem by William Stafford

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* * *
Papa on the horse
As I remember,
Papa rode on the horse
the White horse
He was so cruel
And he would not
Feed
The white horse
For days
One day
They went to the
Sea
The white horse
And papa
I wished the
White horse
Would swim
To the other island
And leave
Papa for good
He was so cruel
And he would beat
The white horse
For days
But the white horse
Stayed
she was not fed
For days
One day
The White Horse
Got mad
And bit
Papa to death.
I did not wish
The horse
Would eat
Papa whole.
I too would be
Cruel then.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa

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Wind Horse
Da naho… It is said,
Wind Horse, gentle Wind horse, you were the last of your kind.
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, you were running wild and free.
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, with this freedom you did nothing but give;
When one called for help you carried them to safety,
No enemy did you have.
Da naho… It is said,
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, you gave your life one day
To a boy with no leg.
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, you gave him your endless love.
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, you now run in the Great Hunting Grounds;
Giving joy to those there, as you did here.
Da naho… It is said,
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, your life was not the last gift
You gave the People.
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, you prayed for us, you wished a wish for us.
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, we remember you through your brother Horse.
Wi: yo: h … It is good.
Wind Horse, Wind Horse, we see you still.
poem by Tolly Rebeka Christian BlackWolf Hawk

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Papa on the horse As I remember
Papa rode on the horse
the White horse
He was so cruel
And he would not
Feed
The white horse
For days
One day
They went to the
Sea
The white horse
And papa
I wished the
White horse
Would swim
To the other island
And leave
Papa for good
He was so cruel
And he would beat
The white horse
For days
But the white horse
Stayed
she was not fed
For days
One day
The White Horse
Got mad
And bit
Papa to death.
I did not wish
The horse
Would eat
Papa whole.
I too would be
Cruel then
poem by Ric S. Bastasa

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Big Chief Woolley Bosher
In the land they call the west
On the praries virgin crest
Lived a great man and his braves
And he led them to their graves
Big chief plays with baby son
The work of the indian today is done
Life is easy, life is grand
til there is white man, gun in hand
Started out when settlers came
And built their homes on the indian range
Big chief woolly bosher liked it none
Traded with a bad man for a gun
Big chief looks out at his great land
Locomotive on the prairie stands
Life that leak from the city in the east
Let us destroy that iron beast
Big chief rides on the trail tonight
Tread the land for which he must fight
In their fight for love and glory
Some indians were saved
They lived to tell the story
And woolly bosher prays
Big chief rides on the trail tonight
Soldier boys marching in the morning light
Bring the guns, bring the bows
Lets blow them into heaven lets see if God knows
One hundred men must have to die
When a thousand soldiers look you in the eye
Big chief sees his men fall round
The soldiers kill and the bugle sounds
In their fight for love and glory
No indians were saved
And big chief woolly bosher
Had written on his grave
He has done no wrong
Except being bold
song performed by by Electric Light Orchestra

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The White Horse...
on that early dawn
they arrived. I will not tell you
exactly how many were they.
they brought the wild horse again
this time it is white and coy
they did not speak to me
my attention was focused on the
beautiful horse
i did not show that i liked it
i did not talk too
then they brought the horse inside
the house
and then the windows and doors
were closed
and then the white horse started to
dance
and i liked it more
it was then that i realized
what are they really
and why are they here bringing me
a beautiful white horse
will they take my antique chairs
made of rosewood?
will i bargain my house
for a horse?
just for a horse
and they whose names i do not really know
shall laugh
after they had finally taken the whole of what i have
just for a white horse whose talent is just
to dance?
poem by Ric S. Bastasa

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Ode to the American Soldiers
Ode to the American Soldiers
for fighting for our Freedom
for making this day real
Ode to the American soldiers
Iraq, Afghanistan, countries galore
they risk their lives for ours
Support them, pray for them
Ode to the American Soldiers
poem by Ashton Karen

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Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
Indian legislation's on the desk of the do right congressman
Now he don't know much about the issues so he picks up the phone
And asks the advice of the senator out in indian country
A darling of the energy companies their ripping off
What's left of the reservation
I learned the safety rule
I don't know who to thank
Don't stand between the reservation
And the corporate bank
They're sending federal tanks
It isn't nice but it's reality
Bury my heart at wounded knee
Deep in the earth
I said cover me with pretty lies
Bury my heart at wounded knee
They got these energy companies
Who want to take the land
And they got churches by the dozens
Trying to guide our hands
And turn our mother earth
Over to pollution war and greed
Well
Bury my heart at wounded knee
Bury my heart at wounded knee
I said deep in the earth
Bury my heart at wounded knee
Won't you cover me with your pretty lies
Bury my heart at wounded knee
Bury my heart at wounded knee
They got the federal marshalls
We get the covert spies
We get the liars by fire
We get the fbi
They lie in court and get nailed
And still leonard peltier goes off to jail
(the bullets don't match the gun)
Bury my heart at wounded knee
An eighth of the reservation
Bury my heart at wounded knee
It was transferred in secret
Bury my heart at wounded knee
We got your murder and intimidation
Bury my heart at wounded knee
My girlfriend anna may
Talked about uranium
Her head was full of bullets
And her body dumped
The fbi cut off her hands
And told us she died of exposure
Yeah right
Bury my heart at wounded knee
Bury my heart at wounded knee
Oh deep in the earth
Bury my heart at wounded knee
Won't you cover me with pretty lies
Bury my heart at wounded knee
Bury my heart at wounded knee
Bury my heart at wounded knee
Talk about a revolution
We had the gold rush wars
Why didn't we learn to crawl?
And now our history gets written in a liar's scrawl
They tell me " honey you can still be an indian
Down at the y on saturday night''
Bury my heart at wounded knee
Bury my heart at wounded knee
I said deep in the earth
Bury my heart at wounded knee
And cover me with your pretty lies
Bury my heart at wounded knee
Bury my heart at wounded knee
Bury my heart
It was an eighth of the reservation
Bury my heart
It was transferred in secret
Bury my heart
Got your murder, murder, murder and intimidation
Bury me
Bury me
Bury me
Bury my heart
Bury my heart
Bury my heart
Bury my heart
song performed by by Indigo Girls

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Geronimo
Quotes from Geronimo
'I was warmed by the sun, rocked by the winds and sheltered by the trees as other Indian babes. I was living peaceably when people began to speak bad of me. Now I can eat well, sleep well and be glad. I can go everywhere with a good feeling. The soldiers never explained to the government when an Indian was wronged, but reported the misdeeds of the Indians. We took an oath not to do any wrong to each other or to scheme against each other.
I cannot think that we are useless or God would not have created us. There is one God looking down on us all. We are all the children of one God. The sun, the darkness, the winds are all listening to what we have to say.
When a child, my mother taught me to kneel and pray to Usen for strength, health, wisdom and protection. Sometimes we prayed in silence, sometimes each one prayed aloud; sometimes an aged person prayed for all of us... and to Usen.
I was born on the prairies where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures.'
My brother and the best friend Lalith
Told me something about you long ago.
Your name in short Nimo
And I am Nimal.
(DNA) Nucleic Acid would proves that we're far realatives or not?
I search a bit of the proud History
And You're born to the Bedonkohe
Band of the Apache, near Turkey Creek
A Tributary of the Gila river in the modern day
State of New Mexico!
In February 1909, Geranimo was thrown from his Horse
While riding home.
He died of Pneumonia on February 17,1909 as a Prisoner.
On his deathbed, he confessed to his nephew that he regretted
His decision to surrender.
He's buried at Fort Sill in the Apache Indian Priosoner of War Cemetery!
*To my loving brother Lalith!
[Remember the days we pick the throw away cigarette butts of our poor Grandpa and we pull the smoke into our friendly lungs fifty-fifty thinking of a better place beyond Nirvana! ]
poem by Nimal Dunuhinga

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What is a Horse?
What is a horse?
A horse has eyes as dainty as a mink.
The grace is interrupted merely by a blink.
A horse is beauty.
What is a horse?
A horse is a tree in a storm that never goes down.
A horse is a weathered rock that stays around.
A horse is ancient.
What is a horse?
A horse waltzes like breeze over rivers.
She curvets and leaps like rain shivers.
A horse is a marionette.
What is a horse?
A horse is determination, that never stops flowing.
A horse is fondness, that never stops growing.
A horse is poetic power.
poem by Lily Whittaker

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Soldier (not really a poem)
the american revolution was fought witha new breed of soldier.
this country was founded on that soldier.
that soldier is the one that those on the front lines calls the coward
that soldier is the one that those on the front lines call when they need help
because these soldiers dont miss.
these soldiers are trained harder than the most elite frontline man
these soldiers are tought to kill their enemy before there enemy sees them.
these soldiers are the ghosts in the night,
these soldiers are the wind in the day
these soldiers are everywhere.
these soldiers are the bush next to u.
these soldiers are the the tree across the field.
these soldiers are the lump of snow in the flat plain.
these soldiers are snipers.
snipers are the reason we are free.
snipers stop the enemy before the enemy gets close to u,
poem by Joshua Decker

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Crazy Enough
I am crazy enough to jump off a bridge for you
Even when i have seen you only once.
I am crazy enough to still be thinking about you
Even when i know nothing of you at all
crazy enough to build castles in the sky
crazy enough to imagine you and me
crazy enough to never see
the lie of you
I am crazy enough to stand in the rain
so i might see you once more
crazy enough to follow you home
so i can see you for a while
and i am crazy enough to want to be your
sickness so that you might go unhindered
crazy enough that no pain hurts me deeply
crazy enough that i cant let go
i am crazy enough to want to die for you
and there is nothing known about you
i am crazy enough to want to kidnap you
and watch you grow old in the cupboard of my mind
crazy enough to kill you so i might have you forever
crazy enough to only think
' if not mine no one else's
crazy enough that i might want to haunt you
I am crazy enough to hear what i want
crazy enough to hurt you so i might love you more
crazy enough to offer my soul
for you
crazy enough to want to
be you
i am crazy enough to say that
i don't know you except by sight
but i love you all the same
poem by Selam G. Sekuar

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