Subscribe to this site on Substack |
Hear me
read Watch me
read Audio and Video Music: Poems for Copyright by |
Adapted from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to All Indians, February 24, 1923: Now, What I want you to think about Very seriously Is that you must first of all Try to make your own living, Which you cannot do Unless you work faithfully And take care Of what comes from your labor, And go to dances or other meetings Only when your home work Will not suffer by it. I do not want to deprive you Of decent amusements Or occasional feast days, But you should not do evil Or foolish things Or take so much time For these occasions. No good comes From your "give-away" custom At dances And it should be stopped. It is not right To torture your bodies Or to handle poisonous snakes In your ceremonies. All such extreme things Are wrong And should be put aside And forgotten. You do yourselves And your families Great injustice When at dances You give away money And other property, Perhaps clothing, A cow, a horse, Or a team and wagon, And then, After an absence of several days, Go home to find everything Going to waste, And yourselves With less to work with Than you had before. I could issue an order Against these useless And harmful performances, But I would much rather You give them up Of your own free will. And, therefore, I ask you now In this letter To do so. If, at the end of one year, The reports which I receive Show that you are doing As requested, I shall be very glad, For I will know That you are making progress In other And more important ways. But if the reports show That you reject this plea, Then some other course Will have to be taken. Copyright by Nicholas Gordon. Free for personal or non-commercial use. Audio and Video Music: Pachabelly.
|