My Indian Pride… KEYWORDS: native american poetry cherokee poem indian poetry native american poem Martha Moongazer Beard poem
My body lives in the white man’s land,
Yet strong and proud my red skin still stands. Stripped of my heritage long ago,
Forced to give up the arrow and bow.
Denied the home where my people died,
For they trusted, yet the white father lied.
I wait in peace for our nations’s return,
As forseen in ghost dance,
For this my heart yearns.
The spirit wind listens,
As the moon hears my cry.
My soul remains free,
With the eagle it flies.
Like war drums my heart beats with my Indian pride,
My spirit pony still with me rides.
A dream that one day my tribe will unite,
This I know is my Cherokee right.
They can take my life but not my soul,
I am Red,
I am Proud,
I am Cherokee,
Behold!
Martha Moongazer Beard
dec 2004