Forsaken
I am Mdewakanton Dakota
Many call me, Sioux
My people are not the rattler
Yet, I felt the snakes pursue
The reptile that lies in grass
Waiting with rattle tucked
Until the moment
It feels fear
Then with venom-
Peace lies struck.
Its' poison weeps
To bring great pain
And anguish cries
Truths ugly name.
As the snake then slithers
From the calm
And waits for plague
To crawl along.
I've seen this beast
Swallow children-
To feast upon
Their starving bellies
And slough disease
From unknown lands
Shedding my tribe-
Devouring my band.
I have fought this poison
Passed the “pipe of peace”
Called,
Great Spirit
Hear my pleas
My fear Keoxah will decease.
Charmed...
I was as a faithful friend
To British
And American.
Then, while it subdued
With its rhythmic shaken
The serpent pierced my people
And left us...
Forsaken.
After the treaty of Ghent in 1814, the British invited a council at Drummond Island, praising the Sioux for valor and ability at war. The British offered blankets, knives and food provisions as thanks for efforts against Americans. Waapasha II led the Sioux chiefs in their rejection of gifts. The Sioux were told they would be consulted before the British signed a treaty with the United States. The British fled, the Sioux, however had no where to go. Waapasha's tribe named the area now known as Winona, Minnesota, "Keoxah," which means "The Homestead" for the Dakota tribe. The Mendota Treaty of 1851 passed Wapasha's Prairie into the hands of the whites. By the end of the 1850's, the Dakota's were gone from Wapasha's Prairie. “Sioux” is sometimes translated as meaning “small rattlesnake” an antonym, to which many tribes reject.
Written in honor of the Mdewakanton Dakota
Chief Waapasha II
1773-1836
By Sherrie Ball © 2010
Originally Posted On Site: 2010-04-24 14:17:13
Last Login: 11.05.11
Visits as of 12-12-07: 288
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