Futures Taken Away

Children are gifts

from the Divine Beings.

They are here to help

usher in new generations.

But they were not always seen

as the generations to come.

 

Even more so

if you were not white,

especially

if you were a pagan.

 

It was decided

that the devil

was the cause of it all

and the children’s souls

were corrupted

and needed to be “Fixed”.

 

That’s when soldiers marched in

and took all the kids

and shoved them into trains

to be carried away to a school.

 

There they were slapped,

kicked, yanked, cursed at

for talking their language.

Long hair was only for women,

so they chopped the boys hair

and forced to keep their mouths shut.

 

Many perished from heartache,

others endured

but were unrecognizable by their parents.

 

Those that passed

were buried in heaps

under their school,

as if they were

dust swept under a rug.

 

The future of Native Americans

and Canada became dimmer

as more children were dragged off.

The culture and language began to fade away.