(I apologize for the poor quality of this picture. I have a terrible camera. The words "We Shall Endure" are written on the sky, the river and the grass).They will not let us go outside, these teachers. They say the sun and the moon, the stars and the wind, the water and the grass are the devil, and yet today, sitting in their rigid church, the preacher said, “And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” Their own book, the one they beat us with if they catch us staring too long at the sky, the one they give to all the new children who do not speak English, the one they use to tell us we are bad, this same book tells them to use the plants as medicine. But, they do not hear it. They let the children die. The preacher read those words and while every Indian heard none of the teachers did. I do not know what they hear. It does not matter. I hear the healing waters of my river, many days train ride away. I hear the sound of the wind as it comes down the Blue Mountains and rustles the leaves in the tree beside our camp before it touches my face. I hear the songs of my ancestors in the stars and I smell the roots and berries my grandmother picks, the plants and herbs drying, the ones my father uses for medicine. Even in this church, even in this starched dress with the lace collar, even after seven years at this school, miles and miles from home, I still feel the drums. Even through these hard-soled shoes, the song of the earth rushes up my legs and passes through me. It does not take much. You only have to remember. I whisper to the new children, “Do not forget, we shall endure.” Many, too many, forget anyway or die in order to return home. Me, every morning before the others wake up, I stand at my small window that does not open and look at the branches of a tree. I do not know the name of this tree, the teachers do not care. They do not see a tree. I sing, in a whisper, the song my father taught me. The song he sang for the tree with the healing leaves. Every morning, for seven years, I sing that this tree will keep me Indian and send me home.
