Indigenous
Voices of My Ancestors
Hispanic.
His. Panic.
Latinos.
Latinx.
Nah.
Indigenous!
We. Are. Indigenous!
His-story said
The Spanish laid in bed
Happily wed
My Indian ancestors
Made us mestizos
Gringos y indios
Mixed bloods, mixed races
Mexican faces
From places
Today we call
Colorado and New Mexico
They made us too colonized
To realize
They were lies
That hid these Indian eyes
Lies that masked my ancestors’ cries
Saying we didn’t mix
With those colonist pricks
Following their dicks
Later calling us “spics”
Our bodies were raped
Our culture reshaped
Our babies enslaved
Our souls, saved?
Our sacred land
Our sacred voices
Our sacred songs
Our sacred dances
Our sacred beliefs
Our sacred hopes
Our sacred children
Nearly
Erased!
But we are here.
We are here.
We are here.
We are here.
We are here.
We are here.
We are here.
My Indian ancestors tell me.
Estamos aqui contigo!
We are here with you.
We did NOT die off.
We are a part of you.
And you are a part of us.
IndigenoUS!
Latino, you say?
Immigrant, you say?
Illegal, you say?
No, FUCK that!
We were here on U.S. soil
Long before you traded blood for oil
Long before the U.S. became the U.S.
Before the U.S. became US!
Before we became the U.S.
WE are the U.S.
The U.S. is US!
IndigenoUS!
Author’s note: These are rhymes I wrote a few years ago to give my Indigenous ancestors their dues and to share their voices. Here’s a live recording from a few years ago. (Psst! Yes, my real name is Nicole Montoya Brown!)
