20161210 (apology)

View soldiers request forgiveness of Lakota Chief Leonard Crow Dog at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx3K6ZZuIys

While inanity ruled in Dump’s 

Tower in New York City,

On the plains of North Dakota

An historic incident of incredible

Humanity occurred between 

Veteran soldiers of the United

States and the descendants of

The the all-but-exterminated

Native peoples of this same 

Land. I don’t think it received

Wide coverage, at least not 

Compared with the political

Ephemera amplified and echoed

In the sound and fury of main

Stream media. As much as 

Dump’s forgettable tantrums 

And tweets were driving ever

Downward the nadir of our 

Life, so several contrite soldiers,

Speaking through their leader,

Wesley Clark, Jr., established a zenith

Of reconciliation finally among

The peoples, native and colonial,  

Invaded and invaders, 

Oppressed and oppressors,

By voicing a sincere admission 

Of their (our) sins of centuries of

Genocide and its variants: the

Broken treaties, the attempts 

To blot out the languages, the 

Abuse of the land and the waters.

For all these sins the soldiers,

Kneeling symbolically for their

Fathers in the military, for their

Brothers in the government, and 

For all of us citizens who grew

Rich by the spoliation, the rape

Of their mother earth earnestly

Pleaded for forgiveness at long

Last. They responded appreciatively,

Not letting us forget Wounded 

Knee or numerous other trails 

Of tears, of teepees set aflame,

Or of other massacres. While

All the world was slave to 

Vanity, pomposity, and ignorance

As if they contended for the

Gutter in the great city, on the

Desolate and wintry plain few

Paid attention to the great act 

Of honesty and purity which

Will forever mark a beginning

Of an evil being undone by an

Institution of honor and respect

So long overdue. These humble

Few, acting without fanfare, 

Bright lights, or notice have

Far more significantly revised

Our nations’ story for the future

Than all the bankers’ boasts 

And grifters’ plots to set aside

The law to ruin our

Consecrated land.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016