maskihky words/medicine words

kayâsago, a long, long time ago

kistêsinâw Our Elder Brother

kî-pimohtêw walked and walked kî-pimohtêw

kî-pimohtêw the world into being

leaving pathways for us to follow

but me

me, I got lost early on

I wanted white skin because

of the Boys in Town

the Town Boys

the ones I looked up at

from the puddle of mud

where I belonged, they said

coloured mud

don’t you get up,

they said stay

down

d-owwwww

nimosôm’s, my Grandfather’s, voice whispering

helping me out of the puddle

maskihky words, medicine words

get up my girl

my girl get up

get up

Published online April 02, 2014

Tasha Beeds is of Métis (nêhiyaw-Scottish) and mixed Barbadian ancestry. She grew up with her mother’s Métis and nêhiyaw family in the Treaty 6 territories of mistawâsis and atâhkakohp. She has been published in Me Funny, Mixed Race Women Speak Out and Matrix Magazine. Tasha also has articles in two forthcoming anthologies: Indigenous Poetics and Mixed Blessings. She is currently a PhD candidate in the Indigenous Studies Program at Trent University.