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Who am I?

How do I identify

with those gone by

and those to come?

Apart of,

Or apart from?

Are my ancestors Anishinaabe?

Have my traditions been torn away?

Do museum people prey on the graves

Of my family where they lay?

Do I do things in a good way?

Do I respect the coming of a new day?

Do I believe that everything I know

is a part of Gichiminidoo?

Do I resist assimilation

Into racially stratified nations?

Do I fear liberation?

How about self-determination?

Am I full-blood, mixed-blood, or adopted?

Do I play “Indian” every so often?

Am I romanticized by wannabees?

Am I who I claim to be?

Do I await or create opportunity?

Do I think seven generations ahead?

Is this what my grandparents said?

Will I sacrifice my life

to set my spirit free?