Distorted Mirror

The moored ship was massive, but was it sturdy enough to bear them away from all the troubles here? The tyranny: bold officials who could rape, pillage, and kill without repercussion. The threat to their religion: being banned from worshipping God, afraid to even utter His name as daily patrols took away more family. The enslavement of countrymen: being treated as less than human, a possession that could be traded, sold, or left at the whim of a fickle master. Looking up at the weathered sails was daunting, but not enough to stay and suffer further abuse. Dying at sea was a better option than staying, than enduring this life one day more…

The Earth is everything: Mother, home, even where we lay to rest one day. The sky is as important: It tells us when to rise and when to lay down to rest, and when the seasons change. Our People are strong, resilient, adaptive, and spiritual. Our life is simple enough, but every life counts, and together they weave a complex pattern. We enjoy a good life, stewards of a land that is rich in resources, but we do not squander what we have been gifted. We bear the responsibility of all life with a casual grace, and our People will always do so…

The journey was punishing, brutal, and deadly for so many. The old, the sick, children and infants—and even those who began the journey healthy—no one was safe from the perils the great ship harbored: sickness was rampant, easily transmitted from passenger to passenger; simple squabbles turned into violent episodes and death was inevitable; the elements even seemed vengeful, raging storms produced killer waves, and unsuspecting passengers were heaved from the ship, pummeled down by stinging rain and hungry waves, and were soon lost beneath the torrid waters. Mothers cried, but their tears were mixed and lost in the seemingly endless water; and even this would be better than home, this crashing, roaring, watery grave…

Our People are strong, we can survive everything our Mother gives us: strong, twisting winds that can clear a whole village if we let it; powerful storms that light up the night sky and pound our homes with rain enough to cause flooding, but we anticipate and know where to hide; fires that could consume us, but that also clear the Earth and help our crops next season; even the tremors in the Earth helped us to emerge from our Mother. There is nothing that our People cannot do, and we are safe and secure in this life. Our days will one day pass to our sons and daughters and then to our grandsons and granddaughters and we will leave this Earth happily…

The gentle rocking of the ship is somewhat unnerving; no one has moved, fixated on the first sight of land in ages. We are waiting for the others to return, to bring news of this new land, so peaceful and vast. We are going to live here, to make a New World, where we may live as free men and women, where our children can run and grow strong; where we can again speak God’s name in prayer, something we have been afraid to do. This New World will be different, because we know the dangers that one man can bring, the power that one man can wield in our lives, and we will be better, we will be fair…

There are strangers here, their looks and their ways mysterious, wrong even. They know nothing of the Earth, and they desecrate their Mother as if she is not alive. They know less than children, and so we will help them, for that is the good thing to do. Our People are generous, for there is always something to share, and our Mother provides more each day. We will teach these strange children the ways of this land and they will be our brothers and sisters, because everyone is connected. They may be strange and ignorant but that can’t be their fault; our Creator never makes mistakes…

These savages are knowledgeable in the land and the fruits it bears. We have learned a lot from them, but others say they are worse than children, running around near naked and speaking gibberish; ignorant of the niceties of society, and they live in the open, helpless against the elements. They say we should help them, that we need to bring them God and language. There is talk of treating with them, but they know nothing of our terms or gifts. How can people have lived like this? It is good that we bring them civilization, that is our duty, and we will not fail them…

These strange children need much help and we are patient, as with our children, for they need to learn, but their eyes are hard and their ways wrong: They hide themselves with wood that they tear down and make into huts that contain their sicknesses. They do not know that they are keeping their sickness within, and they do not listen. Neither do they listen when we tell them they must prepare for the seasonal change, but they will learn. We have given them much of our knowledge, but they are stubborn, too, and their childish nature will hurt them. Each morning brings them closer to our People and only Creator knows what will happen. A New World has dawned, and our People must be stronger than ever…

Daniela Aki is a student at Sitting Bull College.