A Great Loss

http://tribalfires.com/ritajoe/

We have lost a person who was the voice and educator for the Mi'kmaq people. It is a great loss and I send my sincere condolences to her family. I will always remember her. Here is one of my favourite poems that she wrote:

I Lost My Talk

I lost my talk
The talk you took away
when I was a little girl
At Shubenacadie school

You snatched it away:
I speak like you
I think like you
I create like you
The scrambled ballad, about my word.

Two ways I talk
Both ways I say
Your way is more powerful

So gently I offer my hand and ask,
Let me find my talk
So I can teach you about me.

http://www.pl,org/div/natam/bin/browse.pl/A156
http://geocities.com/Athens/Atlantis/6225/joe1.htm
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2007/03/21/rita-joe.html