Joleen Terbasket

Canoe Trip

I was on a canoe trip
and I heard an Elder say
in the next five years
things won’t be the same

If we don’t start fighting now, I hear
we’ll lose our rights and land

we’re sitting here and doing nothing
while precious time is slipping
through our fingers like sand

I heard my friend, Simon, say

Look up in the mountains, the water, the sky
soon this will be a memory

because they will all die

I heard my friend, Trevor, say look at the land

soon it will slowly be taken away

He said, when people don’t care, you make them care
even if it’s only you who is fighting today.

This canoe trip that started as only a dream
made me feel so good inside

I learned so much I’ll never forget

“Good ride for Native Pride”

221