Our ways, not our race

Lyrics

[Reflection: YVHIKV] What follows are words I've been scared to say in My whole life, but that I know to be true I'm scared for my people to hear this truth But then I think of the younger version of me And how I wish I had someone Who was there who could have told me all this Instead I had to find it For some reason I didn't have people around me Who talked about these things, not from this perspective And I didn't feel welcome to talk about them either For many indigenous peoplе Much of what still needs to be healed from Is widеly unspoken and our own responsibility But our communities have to start owning These conversations now Many before me, and still here with me Are just getting up to speed in the security Of their own self-recognition I don't blame anyone for that I went through that But I would have liked some help In to see these conversations progress As people's experiences progressed, and as the Understanding of us in broader society progressed To me, there's a big difference between Racism born out of prejudice And racism born out of ignorance To my face, from outside my community I've only experienced the latter Online has been much different Of course Online people can be awful But from within the indigenous community I've seen a lot of racism, and that's not our way Yes, this prejudice came from our oppression But we are the only ones who can cure it So I've had to sit back and watch these conversations Happen in front of me that I don't believe in Because how do you have a conversation With someone so bitter, based on their real experiences? And then it fucking hit me, I guess I needed to be strong, I needed to say how I feel And I needed to write these songs Because that's how I grew, that's how I was able to heal I've only been able to speak this way Because of the security I have in Who I am, where I come from And what was passed on to me And I believe this is the most deep-rooted And basic understanding of what it means to be indigenous I know, therefore, I am My relationship with my identity is both ways I know it, and it knows me So it does not matter what it looks like on the outside