Undocumented Warrior
Undocumented Warrior
By George W. Clever-----2002
I sneaked into this country on moccasin feet
No one knew I was here
Till one day someone asked
Where is your C.D.I.B. card?
Putting on my best stoic mask I said
Do I need one to buy my beer?
Smart ass!
“You need one to prove you are a “skin”
A “red man”, “Indian ”, “Chief”
Feds will decide if you are a blanket man
You do look a little tan
Perhaps as an Italian, Porto Rican, Chicano
You could pass.”
My Grandmother said that too
Will I need a card to paint my face?
Straight dance with some grace
Or two step and stomp dance
In my buckskin pants
“B.I.A. will approve your case
Just send the documents of your worth
Ancestors listed on the Dawes rolls
DNA, Bible lists, Parent’s place of birth.”
I think Lenape people in the past
Never wrote on things that last
School told us they could neither read nor write
X marks on the treaties lead to many a fight
Sign your name or make a mark
Sold our land your birth right for a start
No vote for you
No office holder
No property deed
Land thieves got bolder and bolder
The PA “Stay Behinds” got together
Declared an Eastern Lenape Nation
Used their sovereign right
Approve my application
Now my card says EDN Lenape man #3405
Do you think the Feds with DNA tests and C.D.I.B. cards will tattoo us like the Jews?
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