Standing Ground

lyrics/poetry: Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm music: Te Kupu vocals: Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm drum and bass: Te Kupu organ/synthesizer Te Kupu saxophone: Joy Harjo background vocals: John Thorp flutes: Lucho Abanto slide guitar: Raven Kanatakta Polson-Lahache guitar: Marcos Arcentales charango: Marcos Arcentales recorded at Kia Kaha Productions, Aotearoa, Nishin Sounds, Cape Croker/Ottawa, & Mekko Productions, Honolulu

gather together on this meeting ground

this living ground holding roots of sound

this burial ground holding bones of thought

like the landscape grandmothers wrought

like seven grandfathers we haven't forgot

like the spiritual place inside

where our ancestors speak inside

where their words awake the dream

where a drum song plays between

where the trees and land connect

where the conscious mind protects

where the sky above reflects

and the earth calls out for justice

this is the ground upon which we stand

this is the earth mother the home land

here we stand and will not be moved

here our staunch resolve is proved

here never more will our voices be muted

even if our way of being is disputed

even if our sacred stories are ignored

even if our poetry is deplored

even if our mouths are slapped

even if they change the map

borders shifted lines cast and drawn

and our so-called leaders are government pawns

we will not be moved from where we stand

not from each other mother our home land

this is the ground where we make our stand

this is our home our place our motherland

the site of our future and memory

the home of our heart and family

this is the ground of our persistence

the site of our resistance

Ipperwash Gustafsen Lake Pakaitore

Chiapas Restigouche and Hawai'i

Owen Sound Oka and Wounded Knee

this is the land of the sacred tree

Black Hills, Uluru, Halawa Valley

words spoken echo eternally

word given breath like waves in the sea

like fossils in stone ancestors in me

like the spiritual place Nochemowaning

where water spouts told us a new day is dawning

stand up rise up and stand your ground

wise up speak up let our voices resound

nau-neebiwik! (stand up!) kittook! (say it!)

standing ground