Adjudicators and teachers of the law

Organizers of the Harvest Festival and Midwinter Ceremonials

The Green Corn Festival, the Strawberry Festival and

The Maple Sugar Festival; Keepers of the faith

Ha-wah-ne-u—the Creator—knows it to be true

The Peacemaker knew it to be true

Hiawatha knew it to be true

The False Face Society knew it to be true

Custodial chiefs of the four sacred rituals:

The Feather Dance, Thanksgiving Dance

The Personal Chant and the Bowl Game

Great champions of the lacrosse fields

The People on the Hills know it to be true

The Tadodaho knew it to be true

The Prophet Handsome Lake knew it to be true

Chief Shenandoah knew it to be true

That the treaties of land cession were not proper

To the people of the Ever-growing Tree

The sovereign Bearers of the Grand Central Council Fire

And the sacred wampum beaded belts

The Iroquois Nation knew it to be true

The League of the Haudenosaunee knew it to be true

The Five Nations and the Six Nations knew it to be true

The pale-faced Americans know it to be true

Pre-Dawn pleasures

I awaken with a mind

Full of images

Disconnected from the

Universal flow

The Muse pulls my training wheels

and with a violent push

I go

Blank parchment fills with

Words

I cleanse so that the

Muse will visit me nightly

to entrust me again with

Secrets

hither to Unknown