“Essence Of Life” by Mi’kmaq Artist Shianne Gould
During a stop to allow those behind to catch up, Raymond crouched. Wincing, he said he wasn't feeling well. He got up and walked when the rally proceeded, but stopped again. He said he was light-headed and had a pain in his abdomen. Police asked if he wanted a ride back to camp but he said no.
He recovered a bit and marched on.
A block later, he stopped again. I thought for sure he wouldn't be able to go any further. The whole rally stopped, the organizer saying, “We won't leave a warrior behind.”
Then the organizer called for women drummers to come up. Within a minute we were encircled by these women, singing for Raymond. I stood behind him and a woman asked me to move. She had her hand extended toward him. “I'm praying for him”, she said. Another woman smudged him with sage.
The song stopped. Raymond got up for a second but bent back down. It wasn't looking good. Then he stood up again. He looked behind and put his arm in the air, acknowledging the crowd and telling them he was okay.
He never showed weakness again during the march and proceeded with the rally with more energy than ever, shouting "You can't stop me, Harper" and the like. He went on to deliver a speech at Parliament Hill. It was amazing to see that, the power of the women and the drums. I'll never forget it.
~Lenny Carpenter
Note: All of the above images come from the Standing Bear Network on Facebook. These images, and everything posted on this blog from Native American and Indigenous sources, are posted here because I regard them as necessary to healthy spiritual growth, political consciousness, and reparations. We can't go through our lives as healthy and whole people without the meaning of these images and theses words being central to our lives.
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