“Happy Indigenous Peoples Day! Today I celebrate those ancestors who were on this land first & those who were brought over to become slave labor due to the model of one man. This man helped to create a whole system of colonialism, white supremacy, capitalism, patriarchy, slave Labor, rape, stealing, & lying in the western world. Due to his destructive ways other colonizers came over & we have been in a state of harm = right for over 500 years and counting. Today I celebrate the revolution that all my people participate in just by being alive today. You are making your ancestors proud because your still here to fight another day! They have tried time & time again and are still trying to wipe us out but our spirits are too strong for them, we are too connected for them to ever truly kill what lives inside of us. The struggle continues but unity is the only way we will ever win any fight! Stand together!”- Ayisah Yusuf
Yesterday was Indigenous People’s Day and myself and my friend Valarie Proctor hosted an event at the Patuxent Riverkeepers. During our event we had a water ceremony, went on the water and shared some food & sweets together. We even had our event broadcasted on our local CBS news station.
We started the day with the Valarie & myself being interviewed by Scott Broom of our local DC CBS news. We then did our water ceremony which I led with Valarie drumming. I said a prayer and then people said some prayers into some water from the river and then we poured those prayers back into the river. Then anyone who had any prayers to say out loud said their prayers.
Afterwords a few of us went out on the water in kayaks which was a lot of fun.
Then we ate a little food & some sweets together before most people left.
Then a few of us had some s’mores around the fire before the day was over.
Being Indigenous to me is about connecting to your spirit & the spirits of Mother Earth. I am a water baby which is one reason I connect with the turtle so much & I want to keep protecting our water ways because with out water we are nothing! She is so sacred & we must cherish and help to protect her at all cost because she is our life force & she only sends good things to us down her river banks & ocean swells.
It was a great event which I am hoping we have again next year.
The Life & Times of Ice 