Dr. Duke Redbird

Through the NNA V1 project, I was able to connect w/ the legendary Dr. Duke Redbird. Like all of the artists featured on the compilation, he is an inspiration to me. It's been a honour to spend some quality time w/ Duke in person over the last couple of years. Listening to his poetry and words give me hope and a greater understanding of the world in which we live. Below is one of Duke's poems, written three years ago during a tenure at OCAD in Toronto. It contains a universal message for all! PEACE

THE POWER OF THE LAND

by Duke Redbird

In every Nation, in every Clan,
The Elders to a person.
Whether woman or a man,
Shared a common truth,
One Truth to understand,
The Spirit of the People
Is Equal
To the Power of the Land.

The Mother of us all
The sacred Mother Earth,
Is constant in her giving,
And perpetual in her birth,
In meadows and in fields,
Where weeds and flowers grow,
She conceives the summer showers,
And spawns the winter snows.
In forests and in mountains,
She gives the birds that fly,
Every type of wing,
Then coaxes the wind to join,
In harmony, when they begin to sing.
In brooks and streams,
And rivers as they flow,
She generates the dreams
And makes the fires glow.
And in every creature,
Whether large or small
She buries gems of wisdom
In them all,
And in every grain of sand,
She plants the knowledge,
Of the Power of The Land.
And those that honour,
Her creations,
And acknowledge her grand design,
She gives the templates,
Of the sacred,
And the patterns of the divine.
And then with certain knowledge,
This to understand,
That the spirit of the people,
Is equal,
To the Power of the Land.