In the very
beginning of life
my life was that of the herb.
I lived of the herb and the plants and
the trees and the roots,
but that life has gone.
Then my life was that of the buffalo.
I lived of the buffalo-sustained life for clothing,
for warmth in the winter, the spring.
In ceremonies, in prayers,
my life is that of the buffalo,
but that life has gone.
My life is that of the white man.
I do things like the white man,
I talk like the white man,
I dress like the white man,
and that life has gone.
That life was in the world of materialism.
A new generation has come.
My life is that of the black tail deer.
I will go back to the top of the mountains;
there I will replenish myself.
I will come back with the morning star
to purify the waters,
and after I purify the waters,
I will return back to the top of the mountain,
and at the end of time
I will return to replenish the earth.
I am the black tail deer.
A new nation made up of all colors of man
for you to see.
The black tail deer really is a brown deer after all. |