Public Record 1831
Esther G. Belin
1. Chief Justice John Marshall created our mythic image: “domestic dependent nations.”
2. The basic principle of modern federal Indian Policy: small insertions of the “Doctrine of Discovery” serum, prescribed during each new fiscal year. Side effects from long term use: Genocide.
3. Indian Health Service: “How long has your Indian blood been killing you?”
4. The secretary took his words. They are now Public Record:
the eager wait to read and write in solaced tunnels, under covers, on side of bridges
the hungry are eager to swallow, fluid, solid, both at the same time
they swallow
swill
down
small packages like
a lover’s tongue like
a stirring pot
like a long time after
death has occurred
the record
records
recordings like
stained linen parchment
cataloguing like
the rhythmic swinging of limbs
the nestling of the unborn
the tidal pull, saturating the tender lining
between
the scratchy turning of
histories
the mechanical swagger like
the latest trading post novel
post-
indian
postage
like a forever stamp
Aszdaan Tlogi nishli
I am and I lick the corners
of the I am that I am today
stuffed neatly into a medical bill
oh
we are out of again
again
the prescribed medication
the pharmacist asks for my signature
as public record
again