Welcome to “Indigenous Stories of Uncertain Times,” an ongoing open call series to share perspectives and reflections on the pandemic from Indigenous people and communities. For each post I’m donating to a cause supporting COVID relief in Indian Country. For more information on the series, submission instructions, or if you would like to contribute to author honorariums and donations, please see this post.
By Mr Little Cat
Mr Little Cat (Diné and Havasupai) is a genderqueer, artist and activist who resides in Omaha NE. Their purpose is to uplift the Indigenous and LGBTQIA2S+ communities. You can follow their work on instagram at @DisarmingAllure.
I’m come from the land of red dirt and red canyons
Some people, call us The Red People
I’m born after Valentine’s Day; red hearts
Red fire flames burning at ceremonies
A red velvet blouse my grandmas wears
Dad wasn’t in the picture, my anger is red
I felt shame when I got my first period; red stains
I noticed my Mom drinking a lot of red tinted drinks
I’m too familiar with skin becoming reddish from anger
My school work had a lot more red markings than blue markings
My art teacher recommend me to take up pottery, some from of therapy with red clay
But I found sick relief seeing red come out of my skin
I wish for my life to be of red carpets and red roses
All I got was red stretch marks and cystic acne
I grew up to have Red Pride if it only came to sports
Too many red states, rapidly decline of my people
I’m a red target for racism, hatred, violence
I live my life in red ominous shadows
But I wear my red heart shaped sunglasses
It seems my life has too many red stop signs
I find myself beautiful with red lipstick on
I sometimes cry so hard that my eyes get bloodshot red
I’m exhausted, I wish too often for a red line
To me, a red dress is not only pretty
It now represents trauma, suffering, silence, violence
Red blood from the murdered
Red bodies being buried in the red dirt
Bold red font of the missing
Those red hearts aching from grief
I could easily be a MMIW, I wear red for awareness
I wear red to honor the murdered and missing
This color impacts my life and livelihood
The color red
The donation for Mr Little Cat’s post will go to the Radical Indigenous Mutual Aid Fund, which supports radical (non-charity anti-capitalist anti-colonial) Indigenous Mutual Aid organizing efforts by individuals, collectives, and other organizations (excluding non-profits).