WHAT I LEARNED IN SCHOOL
In grade four
Mrs. Pony wrote Hanukah across the blackboard
And in front of the entire class
She asked me if she had spelled it properly
It was awkward
Because I didn’t know if she spelled it right
Because everyone else was starring at me
And I knew that they were wondering why she was asking me
I said that I thought it might be spelled with a C in the front
In grade seven
Mr. Vernor gave me a pep talk
For homework we were supposed to do an assignment on our family backgrounds
All week kids got up in front of the class and talked
I told him I wasn’t going to do the assignment
He implored that I had so much to talk about
He was visibly mad at me when I refused
I churned like a fast river over rocks
In high school
Mr. Richardson in Geography did a unit on Native Issues
I did a presentation on something
He stabbed questions at me trying to draw blood
I didn’t know what he wanted me to say
I didn’t have the answers
Later
When a student asked if Indians got “free” University
He looked at me and replied, “If they can get in”
GUILT SHIRT
I got a shirt at a powwow
It had four hands reaching inwards
It represented the four directions
Harmony
Peace
Sacredness
But I wore it at school
And a kid made fun of me
So I put it into the trash
To this day
My mom still mentions it
What ever happened to that nice shirt?
Remember you got it at that give-away?
You were wearing it in one of your school pictures!
What happened to that shirt?
COLD FEET
We used to play this game
It definitely wasn’t fun
We’d take off our socks
In the dead cold month of January
Maybe it was a little bit fun
Our backyard was half an acre
Of snow
We’d race bare foot to see who could go farther
God dam god DAM God DAM DAM GOD dam it was fucking cold
Like razor blades across your eyes
If you couldn’t go any farther
You’d lie down on your back
With your feet in the air
Safe from the stabbing ice-blood-glass-shards
You might laugh or cry or freak
Knowing
You still had to go back the way you came
HONOUR SONG
Honour Song is a 4 minute audio-visual art piece inspired by the contributions Aboriginal peoples in Canada have made during the Second World War (and other wars). It is also inspired by their experiences of discrimination … It is my hope that this Song honours and highlights the experiences of Aboriginal veterans who had to cope with the difficult memories of war, while at the same time dealing with the fact that the Canadian Government did not honour their wartime efforts with equality. Honour Song draws upon the stories and recordings of seven Aboriginal veterans.
-Howard Adler
Editor’s note: Please be advised that this video contains graphic images that may be disturbing to some viewers.
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Howard Adler holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Indigenous Studies from Trent University, and a Master Of Arts Degree in Canadian Studies from Carleton University. In 2009 Howard won the Canadian Aboriginal Youth Writing Challenge. In September 2010 his documentary film “Niizaatikaang: Return to our Lands” was screened at the Biindigaate Film Festival. Howard is currently the Co-Director of the Asinabka Festival, an indigenous film and media arts festival taking place in Ottawa in June 2012. Howard is Jewish and Ojibwe and a member of Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation in North-western Ontario. (His twin brother Nathan Adler also has a submission in the Indigenous Shtetl special edition.)
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