Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com

                 Upon the Return of Artifacts to Wounded Knee

                    “We hope the spirits are on their way now.”

                                       -Richard Broken Nose

A knife, a needle, an arrow, a pair of shoes
Some beads, a shirt, a drum, a tobacco pouch
A little girl’s doll, fragments of a ***
And tools for completing one’s daily chores

They are not artifacts; they are not displays
They are the ordinary necessities of life
Stolen from the dead hands of innocents
To be numbered, indexed, filed, boxed, and mocked

These things are sacred now, part of the Great Dance of Creation
We pray the spirits will come and take them home


As plundered items return to Wounded Knee, decisions await (artdaily.com)