Untitled Spoken Word No. 2 lyrics

[Intro]
White man have been sneaking up on us for years

[Verse 1]
Minding my indigenous business isn't as easy as it sounds
When I'm trying to find a good sugar cereal
Someone might want to touch my braids
Or ask me to give them an Indian name
My calculated response must sometimes include not being a mean Indian
An insensitive Indian
The kind of Indian that might complain about having our land taken
Our language lost
And our ceremonies criminalized
And sometimes being an as*h*le is the best option

[Verse 2]
I endow you with the Indian name "tsadu'u"
Which mеans "dog" in my native tongue
And you might be asking yoursеlf "Why 'dog'?"
Because in the same way a dog doesn't have enough sense to disregard its own feces
You keep messing with Native people, wanting more Indian names
And romantic notions of your sense of pioneer superiority
Without realizing that sometimes
Just sometimes
The only good pioneer is a dead pioneer
Because there will always be another settler to take your place
And begin the cycle all over again
[Verse 3]
"What's your Indian name?"
"Can I have an Indian name?"
So I name you "atsa-kwetadu"
Which means "sunburn" or literal translation is "red"
Because you have the skin of someone who seems to be in a fight with the sun
A fight that you're losing
When some say "You lost. We won. Get over it."
I can't help but think in terms of the sun you're losing
The sun is winning
Get over it
The only thing worse than an angry Indian, a spiteful Indian, is an insensitive Indian
Because, we shouldn't be mad, right? We should be grateful
For iPhones, and education, and Teflon pots, and flower shops
And Capitalism, and student loans
And just enough English to communicate with you, your new Indian name in English
Which is "white person who talks too much, presumes too much, and has no boundaries"
Which is a mouthful