COMM 161 - Online - Readings - I Lost My Talk PDF

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Download COMM 161 - Online - Readings - I Lost My Talk PDF

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Introduction The writings of Rita Joe, a Mi’kmaq, are about First Nations people. She was born on a reservation in Whycocomagh, on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. At the age of 12, after both her parents had died, she requested that she be placed in an Indian residential school in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. An acclaimed poet, Rita Joe published several collections, including Lnu and Indians We’re Called (1991). She became a member of the Order of Canada in 1990 and was active in Aboriginal issues until her death in 2007. This poem was written in 1989.

“I Lost My Talk” by Rita Joe I lost my talk The talk you took away. When I was a little girl At Shubenacadie school.

You snatched it away: I speak like you I think like you I create like you The scrambled ballad, about my word.

Two ways I talk Both ways I say, Your way is more powerful.

So gently I offer my hand and ask, Let me find my talk So I can teach you about me....