Once We Were Proud
Robert Bennett was born in December of 1956 in the small town of Pirasens, Germany to a German mother and a Native-American father serving in the United States Army. Robert spoke only German until he moved with his family to the US. He moved around for years as a military brat, and after graduating from high school in Texas in 1975, he joined the Army.
Robert was stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany where he was able to see his mom and grandparents every weekend. During his time in Europe, he traveled to 14 countries. Upon his return to the US, he served three more years. While stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington in 1980, he witnessed Mount Saint Helens explode. Robert is the father of seven daughters and is working toward his degree in history at CFCC.
Once we roamed the open prairies
We were many and loved the land
The Buffalo was our way of life
Our subsistence, our food and our lodges
The fur, our blankets, the bones, our tools
Our way of life was simple, it was pure
Many moons later, Inquisition
The Incas, the Mayans, the Aztecs too
Our brothers to the South were slaughtered too
Our women were raped and butchered
Women and children were their slaves
They take our Gods, in the name of greed
They take our food and starve my people
In the name of Christianity
Then the White man comes and steals our land
They buy it for pennies and build cities
New York, Boston, and more people came
First Mystic River they come in the night
Again they slaughter my people
The White man takes our trees the Creator provided
For my people and steal my land
Manifest Destiny it is called, in the name of greed
We roamed this land in search of food, to live in peace
To raise our families, to pray to the Creator
They call us savages, yet call the kettle black
Yet, they want our land by any means possible
There’s Sandy Creek and Wounded Knee
They slaughter my people and jump with glee
They give us soiled blankets and keep us warm
To see my people die from disease
They out us on reservations with bad meat
Not good to eat and watch my people die
They take away our dances to the Great Spirit
Our language and our prayer to my Creator
They take our children to learn the white man’s way
They take our pride, they kill our chiefs
They sent them to prison or to far away lands
To teach them a lesson in the white man’s way
We are the true Americans for thousands of years
We roamed these lands, a free spirit with the land
We hunted the deet for their hides, we eat the meat
To feed our tribes, our women, our children
Our elders too, we respect those who come before us
Their stories, their battles, their tribes’ histories
From the beginning of time
The Apaches, Comanches, and the Lakota Sioux
The Crow, the Blackfoot too, the Iroquois, the Cherokee,
The Choctaws, The Kiowas too
Our Pride is coming back to stand as one
To my Creator, to your God
We stand as one people, united for a cause
We are Americans, the last to vote
And Citizenship too
We were hunted like animals to no end
Women and Children too
By Custer, by Sheridan, by Crook, and Howard too
All we want is peace to hunt, to roam our lands
Is it too much to ask?
To respect my people, to give them dignity
Our language saved America in World War II
Ande defended it in every war
Yet there is no respect
Are we savages? The answer is NO!
Those who stole our land were the savages
In the name of Christianity
We want to live in peace and roam our lands
By Robert O. Bennett, United States Army
