For the true warriors of the world, fighting is the last resort to solving a conflict. Every effort is made to avoid bloodshed. (p150) - Joy Harjo

Song 4. Sioux-Soldier-Sold There is the law of the Creator which Tells us: Do not take what is not yours to take. Do not take more than you can use. Respect life and the giver of life. Give back. Defend your people when there is need For defense. And when a people strips your spirit of Your body and sells your “red skins” for Bounty, then they are the ones Who have broken the law.

I marked myself once with a knife. I was disappearing into the adolescent sea of rage and destruction. The mark of pain assured me of my own reality. The cut could speak. It had a voice that cried out when I could not make a sound in my defense. I never made such a mark again. Instead I chose to slash art onto canvas, pencil marks onto paper, and when I could no longer carry the burden of history, I found other openings. I found stories. (p91)

She thinks of the 4 a.m. lonelinesses that have folded
her up like death, discordant, without logical and
beautiful conclusion.