Cosmics Hopes Eclipse Dark Gavels
By Zach Arquette
Student Project: Haskell Indian Nations University
Artist Bio: Xakái Arquette (Yakama) graduated Haskell Indian Nations University in Spring 2022. There he studied Environmental Science with emphasis on topics pertaining to tribal communities including ethnobotany, ecophysiology, toxicology, watershed hydrology, food sovereignty, and permaculture. Along with a strong research background in the aforementioned areas, Xakái also extensive experience in journalism, videography, and photography; especially utilized as a staff writer and Editor-in-Chief for The Indian Leader, HINU's student-run newspaper.
He also has a keen interest in videos, creative writing, biking, hiking, and exploring the corners of the Pacific Northwest, the homelands of the Yakama Nation.
With barbed wire
Cascading
Like black water
Suffocating
The unbeknownst
And rubber bullets
Censoring Cries for help
Bruising
The fallacy of honor
From which they stand
In oil-stained boots
Like Dark Gavels
Striking Red Palms
Reaching for clean water
Songs of their elders
And braids of their children
Forced to drink
And breathe
Tainted spirits
And Memories
Their songs Muted
by white Noise
and corrupted water
Immersing effervescent beings
Bubbling in joy and agony
Swathed in dreams of
First Autonomy
Remembering
Salvation is birthed
Through reciprocal relations
That flow like currents
From the whims of
Our Cosmic Hopes