Poet Mahlikah Awe:ri has a suggestion for reconciliation: don't speak

For our latest iteration, we bring together four Indigenous female poets to speak their truth in the sixth edition of the CBC Arts series Poetic License.

When it comes to Black liberation and Indigenous sovereignty, Afro-Indigenous (Kanien'kéhà:ka, Mi'kmaw) artist Mahlikah Awe:ri Enml'ga't Saqama'sgw is done debating. In this poem entitled DON'T SPEAK, Awe:ri's colonial critique is direct and biting with lines like "you buried our stories like you buried our children" — yet she still manages to invite reconciliation and healing.

Awe:ri started writing the poem in 2018 for the Louder than a Bomb Toronto Slam Finals, but its intentions shifted when her mentor Cree elder Vern Harper passed away before it was finished.


An artist with a long resume, this Saturday she crosses another accomplishment off of her bucket list as she takes to the stage as a TED Talk speaker at TEDxDelthorneWomen:Revolutionize.

Watch Awe:ri perform DON'T SPEAK in the video above and follow her at @mahlikah_aweri.

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Video and post text by: Lucius Dechausay


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