Chapter 7

               Fabric of Their
      
                  Ancestors

             










                          I am Tapestry.

                            I remember.

       After imprisonment,
                after displacement.
                       Some return.
                          Some find new homes.
                             Many stand up
                          for themselves.
                     Stand up for others.
​




​
I remember.

​
​

                I see a woman
                    and her children,
                      of the Menominee Tribe.
                          
                             Carol Warrington.

    1970, Chicago.
 Close to the
    Wrigley Field
 baseball stadium.
    Evicted from
​        her home
       - housing     
   discrimination -
   Carol protests
      by moving
           her family
       into a teepee.

       Her children,
   her family,
 beneath the fabric
                           of their ancestors.

                                             Safe.



​
                           Carol meets
                        with lawmakers
               to advocate for land rights.
                     For Native peoples.
              Her family. Her community.







    
I remember more.
​

​
   
         Shigesato Murao,
                      a Japanese Amercian survivor
                           of the prison camps
                 here in these United States.

             1981, Illinois.
                 Shig gives testimony
                      at a redress hearing.​

​                             He recounts
                        his memories
                of forced incarceration.

           Shig
     speaks
      of his
  resilience.

    Of
 longing
         for
​​  acceptance.


​And Shig’s stories
 - and the stories of
           other camp survivors -
       are heard by the world.
    His pain, their pain,
        finally
​            acknowledged.

                  Shig's story,
           - like Peggie's story -
​                 woven into
                     the fabric
                         of our
​                               memories.

 






    2025.
Illinois reckons with
     Indigenous histories.
          Confronts pains of the past.
                  Violence perpetrated
                       by the government.
                            Illinois gives back
                                Native lands.
                            Lands never theirs.
                     Lands stolen
              from Chief Shab-en-nay.

     


I see the descendants

    of Chief Shab-en-nay

          They dance,

                 dressed in the

                         vibrant fabrics

                                   of their people.








                I am Tapestry.

                      You, travelers,

              helped me remember.

                              I will never forget again.




My final ask is that you

           weave our memories

                                      of truth

                  - memories of sorrow,

​                        memories of joy,

                             memories of resilience -

                        into a vibrant fabric

               that holds

         the full, true histories

     of Indigenous peoples,

      peoples of Japanese descent,

            and of all peoples    

                    entwined with

                              histories of

                                       your own.





                  Will you remember?

              The truth
​
                    is always

​                         in your hands.
​