Le Lac Huron [English translation]

On the first morning I fell

To my knees before my mother

I was made to drink the milk of dogs

Heated on rocks

And to this day

When my blood boils

When I feel the storm rising

I can howl until the wolves

Come to lick my face

I knew how to read the marks of time

On the bark of trees

I knew how to count the marble shards

On the skin of snakes

For thousands, for million of years

That was enough

But still they came to get my children

For their federal schools

Tonight I walk

As before, we walked

When the moon was large

On the shore of the lake, on the shore of lake Huron

I was made to live to different rules

I was made to follow different laws

I was told “little one, the wind does not rise

On eagles’ feathers”

I can longer recognise your footsteps

Nor draw my speech

I couldn’t even write words of love to you anymore

On my painted face

Tonight I walk…

The world has turned too quickly

It has carried you straight ahead

You did not have the time to take

Your roots with you

On the day when you realise that your story

Is too young

There’ll be nobody left in the Indian Reservation

We saw the last caribou fall

At the feet of the whitefaces

Exhausted, he was dreaming on his feet

Against the walls of canvas

I don’t even know what the great manitous

Must think about it

When the night falls, I lose my way

Amongst all these new stars

Tonight I walk...

• Artist:Francis Cabrel
• Album:Photos de voyages