FIREWEED [Verse 1] I was born where the prairie remembers Where the wind carries stories for miles Where the river still speaks to the willows And the old ones still walk beside us awhile I learned early how to carry burdens How to hold what was never mine Building shelter for everyone around me While forgetting my own heart needed time [Pre-Chorus] So I kept on walking Though my spirit wore thin Searching for a way home To the woman within [Chorus] Like fireweed after the wildfire Growing where the ashes lay I rose from the places that nearly broke me Found my voice along the way I am daughter of survivors I am mother, I am flame I am stitched together by the land and my ancestors And I'm not the same [Verse 2] I sat with men behind prison walls Heard stories hidden beneath the pain Watched hurt become hurt across generations Like thunder rolling across the plains And I carried those stories home with me Until my own body finally spoke The tears I buried beneath responsibility Became the medicine that woke [Pre-Chorus] So I laid down the armor And listened instead To the songs of my grandmothers Still alive inside my chest [Chorus] Like fireweed after the wildfire Growing where the ashes lay I rose from the places that nearly broke me Found my voice along the way I am daughter of survivors I am mother, I am flame I am stitched together by the land and my ancestors And I'm not the same [Bridge] The beadwork taught my hands to pray The paintbrush showed me how to stay The land held stories I couldn't say You were never lost The language of the body returned The language of the earth returned The language of belonging returned And I remembered my name [Final Chorus] Like fireweed after the wildfire Brighter than I've ever been What was broken became a doorway What was wounded learned to mend I am Cree and I am Métis I am every road I've known And every trembling step I've taken Has been leading me home [Outro] The prairie remembers The river still sings And I carry tomorrow In the healing I bring Still growing Still growing Still growing Home