Louis Riel's Address to the Jury

Kim Morrissey
From:   Batoche. Regina, Sask.: Coteau Books, 1989.

Gentlemen of the Jury:
I cannot speak
English well, but am trying
because most       here
speak English

When I came to the North West
I found the Indians suffering
I found the half-breeds
eating the rotten pork
of the Hudson Bay Company
and the whites
deprived

And so:
We have made petitions       I
have made petitions
We have taken time; we have tried
And I have done my duty.

My words are
worth something.

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