Louis Riel's Address to the Jury
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.
.
by Kim Morrissey
from Batoche
Coteau Books, 1989