"I Lost My Talk" by Rita Joe Rita Joe was a famous Mi'kmaq poet and songwriter who contributed to writing many inspiring poems. Her poems are about the traumatic experience in Residential School, Indigenous identity, the rights of women, and her life experiences as an Indigenous woman. Her poetry educates the reader about the importance of indigenous culture and identity. "I Lost My Talk" is also one of Rita Joe's influential works of art. In this poem, she expresses the pain of losing her indigenous identity in a residential school and the hope of relearning it. In this blog post, we'll analyze the poem extensively and learn more about the effect of residential schools system. Poem Analysis In the first stanza, the poet expresses the pain and anguish of losing her native language at Shubenacadie School as a little girl. She was not allowed to speak her native language and practice her culture, which made her lose her indigenous identity. The word "...