A Cornucopia of Activity
You might choose to enjoy
Boozhoo, indinawemaaganidog! Aaniin! That is to say hello, all of my relatives! Welcome to another edition of An Irritable Métis. Happy Dagwaagin to everyone! My favorite season is upon us. The mornings are consistently chilly with temperatures in the low 40s, and early mist rises from the Clark Fork River and unfurls across the valley almost daily until Mishomis, Grandfather Sun, arrives to chase it all back to bed. In the past week the maple tree in my front yard has accelerated their shift from green-to-red and the cottonwoods are turning gold all around me. Meanwhile the dawn chorus is so much different than it was just a few weeks ago, with most of my summer visitors having packed up and left. Most mornings now it’s just me and the local roosters, Canada geese, and magpies; then of course there are the crows and ravens and the starlings and sparrows. But let us not forget the chickadees! They are “gijigijigaaneshiinh” in Ojibwe, which still sounds adorable, and they are always present. All of these relatives are such excellent company to begin the day that I’m in no hurry to abandon my morning perch out on the porch, even if it means additional layers. Of course those layers are mostly flannel and wool, which makes dagwaagin a good time for smart dressing, doesn’t it?
I realize there is a ton of stuff coming up – not counting visits to students of all ages in schools all over Montana – that I haven’t mentioned. This post is to rectify all that. Remember, you may always check my relatively new IRRITABLE EVENTS page and it might even be up-to-date. I hope I see some of you out on the road. I’ve had the opportunity to meet several of you on recent trips (reflections coming soon!) and that is always wonderful.
I don’t know how much interest these things carry for those of you outside of where my travels take me; I’ll be back with the usual bloviations next time. Meanwhile, remember you can always help support these endeavors by becoming a paid subscriber. It really is very helpful….
September 28 – Superior, Montana
I did an event at the library in Superior when OSJ came out and they made a cake that featured the cover of the book in the icing. I don’t expect such extravagance this time. Importantly, this time around I will be joined by my friend and previous Montana Poet Laureate, Mark Gibbons. It should be a great time!
October 3 – Missoula, Montana
This presentation is related to the 2023 NEA Big Read, which this year in Missoula will be The Cold Millions by Jess Walter. Dig the lowdown HERE.
October 4 – Lincoln, Montana
October 9 – Livingston, Montana
My usual rambling story about the Little Shell, Bizhiki, and whatever else comes to mind in the heat of the moment, in two locations practically back-to-back. In this case, I’ll also be speaking to students during the day leading up to the event, also in both places, which I always enjoy doing. Here are the details:
The Montana-based Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians became the 574th Indian tribe to be recognized by the United States government in December, 2019, after over 150 years of trying. The tribe’s origins, and its future, are deeply connected to the Métis people. The Métis are one of the three Indigenous peoples recognized by Canada as “original inhabitants” of their nation, while in the United States Métis contributions to its history have been largely erased. It is past time that was changed.
No discussion of the buffalo and the animal’s significance to Indigenous people on the Northern Plains is complete without also talking about the Métis people. But who are the Métis, how are they related to the Little Shell, and what do they have to do with Montana? This program will answer these questions and discuss how the entire Métis economy and culture was built on their unique relationship with the buffalo from the days when the herds were so large that, “the whole country was one robe.”
Lincoln! Livingston! I love the ‘ell1 out of both of you!
October 10 – Missoula, Montana
Friends, this is THE BIG ONE. It’s all about RWK, yes, but I have been awarded the incredible honor of being asked to introduce her at this event. I also get to drive her back and forth to a couple non-public things. I couldn’t be more stoked. Truly.
October 14 – Great Falls, Montana
This is another incredibly exciting one for me. I’m going to talk, tell stories, etc. Basically whatever I feel like. It’s at the Little Shell Elder’s Center but it’s also open to the public. If you’re in the area, come check us out!
November 1 – Missoula, Montana
This is a three-day conference I hope a bunch of people can attend. Details HERE. Here’s the lowdown:
From the flooding of Celilo Falls to the damming of Mni Sose (Lakota), Awaati (Hidatsa), or the Missouri River, Indigenous relationships to water have been under attack by colonial development projects for centuries. The Stolen Waters Summit will gather leading voices of Indigenous resistance and resurgence in the Missouri, Columbia, Colorado, and Rio Grande river basins. Talks and panels will feature scholars, attorneys, activists, writers, and artists as well as graduate students from the Blackfeet Nation, Navajo Nation, Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, and Pueblo tribes. The conference will also hail a resurgence of traditional cooking, food, and farming techniques and celebrate the poetry and music flowering in the cracks of colonial infrastructures.
I am hosting a panel discussion the first night of the conference at 6pm in the Payne Center. The Payne Center is the most beautiful space on campus. Come join us!
November 10 – Missoula, Montana
This is it, the first “official” celebration of my Montana Poet Laureateness and I’m doing it with one of my favorite people – and certainly future Montana Poet Laureate – Corrie Williamson, in one of my favorite places, the Missoula Public Library. The People’s House! DETAILS of what is going on are still being determined but I hope everyone in the area can come out. We’ll make it worth your time!
December 17-21 – Yellowstone National Park
Back to one of my favorite places on the planet, the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park to facilitate another workshop. This will be beautiful. Here is a taste of what it’s about:
“In every moment, whether we like it or not and whether we know it or not, we are advancing values and influencing systems that will continue long past our lifetimes,” write the editors in the introduction to What Kind of Ancestor Do You Want to Be? (2021, University of Chicago Press). “These values and systems shape communities and lives that we will never see. The ways we live create and reinforce the foundation of life for future generations. We are responsible for how we write our values, what storylines we further and set forth—the world we choose to cultivate for the lives that follow ours. So how are we to live?”
Details and registration info HERE
Miigwech as always for sticking with me here, my friends. Again, I hope to see some of you out and about! I know all of this is a lot to take….
Sorry, not sorry….
I belong to a book discussion group on Zoom which just read a novel by Gwen Florio. She attended the meeting and mentioned that she had been a reporter for a newspaper in Missoula. I asked her if she knew you. The most wonderful smile lit up her face as she told us how wonderful you and what you do for young people in Montana. So I am sending you her regards from Florida and mine from North Carolina. It is a pleasure to read your blog.
Irritable Events 💯🏆👍 the only kind! Seriously this lineup looks so great.