To Reveal and Correct Misconceptions
About Indigenous peoples' history and presence in the land considered Yellowstone National Park
Boozhoo! Aaniin! Welcome to another edition of An Irritable Métis. Miigwech to all of you new paid subscribers, especially those of you who upgraded from free subscriptions. That tells me this is worth sticking around for, and for that I am most grateful. I’ve also hatched an idea for content exclusive to paid subscribers that will hopefully make it even more worthwhile, and this will be launching in the next couple weeks. If you’re still on the fence and don’t want to miss out on this landmark event when it arrives unexpectedly, unannounced, and triumphantly unheralded in your inbox or substack app, it’s never too late to support independent writing….
The other evening I sat reflecting – as Indigenous people from various cultures have been doing for many, many generations prior to any European contact – while shucking corn1. A cool breeze had sprung up, the first it seemed for months, heralding a storm that, while never completely materializing, still managed to knock the dust off all the exhausted surfaces of my neighborhood. In the area I live in we have been so fortunate this year to have avoided big fires, with only the faintest hints of smoke from elsewhere only arriving for the first time this week. That can’t be said for so many of my relations in this region and I almost feel guilty for my relief, though we have a month yet in which all this good fortune could reverse. Prayers to all those who are suffering.
A few days ago we hit 100° or more for the tenth time this summer. That is hot for us. The record is eleven days, which we pulled off in 2007. With the forecast we have it’s entirely possible we could match that dubious achievement, or even surpass it; here’s hoping we do not. Montana is so dry right now, as are all the states surrounding us. Prayers everyone is careful.
I am mere hours away from guiding my truck to Yellowstone National Park. I will be there for several days representing the Little Shell Tribe as our “cultural ambassador” to the All Nations Teepee Village as part of a project called Yellowstone Revealed. The opportunity is being provided by an organization called Mountain Time Arts and I am hoping this is the beginning of a long relationship with them. From their Instagram page, here is a rough idea of what it is all about:
The park service has this page about the “associated tribes” in what we now call Yellowstone National Park too. It is well worth taking a look at.
I am very eager to participate. I suspect this is going to be a transformative experience, not just for those of us who get to tell our stories, but for the people who get to hear us do so. I don’t know what to expect, frankly. I’m just wide open to whatever happens.
I leave Yellowstone and proceed immediately to Great Falls for the Little Shell powwow. This is the first one we’ve had since COVID, the first one we’ve had since we received federal recognition in 2019. Three years already! I’m not there in any capacity other than just to enjoy myself and talk to people. If you can make it to Great Falls, please join us in the celebration!
Things don’t slow down for me until after Labor Day. The week I’m back from Great Falls school starts at the University of Montana. I’ve been asked to teach a 400-level class in the Creative Writing Department on storytelling and I’m feeling a little intimidated but whatever. So what if I’ve never so much has taken a university course, much less taught one. We are all in for some “What the?!” moments I think but it will be fun.
Labor Day weekend begins with a presentation in Lewistown for American Prairie (ore details to come soon, I suspect), then I am staying through the weekend for the annual Métis celebration. Again, Lewistown-area folks, I’d love to see you.
Things stay busy through September. Besides the UM class I will be teaching the “Poetry as Spiritual Practice” workshop for Poetry Forge, which is reported full but will return in January for those who couldn’t make this one. Details coming for that in the next couple months as well! Then there is an event in Washington I’ll be participating in (details coming!) as well as a panel called “Gentrification in the Mountain West” with my Butte pal Kathleen McLaughlin IN PERSON! for the Montana Book Festival on Friday, September 16th at 4:00pm at the Missoula Public Library. At least I think I/we are, but neither of us are as yet listed. We’ll see how that plays out….
I think that’s about everything for now. I’m sorry this is kind of a dull post if you aren’t into stuff like this but that’s how it is. I’m also really close to finishing the latest batch of Becoming Little Shell edits and that is exciting to me. It is so close and I can’t wait for people to get a chance to read it … next year.
Miigwech for reading. Have a safe rest-of-summer, Labor Day, all of it. If I’m quiet over the next week or so, don’t freak out!
Okay, in my case “shucking corn” means shoveling handfuls of Smart Food brand Movie Theater Popcorn into my face, but still … everything evolves, doesn’t it? The linked piece to Robin Wall Kimmerer’s essay on corn is a far better read that anything you’ll ever find here, anyway so HERE it is again….
I for one am happy to imagine the "what the?!" moments over at the university. My favorite classes as an undergrad had a good share of that sort of energy and were taught by renegade artists who were essentially using the U for their own poetic purposes, including teaching us baby writers about the joys of literature and writing, apart from commerce, status, etc. Your students will benefit, no matter what you do. (I have to give myself this pep talk fairly regularly and I've been teaching for 25 years! Oy.)
PSA: And in case anyone wants to get in on Poetry as Spiritual Practice, which Chris is teaching at Poetry Forge (online) during the month of September, we have two seats left. After that, we'll have a waiting list for the January session and the folks on that list will get first dibs.
More Info Here: https://poetryforge.mykajabi.com/poetry-as-spiritual-practice
A photographer I follow on Facebook has been posting about the teepees for a week or so with some gorgeous photos, but I’m really happy to hear that this is also some thing that seems like a good thing to you. I took a class from this photographer, Jenny Lynn Golding, and her husband, George Bumann, on listening to animal language last year.  I hope you enjoy all of the things you’re doing, and I’m excited about the poetry class!