Harjo’s powerful performances combine her poetry with Native and other music.
grates poetry with traditional Native songs and music. Harjo has pro- duced five award-winning albums and appeared in venues across the United States and other countries, first with her band Poetic Justice and currently, with Arrow Dynamics. In 2009, she won a Native American Music Award for Best Female Artist of the Year. Like herself, Harjo’s poetry and music are a combination of grace
and grit, punctuated with a staccato beat of defiance. The weight of the issues she covers in her works does not bring her down but rather seems to move her forward. Resiliency, whether of an individual or Native culture, is a prevalent theme in her pieces, as in the poem she affectionately wrote for her husband called “My Man’s Feet.” She says the title of “An American Sunrise” was inspired by the strength and freshness of youth. “We all come into the world carrying dreams and hearts in our hands,” she says. “There is so much energy, you could be derailed or propelled.” But in the end, Harjo says, “It is about standing like a rock. Native people will outlast the atrocities and what this country becomes.” Harjo has been a mentor and inspiration to many up-and-coming
poets and other students. She has taught at several institutions, includ- ing at the University of California, Los Angeles, and most recently at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. However, she returned to her hometown of Tulsa to work on a variety of projects, including an an- thology of Native poetry due out next year. She is also discussing mak- ing a film based on her poem “Remember.” Since her appointment as the U.S. Poet Laureate, however, she has
been on a whirlwind tour of speaking and other engagements to pro- mote the art of poetry. For many, Harjo’s appointment represents a new height in recognition for all American Indian artists. “The response has been astounding,” Harjo says. “We have all these wonderful Native poets and finally, maybe, there is a door opened for Native people.” X
Anne Bolen is assistant managing editor of American Indian magazine.
REMEMBER
Remember the sky that you were born under, know each of the star's stories. Remember the moon, know who she is. Remember the sun's birth at dawn, that is the strongest point of time. Remember sundown and the giving away to night. Remember your birth, how your mother struggled to give you form and breath. You are evidence of her life, and her mother's, and hers. Remember your father. He is your life, also. Remember the earth whose skin you are: red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth brown earth, we are earth. Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them, listen to them. They are alive poems. Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the origin of this universe. Remember you are all people and all people are you. Remember you are this universe and this universe is you. Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you. Remember language comes from this. Remember the dance language is, that life is. Remember.
Reprinted from ”She Had Some Horses: Poems.” Copyright 2008, 1983 by Joy Harjo. Used with permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 25
PHOTO BY SHAWN MILLER, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
