Landscape and Literature: Ray Young Bear, Mary Swander, Michael Carey
Poet Ray Young Bear begins his reading by playing a drum and singing a song that he borrowed from Black Lodge Singers of Blackfeet Tribe in Montana. He notes that he incorportated the Meskwawki words, “over here, over here, we are calling you” into the song. He says he feels like he has been singing that song for months during the Meskwaki tribal governance crisis. He relates the nature of the crisis by reading letters that he wrote to the Native American poet Tiffany Midge after the death of the Blackfoot/Gros Ventre novelist James Welch. Young Bear reads an essay that that also reflects on the crisis, “Squirrel Hunter that I Am: An Editorial.” Young Bear says that politics and literature are not very far apart; both forms are about who you express yourself to and how and if you are effective. He reads two poems, and then shares gifts with the event’s hosts.
Mary Swander prefaces her reading by explaining that she has lived in both western and eastern Iowa, and feels, accordingly, deeply appreciative of the Iowa landscape. She reads a passage about people see the Iowa landscape from The Land of the Fragile Giants. She shares that she used to live in a one-room schoolhouse in Kalona, IA. She relates some of the customs of the Amish community in Kalona, and then reads a poem related to the death and funeral of one of her Amish neighbors. Swander then introduces and reads a passage from The Desert Pilgrim, her memoir about her experience with healers in New Mexico.
Michael Carey, a poet and Iowa farmer, explains that soil is a living organism, and, as such, is rich subject for him to write about. He reads a series of poems related to his experience of the Iowa landscape.
In: International Writing Program Archive
Authors: Ray Young Bear , Mary Swander, Michael Carey
Date Recorded: October 10, 2003
Works Read: Mary Swander reads two books:The Desert Pilgrim; and The Land of the Fragile Giants, a collection of art and writing about Iowa's Loess Hills, co-written with Cornelia Mutel. Swander reads a poem: "Heaven." Michael Carey reads the following poems: "Till;" "Standing on a Field of Virgin Prairie;" "The Holy Ground;" "Setting Traps;" "Country Dance;" "Once When the Ground Was Holy;" "The Arrogance of Staying Put;"
Program: --
Format: reading
Topics: Meskwaki tribe; Native American tribal politics; the Loess Hills; Seeds Savers Exchange; Amish culture; agriculture; soil; farming