ALL CREATIONS begin with an intent, a spark of light. The spark for the anthology gathered us around it, all of the poetry editors, all of the assistance in the many forms. We have done the best we can and acknowledge that no project is definitive. There could be numberless anthologies issued on the same theme, and each would be distinctly different. We offer up with gratitude this gathering, for behind each poem and poet are multitudes of poets and family ancestors. Please forgive us for any omissions or failures. And even celebrate this circle of indigenous poets and poetry, that they go forth to continue to inspire those who are coming up. There are many, so many more than when the older of us began listening to and writing poetry.
We are grateful for those in our tribal nations and communities who have taken care of our oral arts, despite the destruction that has come down from disrespect and disregard of the original inhabitants of these lands. They suffered as they held tight, and here we are, fed. It is because of them that we recall our tribal ways of doing and making, given by the tribal communities in which we were raised, whether they be in our homelands or in urban communities.
So many efforts and support structures have brought this collection into being. We would like to acknowledge the Department of English at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, especially Allen Dunn, department chair; Margaret Lazarus Dean, director of creative writing; and English Department staff including Judith Welch, Donna Bodenheimer, and Kayla Allen. We depended especially on Jeremy Reed, Joy Harjo’s assistant at UTK. He was there ensuring the details during each part of the process. Allison Davis also stepped in to assist with early editing. We are grateful to the students at UTK who helped lay the groundwork. We would also like to acknowledge Stanton B. Garner Jr. for his advice.
We are grateful for the support of the Eidson Foundation at the University of Georgia for their assistance, and for James Matthew Kliewer, from the University of Georgia, for all his editing work.
Without the continued belief and support of Jill Bialosky, our inspired editor at W. W. Norton, and the supportive staff, especially Drew Weitman, we would not be placing this book into your hands, to share. We also depended on the warrior skills of agent Kathleen Anderson, and our intrepid permissions editor, Frederick Courtwright. For translation assistance we thank Margaret Noodin and Sherwin Bitsui. We would like to thank the Tulsa Artist Fellowship for their support during the final assembly of these poems. And special thanks to Allison Hedge Coke, Carolyn Dunn, Phyllis "Coochie" Cayan, and Larry Evers for helping us to locate some of these poets.
We have had much assistance as this project developed. We would like to acknowledge Emmi Whitehorse for the use of her stunning painting as cover art, and Jill Momaday for helping us contact her father, N. Scott Momaday. We also must acknowledge Scott for his trailblazing inspiration and offerings as a poet, writer, and artist. We would not be who we are as Native writers without his efforts and creations in this world. And there’s Robert Dale Parker. We relied greatly on his groundbreaking scholarship that resulted in his collection of early Native poetry, Changing Is Not Vanishing. We would like to thank Lisa Brooks for her scholarship and the discussion of Eleazar, and her reminder that New England Native poets are a force to be acknowledged. We remember all the editors of those earlier anthologies of Native literature, the anthology ancestors.
There are many who are not named here. May your efforts find reward in this creation.
We are in service to the peoples, lands, and inhabitants of our tribal nations and are grateful for this opportunity to share the poetry that has inspired so many, and keeps us going through times that challenge us to remember those original teachings that are most often spoken and sung through poetry.
Mvto/Yakoke.
I would like to add gratitude to my husband, Owen Chopoksa Sapulpa, whose listening and knowledge inspires me. And for my people, the Muscogee Creek Nation, the Mvskoke, especially those who take care of the songs, poetry, and stories that feed our spirits. And mvto, mvto, mvto, mvto to my sisters LeAnne Howe and Jennifer Elise Foerster for this part of the journey. And finally, with gratitude for all the editors, advisors, and helpers without whose assistance this collection would not exist. Mvto, thank you for the source of life that emerges in poetry and song to sustain us.
First, I would like to thank Hashtali, whose eye is the sun. I rarely begin with the sacred, but because so many of our poetry ancestors are in this collection, it feels right to acknowledge all the powers that have been with us on the journey. I would also like to acknowledge my southeastern ancestors on both sides of my tribal families, the Billys (Choctaw) and the Bennetts (adopted Cherokee family); and my sons, Joseph Craig and Randall Craig, my husband Jim Wilson, and my granddaughters Chelsey Craig and Alyssa Warren. This book would not have come into the world without the leadership of Joy Harjo. Thank you, Joy, for pulling us together. Thank you, Jennifer Elise Foerster, for holding us together. It has been my enormous pleasure to bring the book into the world.
With gratitude for all who receive, return to, and return us to poetry, a breath of creation; for the poets, artists, and writers of the Institute of American Indian Arts; for the essential inspiration of my family and ancestors; for all of my teachers, especially Joy Harjo and LeAnne Howe—thank you for your enduring strength and wisdom and for inviting me to work with you on this immense endeavor; and for the guidance, time, and efforts of the regional contributing editors. I am humbled to participate in this truly collective vision.