In-Na-Po Retreat

In “Give-Away-Song” Minnesota Poet Laureate Gwen Nell Westerman writes:

This is my give-away—
            because I have enough
                  to share with you
            because I have been given
                  so much
                    health love happiness
                    pain sorrow fear
            to share from the heart
            in a world where words can be
            meaningless when they come
            only from the head.

Westerman’s words embody the heart of what transpired during the third annual Indigenous Nations Poets (In-Na-Po) Mentoring Retreat. In June 2024, seventeen Indigenous poetry fellows from thirteen Native Nations gathered with distinguished Indigenous faculty at the Minnesota Humanities Center. The retreat launched our #LanguageBack initiative, a movement that supports poets working with their traditional language(s).  

This was my third In-Na-Po retreat. The first two I attended as a Fellow; this year I attended as a staff member. Each time I’ve attended a retreat I’m reminded that writing doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Instead, our poems and stories are part of a larger conversation about what it means to be present and attentive in this world. This year’s focus on traditional languages enlarged my understanding of how Indigenous poetics and community nourish each other.

Workshops, inter-art activities, and panel discussions led by established Indigenous writers offered emerging poets a variety of models for how to respectfully and meaningfully engage with their languages. One of the retreat highlights was an excursion to The Loft Literary Center. There Fellows created prints at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA). Under the guidance of MCBA artists Anna Bredeson, Elysa Voshell, and Molly Poganski, In-Na-Poets set two letterpresses and ran a series of prints.

One print included the phrase “thank you” and the other print included the word “language” in multiple Indigenous languages. Fellows worked with In-Na-Po and MCBA staff to choose words that worked within the letterpress’s constraints while also reflecting the diversity of traditional languages spoken during the retreat. The activity was also an exercise in the value and complications of translation, reminding us that translation is rarely a 1:1 substitution of words.

My role was to collate a comprehensive list of the different ways to express “thank you” and “language.” It was such a joy to speak with the fellows and faculty about the different ways they thought about and experienced language and gratitude. Most of the poets shared with me how they learned key phrases in their language and their stories emphasized how language is communal. For many, learning to say “thank you” happened in the context of a relationship—a mentor or relative guiding the poet into language reclamation. The process also spoke to the ruptures created by colonization and forces assimilation—sometimes we were dependent on dictionaries for translation.

In addition to working with traditional languages, poets were encouraged to reflect on how place affects their poetics.  Dakota culture bearer and educator Ramona Stately introduced In-Na-Poets to Bdote. Stately’s generosity in sharing her home place had a profound impact on our retreat. Her stories about how the Dakota people relate to place, both dispossession and reclamation, provided an opening for each participant to consider our own stories about our home places. Place and language are woven together. One of the principles of #LanguageBack is that our traditional languages connect us to one another and to the more-than-human world that surrounds us. It embodies our knowledge and ways of being while pointing us to a future in which we and all our relatives thrive together. #LanguageBack seeks to reestablish the relationships between peoples and between our more-than-human-kin that our Indigenous languages embody. In sharing the regions historic and contemporary significance to the Dakota people, Stately taught us that place, language, and culture are inextricably tied together at Bdote.

At each turn, the In-Na-Poets were met with kindness. Another retreat highlight was visiting Red Lake Nation College. While touring their beautiful facilities the college hosted an impromptu lunch for us. Is there anything more Indigenous than sharing a meal together? The lunch was festive with college staff and In-Na-Poets gathered around the grill, sharing burgers, hot dogs, chips, and corn. That lunch felt like home. People drifted in and out of the kitchen to grab soft drinks or fruit, turned their chairs on the patio to soak up the sunshine. In the background there was laughter and music. One of the things that struck me about the experience is how necessary those moments of connection are—not just for art making, or language learning, but necessary for living.

In-Na-Poets also enjoyed the hospitality extended by the Minnesota State Poet Laureate Gwen Nell Westerman, and Poet Laureate of the City of Minneapolis Heid E. Erdrich. Erdrich and Westerman introduced our fellows to Minnesota’s rich literary community. Throughout the week we were joined by Indigenous Minnesota writers, Louise Erdrich, Linda LeGarde Grover, Marci Rendon, Gerald Vizenor, and Indigenous Nations Poet’s Founding Director, Kimberly Blaeser. Minnesota based editors Jim Perlman (Holy Cow Press), Jeff Shotts (Graywolf Press), and Moheb Soliman (Milkweed Editions) also participated in an In-Na-Po publishing panel. Anishinabe poet Gordon Henry and Oglala Lakota poet Layli Long Soldier also participated in the retreat as workshop leaders.

The writers and editors shared their experiences with the In-Na-Po Fellows and staff. They offered advice on writing and also on structuring a life that supports a writing practice. Some of the lessons were practical. Erdrich reminded me to set aside money for taxes and to stay on top of my paperwork. Long Soldier reminded me to protect my time and to advocate for my work. Other lessons were more intimate. Westerman helped me create my own framework for navigating the juncture of western writing and traditional sukdu (Dena’ina for stories).  Again, I was moved by how much of my learning was dependent on being in relationship with community.

Westerman’s poem ends with this stanza:

This is my give-away.
     Wopida ye.   
          Wopida ye.
                Wopida ye.

Like Westerman, I’d like to end with gratitude. Many thanks to the Minnesota Humanities Center for hosting In-Na-Po and for their radical hospitality. During our retreat I learned the following ways of expressing thanks: Miigwech, oneewe, wado, ahéhee’, pidamaya ye, mahalo, yakkookay, and gråtu. In Dena’ina we say chin’an. I’m so thankful for the many kindnesses the people of MinnMid Dyesota shared with us.