Home Phone:
Email:
Tribe:
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Artist's Statement:
Petaluma, CA 94952
707/778.3107
bigeagle@sonic.net
Osage
poet, teacher, painter, dancer, singer
As an American Indian youth I was taught to value a connection with the land that sustains our lives. I learned early that individuality, creativity, self-expression, and love of beauty are essential to the survival of a whole and healthy person. And I have experienced the roles that art and poetry play in the passing of culture from one generation to the next. These lessons and values have formed the person that I have become: poet, teacher, painter, traditional singer and dancer, artist in education, community organizer, and cultural activist.
My Grandfather Was
a Quantum Physicist
I can see him now
smiling
in full dance regalia,
an eagle feather fan in his hand.
He's standing with the other men
on the grassy field
in front of the round house
on a sunny afternoon.
Scientists have finally discovered
that the intimate details
of our lives
are influenced by things
behind the physical world,
beyond the stars,
and beyond time.
My grandfather knew this.