NILA NORTHSUN [15.629]

nila northSun 

Poeta nativa americana e historiadora tribal.

Poemas realistas de northSun, sobre la vida dentro y fuera de la reserva la han convertido en una de los escritoras más leídas de todos los poetas americanos nativos.

northSun nació en 1951 en Schurz, Nevada de madre Shoshone y padre Chippewa, activista del Native American Renaissance.

Criada en el área de la Bahía de San Francisco, es graduada de la Universidad de Montana-Missoula.

En 2000, los "Amigos de la Biblioteca" grupo de la Universidad de Nevada la honró con el Premio de Plata de la pluma de logro literario excepcional. El gobernador Kenny Guinn la designó al Consejo Estatal de las Artes de Nevada ese mismo año. 

En 2004, recibió el premio "Indigenous Heritage Award in Literature" de ATAYL, una agencia internacional.

Vive en la reserva Fallon Paiute-Shoshone en Fallon, Nevada y trabaja como escritora para el Reno-Sparks Colonia Indígena. 

Bibliografía

Poesía 

whipped cream and sushi (2008)

Love at gunpoint (2007)

A snake in her mouth: poems 1974–96 (1997)

Small bones, little eyes: poems (1981) (with Jim Sagel)

Coffee, dust devils and old rodeo bulls: poems (1979) (with first husband Kirk Robertson)

Diet pepsi and nacho cheese: poems (1977)

No ficción

After the Drying Up of the Water , a tribal history of the Fallon Paiute -Shoshone (1980)

POESÍA INDIA 
ESTADOUNIDENSE CONTEMPORÁNEA

Traducción: Márgara Averbach

DOS MUNDOS 

con el tiempo 

tal vez nos parezcamos más 

pero por ahora 

yo tengo puestos 

dos pares de medias y 

capas de otras prendas 

sentada en la puerta trasera 

sin luna, una luz en el porche, 

un ron con coca cola, un lápiz y un papel, 

escuchando música country 

mientras él 

se sienta desnudo en un tipi para hacerse el baño 

de vapor 

y reza al abuelo 

y luego salta en el río 

después corre hasta casa seis kilómetros 

y me hace el amor 

y nuestros mundos se unen. 

TWO WORLDS 

given time 

we may become more alike 

but for now 

i’m dressed in 

two pairs of socks & 

layers of other clothes 

sitting on the back porch 

with no moon, a porchlight, 

a rum & coke, a pen & paper 

listening to country music 

while he 

sits naked in a sweatlodge 

praying to grandfather  

jumping in the river afterwards 

then he’ll jog home 4 miles 

& make love to me 

& our worlds come together. 

boomerang kid

they call this generation

boomerang kids

1 in 7 grown kids returning

to the parent's home

maybe while they go to college

maybe when they lose their jobs

maybe when new marriages fail

and now i find my daughter

with her 3 year old

sleeping on an air mattress

in the living room

of my small 1 bedroom apartment

today i ate my cereal

on my bed and didn't cook bacon

as my kitchen is where

their sleeping heads lay

i didn't watch the morning news

as that is where

their feet and clothes boxes are

today i will see about getting

wireless internet

so she can do job searches

on friday when i get paid

we will go grocery shopping

so she can pick foods she likes

maybe next week i will make

a doctor's appointment

to get valium my chill-pills

anticipating frayed nerves

though i love them both

i'm used to my oneness with myself.

jeramiah

3rd day of spring

snow flurries and whipping wind

i see a mama pushing a stroller

barefoot baby no hat no gloves

i circle the block and park

go looking for this mama

and say 'where's your baby's socks?

where's your baby's shoes?'

she says 'you don't know me'

i say 'i don't but i'm a gramma of

a 1 year old and a 2 year old and a momma of others'

and this isn't right

and take off my gloves and put them

on his feet

he's not fussing or crying

he's just accepting the freezing

'what's his name?'

'jeramiah' how old? one.

i say come with me and she does

i go to my car where i have my

baby car seat and rummage among

the toys to find a hat and blanket

and snackie foods and a toy

she says bless you and goes off

i run up to my apartment find socks

find a warm coat and run back down

but she's gone

i drive around looking for her

all gone

i stand on my balcony looking

over the city blocks

nothing

"jeramiah!!!!!'

nothing

jeramiah may you find warmth

in the cold

coolness in desert heat

and food for your tiny belly

give your momma strength

to make a life beyond homeless.

braking for pigeons

in these trying times

when all the news seems bad

when son-in -law loses his job

along with 3 million others

when co-worker loses house

to foreclosure

all the headlines come

to roost

when nevada's stats

for elders show

twice the national average

in suicide

smoking

and heavy alcohol use

could cause a

non-smoker to light one up

down a shot

and think of ways out

of this life

the car next to me

slows to a stop

as a pigeon struts in

that lane and then

crosses to mine

i do not slow

as he takes wing

knowing full well how

to negotiate downtown

traffic

i am amused at the driver

expecting an excitable

teenage girl

or old peta member

instead see

a middle-aged hispanic man

a toothpick clenched in his teeth

no doubt freeing a

chunk of meat wedged

in his cuspids

and i laugh

cause now

more than ever

laughing is important.

nila northSun, of Shoshone-Chippewa descent, is the daughter of renowned Native American activist, Adam Fortunate Eagle - one of the more prominent figures in the 1969-1971 Indian takeover of Alcatraz. She is identified with the Native American Renaissance of the 1970s and 1980s; her poem "moving camp too far" remains a sentinel work of the period. northSun has published three volumes of poetry, a snake in her mouth; Small Bones, Little Eyes; and Diet Pepsi and Nacho Cheese; and authored After the Drying Up of the Water: A Tribal History, a history of the Paiute-Shoshone tribe. She lives on the Stillwater Indian Reservation in Fallon, Nevada, where she works as a grant writer. Her poems bridge family history and traditional tribal identity with the challenges of being a contemporary American woman.