Reviewed by Sharon Brunner
Nia To Go There’s matwân cî …wondering about now and then and everything everywhere poetry book portrays an innate intimacy between animals, birds, humans and inanimate objects between worlds. Stories, language, dances and visions exist and were experienced everywhere with everything. In other words, the time covered in her poems covers the past, present and future and the place is the earth and the spirit world. She reminds us of who we are, where we are, how do we live, what we are and where we are going. Our indigenous roots are entangled in the “cosmic dance” we call life.
Some of the themes involved the lessons animals and birds teach us, and the importance of sacred ceremonies. The crow teaches us how to survive in dangerous situations and the raven places importance on remembering the past. The white buffalo calf woman provides guidance and shares a story of the return of the buffalo. A medicine man asks for prayer flags to be tied to a cosmic tree and the flags represents all the people in the world with the colors: red, black, white and yellow.
I can relate to some of the content in her book because I was a female traditional dancer and felt the awakening of Mother Earth’s teachings as my feet touched the ground in a rhythmic dance. Sweat lodge ceremonies provided me with the answers I was seeking and I love to commune with nature. Another way this book relates to my life is when I participated in a session called “Poetry Through the Senses.” The instructor asked us to describe the color of a baby’s cry, what sounds do stars make and describe the smell of a circle. I wrote a poem with the various things I wrote about and presented it to a poetry group and it was well accepted.
The poetry book presented many things I like such as How Nia To Go there brings to life how bees are considering collapsing their hierarchical system, lions cannot shop so they have to settle for leftovers, and tomatoes are receptive to being either a fruit or a vegetable. Winds and seas have minds of their own. Zillions of tiny blue flowers are filled with gratitude. I found it interesting that she wrote the book entirely in lower case letters and how that broadened her perspective from a single point of view to a more panoramic experience. I learned more about the cree culture through her poetry.
The movies that came to mind were two. The movie about a fawn called “Bambi” refers to an animal that strived to have friends and experienced real-life feelings such as grief. Another movie called “Lost in the Woods” in which an old box turtle meets a lost raccoon and helps him discover the magic of spring served as a reminder of this book. I was given the opportunity to review another delightful poetry book called “Anishinaabe Songs For A New Millennium” written by Marcie R. Rendon which presented similar messages as this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the poems in both books.
I recommend matwân cî …wondering about now and then and everything everywhere for its display of a deep sense of wonder, because of its mystical content; its breadth and beauty of knowing our place in the world; and its demonstration of how we are linked to the past and how there is a connection and wholeness to all life. In order to feel at peace and feel a sense of belonging we need to explore our past and where we came from. Our world is increasingly becoming more mechanized, and we may believe that we can only reach each other through social media. However, we have a connection beyond any device. Nia To Go There provides us with a journey of discovery that is poignant, painful, playful, mysterious and inspiring.
