first discovered Heather Cahoon through the anthology of Native Nations Poetry edited by Joy Harjo and others , “ When the Light of the World Was Subdued , Our Songs Came Through .” Her book , “ Horsefly Dress ,” was published by the University of Arizona Press in 2020 .
Heather Cahoon , PhD , is a scholar of federal Indian policy . She received her MFA in Poetry from the University of Montana where she was the Richard Hugo Scholar . Her chapbook , “ Elk Thirst ,” won the Merriam Frontier Prize . Cahoon is an assistant professor of Native American Studies at the University of Montana , where she directs the American Indian Governance and Policy Institute . seeking her out in our tribal oral traditions , I learned so much about the lessons contained in the stories including this unique perspective on the role and beauty of suffering . We all have things we struggle with and the stories show us how to deal with them . In the stories , these things are referred to as people-eating monsters and Coyote teaches the people how to survive by helping them acquire the knowledge , skills , and tools necessary to outwit and thereby disarm the monsters . All of these teachings transfer over into our everyday lives where we regularly encounter circumstances that threaten to ‘ devour ‘ or destroy us — this could be anything from chronic stress to self-doubt or addiction . These lessons helped me process some stubborn grief in my own life , so much that I wanted to share them with others through the writing of ‘ Horsefly Dress .’”
Because I first met Cahoon ’ s writing through the book , “ When the Light of the World Was Subdued , Our Songs Came Through ,” I was interested to learn about her tribal affiliation and how this informs her writing . She said , “ On my father ’ s side , I am Upper Kalispel , Nez Perce , and Spokane . On my mother ’ s side , I am Kootenai and Chippewa but also of western European descent . I am enrolled in the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes . I think my tribal affiliation definitely informs my writing in terms of some of the content such as that related to Salish-Kalispel oral traditions , but I think that my poems are much more strongly informed by place . I really just write about where I ’ m from , the landscape , the people , the history , flora , fauna , etc .”
When I asked Cahoon about her path to creative writing she said , “… for as long as I can remember , I ’ ve loved and written poetry . What led me to write ‘ Horsefly Dress ’ was wanting to know more about her and in
I learned so much about the lessons contained in the stories including this unique perspective on the role and beauty of suffering .
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