Art Chowder January | February 2022 Issue 37 | Page 24

I sometimes find myself writing about different things I have researched , taught , or discussed with tribal leaders

Asked about current projects , Heather said , “ I am working on a couple of different projects , one of which is related to poetry and the other to my research . For the past few years , I ’ ve been working to expand my 2005 chapbook , ‘ Elk Thirst ,’ into a full-length collection of poems . I ’ m very grateful to have had the bulk of this work supported by a 2018 Potlatch Fund Native Arts grant and am now mostly just refining some of the newer poems , which are exclusively haiku , a form I love . Roughly 20 years have passed between now and when I first wrote the original poems in ‘ Elk Thirst ’ and so it ’ s taken some time for me to figure out how to integrate them . I write so differently now . The other project is a lengthy report on the unique social factors influencing American Indian and Alaska Native health in Indian country . This report and its associated framework will help guide the tribal-level policy research and analysis conducted by the American Indian Governance and Policy Institute for the next decade .”

When asked about recent publications , Cahoon said , “ Besides my recent collection , ‘ Horsefly Dress ,’ my writing has also appeared in a variety of publications but the one I ’ m most excited about is Living Nations , Living Words : An Anthology of First Peoples Poetry . This is the companion

to U . S . Poet Laureate Joy Harjo ’ s signature project of the same title , which is an interactive ArcGIS Story Map featuring the work of 47 Native poets via a fully digital map of story , sound , and space for the Library of Congress ’ s permanent collection .” ( You can view the story map at www . loc . gov / programs / poetry-andliterature / poet-laureate / poet-laureateprojects / living-nations-living-words /)

Cahoon serves as director for the American Indian Governance and Policy Institute and as assistant professor of Native American Studies at the University of Montana . I asked how this work informs her writing and her other creative work . “ Because I ’ m so busy with research , teaching , and growing the policy institute , I often struggle to find enough time to work on my poetry , let alone my painting or exploring my desire to delve into making 3-D ceramic art . Despite this , I do think that there are some complementary aspects , especially in terms of topics , as I sometimes find myself writing about different things I have researched , taught , or discussed with tribal leaders . I also think that having a solid academic background in tribal sovereignty and federal Indian policy helps me better contextualize and produce art that speaks to complex issues like the forced acculturation and assimilation of

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