Mvto, thank you for that introduction.
Thank you, mvto, for Tucson, for the Poetry Center,
and for all this place has given to me in my life.
I am [SPEAKING MUSCOGEE].
I'm Muskogee Creek Nation, a member of Oce Vpofv Hickory
Ground Ceremonial Ground.
And from Oklahoma.
Came to the Southwest to go to Indian
School in Santa Fe at the old-- when IAI was a BIA school.
And was part of the Kiva club group
at another part of my education at University of New Mexico.
And eventually wound up here in Tucson for a while teaching.
And I have to say, it's nice to see Larry over here.
And this place has always been one of my--
I always think, why did I leave here?
[LAUGHTER]
It's always been my favorite-- one of my favorite teaching
places.
And so many memories here, and so many of people.
So I want to start out with a song.
And I'm thinking of Leslie tonight and her sons.
And this whole family here that includes the saguaro, the sky,
this beautiful Earth, and the people
who take care of this Earth.
We're all supposed to take care of the Earth.
We're all part of it.
If you look at the Earth from the moon, we all-- you can see,
we're one being.
And you understand how when that NASA image
was released, how the ecological movement emerged,
because we could see--
we knew it.
Our original peoples know it.
And we all have original-- we all stem from original
peoples--
that we're a part of it.
And so, we're moving back towards that vision,
towards that it's a kind of remembering.
So this song is to say especially, for Leslie,
but for all of us, to say mvto.
[RECORDER PLAYING]