Joy Harjo and Native Stories
Notes from America with Kai Wright
WNYC Studios
4.4 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 11 May 2023
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Before she was the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo’s journey as an artist began at a federal Indian boarding school. She reveals an unexpected perspective about her experience.
Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She served three terms as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2019-2022. Her new children’s book, Remember (Penguin Random House, 2023), is an adaption of her famous poem by the same name. That poem was one of the first Joy ever wrote, almost 40 years ago. Today, her book invites readers to pause and reflect on the wonder of the world around us, and our place in it.
Joy joins host Kai Wright to discuss the poem and reflect on her own career and inspirations. Those inspirations include her fellow students at the Institute of American Indian Arts, a Bureau of Indian Affairs School. Her honesty reveals an unexpected perspective to the nuanced conversation about a difficult history.
Companion listening for this episode:
Tell Me Your Politics–But Do It In Verse (4/17/2023)
In a world that feels divided, two storytellers invite people to share what shapes their politics through poetry, using the prompt “Where I’m From.”
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Notes for America, I'm Kai Wright. |
| 0:10.0 | Joy Harjo is a celebrated multi-faceted artist. |
| 0:13.7 | She served as the 23rd U.S. poet laureate and was the first Native American to hold |
| 0:17.8 | that honor. |
| 0:18.8 | She's the author of ten books of poetry and produced seven award-winning music albums. |
| 0:24.5 | And her life as an artist began as a child at one of the federal Indian boarding schools |
| 0:29.7 | that, for so many Indigenous families, were a sight of pain and trauma. |
| 0:35.9 | For Joy Harjo, that history is more complicated. |
| 0:39.4 | I spoke with her recently about her early years and about her newest project. |
| 0:44.5 | She's just released an adaptation of her famous poem, Remember, as a children's book. |
| 0:50.1 | The poem was one of the first joy ever wrote almost 40 years ago. |
| 0:54.4 | And it invites readers to pause and reflect on the wonder of the world around us and our |
| 0:59.7 | place in it. |
| 1:01.2 | So I began my conversation with Joy Harjo by asking her to read the poem. |
| 1:06.1 | This is the poem, Remember. |
| 1:10.1 | Remember the sky you were born under. |
| 1:13.5 | Know each of the star's stories. |
| 1:16.9 | Remember the moon, know who she is. |
| 1:20.1 | Remember the sun's birth, Adon, that is the strongest point of time. |
| 1:24.9 | Remember sundown in the giving away tonight. |
| 1:29.3 | Remember your birth, how your mother struggled to give you form and birth. |
| 1:33.5 | You were evidence of her life and her mothers and hers. |
... |
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