Speaker: Simon Ortiz | Air Date: March 2nd, 2020 | Run Time: 53mins | The Native Seed Pod: Season 2
The Poetry of Sacred Food Culture: Conversations with Simon Ortiz
In the final episode of Season 2 of The Native Seed Pod, podcast host Melissa Nelson sits down with famous Acoma Pueblo writer, poet, and storyteller Simon J. Ortiz at the Mesa Refuge writers retreat in Point Reyes, California.
During their time together, Melissa and Simon touch on many topics of varying depths; from the intricacies of traditional tribal identities to the wonder of our traditional foods, to our role as Indigenous peoples in the future of ‘green’ urban development on our traditional territories.
Simon’s gentle ease and wise words amplify simple truths and ground large heady concepts, leaving us open to receive the immensity of his final gift a sharing of his poem, Deer Dinner.
We are honored that this episode was an official selection for the 2022 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.
“Culture is knowledge and knowledge is the basic elemental resource that we have in conducting our lives. ”
Woven Stone - book by Simon J. Ortiz
About Simon J. Ortiz
A tribal member of the Acoma Pueblo, Simon J. Ortiz became one of the most significant Native American writers of the twentieth century, being a major contributor to the Native American Renaissance in the late 1970s. Simon’s words and stories are infused with the presence and spirit of his first language, Acoma, and have been collected and published in over 25 collections of poetry and storytelling over the last 50 years. As a public speaker, author, and professor he has been recognized for countless awards and commendations. Ortiz is Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University and resides in Phoenix, Arizona.
Simon Ortiz at Amerind Museum with Linda Hogan and John Ware
Culture and The Universe
Simon J. Ortiz – Out There Somewhere
(University of Arizona Press, 2002)
Two nights ago
in the canyon darkness,
only the half-moon and stars,
only mere men.
Prayer, faith, love,
existence.
We are measured
by vastness beyond ourselves.
Dark is light.
Stone is rising.
I don’t know
if humankind understands
culture: the act
of being human
is not easy knowledge.
With painted wooden sticks
and feathers, we journey
into the canyon toward stone,
a massive presence
in midwinter.
We stop.
Lean into me.
The universe
sings in quiet meditation.
We are wordless:
I am in you.
Without knowing why
culture needs our knowledge,
we are one self in the canyon.
And the stone wall
I lean upon spins me
wordless and silent
to the reach of stars
and to the heavens within.
It’s not humankind after all
nor is it culture
that limits us.
It is the vastness
we do not enter.
It is the stars
we do not let own us.
Additional Resources
CREDITS
Host/Writer/Director: Melissa K. Nelson
Producer: Sara Moncada
Co-producer and photographer: Mateo Hinojosa
Audio Editor and Engineer: Colin Farish
Production Assistant: Teo Montoya
Photography: Melissa Nelson, Andrew Preble
Songs (in order of appearance):
Music by Colin Farish
Drums, flutes, and keyboards by Colin Farish
Voice, Taos drum, and jingles by Eddie Madril
Drums by Glen Velez
English horn by Paul McCandless
Cellos by Fogtown Cello Quartet
Female vocals by Teresa Nelson
