A very difficult but powerful day

Leo Parenteau July 20/29-Jan. 9/14
Mistahimaskwa c1825-Jan. 17, 1888

Today is a powerful day. I am honored to be performing tonight in front of members of the Quapaw tribe who are coming all the way from Oklahoma to see our show; I have close family arriving today who are making the trek all the way from Alberta & Montana; I spoke to my Auntie Margaret on the phone; and it is the anniversary of the death of Mistahimaskwa, aka Chief Big Bear, who was instrumental in shaping the history of my people up north. Tonight I will step on that stage with the spirit of two great warriors in my heart—Uncle Leo and Big Bear.

My friend Maggie Rice saw the show yesterday and shared something with me that she was reminded of:

Nine of ten native people perished in the first century of contact between the hemispheres. One in ten survived. They didn’t fear change; they embraced it. Their past lives on in our present. As descendants of the one in ten who survived, we in the 21st century share an inheritance of grief, loss, hope and immense riches. The achievements of our ancestors make us accountable for how we move in the world today. Their lessons instruct us and make us responsible for remembering everything especially those things we never knew

(By Paul Chaat Smith from American Indian Quarterly issue about missed opportunities at NMAI)