Lance Henson, Cheyenne/Oglala Sioux poet

Lance Henson curriculum vitae
Lance David Henson nato a Washington, D. C. è Cheyenne, Oglala e Francese (da parte del
padre Cajun). È stato allevato a Calumet, Oklahoma, dai suoi prozii, Bertha e Bob Cook, il quale
era il custode del Primo Capitolo della Native American Church dell'Oklahoma.
Henson è headman nella confraternita dei Dog Soldiers Cheyenne, della Native American Church
(la Chiesa del Peyote) e dell’American Indian Movement (AIM). In diverse occasioni ha partecipato
alla Danza del Sole Cheyenne sia in veste di danzatore che di assistente.
Dopo il liceo, ha prestato il servizio di leva obbligatorio in Vietnam durante la guerra, nel corpo dei
Marines. Laureato presso la University of Science and Arts dell’Oklahoma, ha conseguito un
Master in scrittura creativa all’Università di Tulsa. Tiene laboratori di poesia in diverse università
americane ed europee come visiting professor lavorando sia in America che in Europa. Docente di
corsi integrativi presso l’Università di Vienna, e presso la Facoltà di Scienze della Formazione,
Università di Udine dal 1999, è cofondatore, insieme al poeta e professore shawnee Barney Bush,
della Università indigena “Red Winds College” in Arizona.
Ha pubblicato 32 raccolte di poesia, metà delle quali negli Stati Uniti ed il resto all’estero. Le sue
poesie sono state tradotte in 23 lingue e le sue opere insegnate in 9 paesi. E’ il poeta nativo
americano vivente più pubblicato e tradotto.
È coautore di due pièce teatrali, una delle quali, Winter Man, sul massacro di Sand Creek, è stata
rappresentata con successo dalla compagnia La MaMa Experimental Theatre Company al teatro di
Brooklyn. L’atra pièce teatrale, Coyote Road, è stata messa in scena a Versaille, Francia e in Papua,
Nuova Guinea.
Nel 1993 Lance è stato conferenziere ufficiale degli USA a Singapore, in Tailanda, Nuova
Guinea e Nuova Zelanda. Dal 1988 è rappresentante ufficiale della nazione Southern Cheyenne al
Working Group of Indigenous Peoples dell’ONU a Ginevra. Per protesta contro le attività di
persecuzione dei popoli indigeni, ha deciso di non pubblicare più le sue opere negli Stati Uniti.
Nel 1990 è stato insignito dai Partigiani italiani di una medaglia per sua dedizione alla causa
della liberazione dei popoli.
Nel 2004 ha ricevuto da parte dell’University of Oklahoma The Hall of Fame Award, un
riconoscimento per più di quarant’anni di impegno di vita come poeta e attivista nel campo dei
diritti umani.
Direttore artistico nel 2000 del tour poetico Words from the Edge, in Europa, che ha
coinvolto alcuni poeti indigeni provenienti dalle aree più conflittuali del pianeta, a rischio di
estinzione.
In the spring of 2000, the first WORDS FROM THE EDGE tour was initiated in four countries in
Europe, initiated and directed by Lance. Three poets completed this tour: Apirana Taylor, Maori
from New Zealand, Memchoubi, from the Meitei Nation of India and Lance representing the
Southern Cheyenne.
La seconda edizione di Words From the Edge si è tenuta nel maggio 2006 e ha visto la
partecipazione di altre due poetesse native, Laura Tohi, Navajo and Kateri Akawenzi Damm,
Anishnaabe, facendo tappa in varie città e Università italiane.
Books by Lance Henson
I testi del lupo,The wolf texts, Edizioni Nottetempo, Italy, 2009, traslation by Mariella Lorusso.
Un canto dal vento che si leva, A cheyenne sketchbook: Poesie scelte 1970 - 1991, Edizioni La
Collina, Italy, 2009, translation by Giuseppe Maria Gurrieri.
The missing bead, La perlina mancante, poems written by a dog soldier in exile, poesie di un dog
soldier scritte in esilio, Arcipelago Edizioni, Milan, Italy, 2009, translation by Mariella Lorusso.
Sand Creek, Biblioteca dell’Immagine, Pordenone, Italy, 2005.
Paria, Paris Méditerranée, Paris, France, 2004.
7 Books, with Steffen Basho-Junghans
•
Double cd, solo 12 string guitar and poetry, Blue Moment Arts, Berlin, Germany, 2004.
Traduzioni in un giorno di vento (Translations on a windy day), La Rosa, Torino, 2001, translation
by Mariella Lorusso.
Nous sommes tous americains, Les Editions du Mont Popey, Carnoux-Ancy, France, 2000.
Lieder in der Sprache des Feindes (songs in the enemy's language), Big Mountain Aktionsgruppe,
Munich,Germany, 1999.
Another train ride, Materiali Sonori, Florence, Italy, 1999. [Jazz C.D.with spoken poetry]
•
ArkivMusic.com
Revolutionslied, Selene Edizioni, 1998 [in English and German]
Canto di rivoluzione, Selene Edizione, Milan, Italy, 1999. [In English and Italian]
Un moto di improvvisa solitudine, Selene Edizione, Milan, Italy, 1998. [In English and Italian]
Entre Rage et Liberté, editions Poesie-Rencontres, Lyon, France, 1998. [In English and French]
Strong Heart Songs: Lines from a Revolutionary Text, West End Press.
•
[http://westendpress.org/catalog/books/strong_heart_song.htm Publisher's page, 1997.
Poems for a Master Beadworker, OBEMA, 1993.
•
Publisher's page
Tra il Buio e la Luce / Between the Dark and the Light, Selene Edizioni, 1993.
A Cheyenne Sketchbook: Selected Poems 1970-1991, Greenfield Review Press.
A Motion of Sudden Aloneness: Expatriot Songs, American Native Press Archives, University of
Arkansas Press, 1991.
Another distance: new and selected poems, Point Riders Press.
Le Orme de Tasso/The Badger Tracks, Soconos Incommindios, 1989.
This small sound / dieser kleine klang, with German translation by Hartmut Lutz, Institut für
Indianische Kulturen Nordamerikas, 1988.
Un altro canto per l'america (bilingual edition), with introduction and translation by Franco Meli,
1985.
Another song for america, Point Riders Press, 1984.
Tonger út stiennen / thunder from stones, with Frisian translation by Jelle Kaspersma, Fryske
Nasjonale Partij, Nederland, 1987.
Tepee, Cooperative La Parentesi/Soconos Incommindios, 1987.
A circling remembrance, Blue Cloud Quarterly Press, 1978. (Bilingual English/Cheyenne)
Selected poems 1970-1983, Greenfield Review Press.
In a Dark Mist (bilingual English/Cheyenne), Cross-Cultural Communications, 1978.
Buffalo Marrow on Black, Full Court Press, 1975.
Mistah: New Poems, Strawberry Press, 1973.
Naming the Dark: Poems for the Cheyenne, Point Riders Press, 1972.
Keeper of Arrows, Renaissance Press, 1969.
Plays
Winter Man, with Andy Tierstien, New York Dance Theater Workshop, Feb. 1991.
Coyote Road, with Jeff Hooper, Mad River Theater Works, West Liberty, Ohio, June 1992.
Lance Henson, Cheyenne/Oglala Sioux poet
Lance David Henson, born in Washington, D. C., is Cheyenne, Oglala Sioux and French. He was
raised on a farm near Calumet, Oklahoma by his great aunt and uncle, Bertha and Bob Cook. His
great uncle was the groundskeeper for Chapter One of the Native American Church of Oklahoma.
Lance was the last of five boys raised by this couple. He grew up living the Southern Cheyenne
culture. He served in the U. S. Marine Corps after high school, during the Vietnam War, and is a
graduate of Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts (now University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma) in
Chickasha. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Tulsa.
After ten years of conducting poetry workshops through the Artist in Residence program of the
State Arts Council of Oklahoma, Lance began to travel, working both in the U.S. and in Europe.
Lance is a member of the Cheyenne Dog Soldier Society, the Native American Church and the
American Indian Movement (AIM). He has participated in Cheyenne Sun Dance on several
occasions as both dancer and painter.
Lance has published 28 books of poetry, half in the U.S. and half abroad. His poetry has been
translated into 25 languages and he has read and lectured in 9 countries. His readings include the
One World Poetry Festival in Amsterdam, the International Poetry Festival in Tarascon, France,
and the Geraldine Dodge Poetry Festival in New Jersey. He has co-written two plays, one of
which, Winter Man, had a successful run at the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Company. His
play Coyote Road played to sell out audiences in Versailles, France in December 2001. A new remix
of a jazz and poetry CD titled Another Train Ride (1999) has appeared in collaboration with Roger
Eno, titled The Wolf and the Moon, from Materiali Sonori, Milan, Italy (2001)
Lance represented the United States Information Service as a Featured Lecturer in Singapore,
Thailand, New Guinea and New Zealand in 1993. He has also represented the Southern Cheyenne
Nation at the European Free Alliance in Leeuwarden, Netherlands and at the United Nations
Indigenous Peoples Conference in Geneva since 1988. He subsequently returned there until the
Working Group on Indigenuos Peoples was moved to the United Nations in New York in 2004.
In the spring of 2000, the first WORDS FROM THE EDGE tour was initiated in four countries in
Europe, initiated and directed by Lance. Three poets completed this tour: Apirana Taylor, Maori
from New Zealand, Memchoubi, from the Meitei Nation of India and Lance representing the
Southern Cheyenne.
In April 2006 Words From the Edge, Huka Hey, indigenous support group sponsored a tour in Italy,
directed by Lance, included two other native poets: Laura Tohi, Navajo and Kateri Akawenzi
Damm, Anishnaabe.
Awards
On Oct. 16, 2004, Lance was named to the Alumni Hall of Fame at the University of Science and
Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha.
Lance was awarded with a medal of honor from the Partisans Organisation in Italy in 1992.
In the summer of 1995, Lance had a residency at the Millay Colony for the Arts.
In the spring of 1993, he was poet-in-residence at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
Lance had two books, Cheyenne Sketchbook and Another Distance, among the five poetry finalists
in the 1992 Oklahoma Book Awards sponsored by the Oklahoma Center for the Book.
During the summer of 1992, Lance was in residence at the Mad River Theater in West Liberty,
Ohio, where the play Coyote Road, co-authored with Jeff Hooper, was performed.
A Ford Foundation Fellowship supported Lance's attendance at the University of Tulsa.
Writing Available Online
Prayer for the Lenape & concerto in four movements in Weber Studies
blaue blume, impression of peyote song cheyenne & beobachtungen aus der dritten welt at Words
from the Edge
arhus denmark 2/7/87 in OBEMA Volume 9
ancestrals
The basho project
The elba texts
every emergence from the shadows
here in a gathering rain
And here is the same wind
anniversary poem for the buffalo wallow fight
disappeared
five dreams
untitled
untitled
pariah songs
revolutionary song
another train ride
Twelve songs written in the enemys language
Books by Lance Henson
I testi del lupo,The wolf texts, Edizioni Nottetempo, Italy, 2009, traslation by Mariella Lorusso.
Un canto dal vento che si leva, A cheyenne sketchbook: Poesie scelte 1970 - 1991, Edizioni La
Collina, Italy, 2009, translation by Giuseppe Maria Gurrieri.
The missing bead, La perlina mancante, poems written by a dog soldier in exile, poesie di un dog
soldier scritte in esilio, Arcipelago Edizioni, Milan, Italy, 2009, translation by Mariella Lorusso.
Sand Creek, Biblioteca dell’Immagine, Pordenone, Italy, 2005.
Paria, Paris Méditerranée, Paris, France, 2004.
7 Books, with Steffen Basho-Junghans
•
Double cd, solo 12 string guitar and poetry, Blue Moment Arts, Berlin, Germany, 2004.
Traduzioni in un giorno di vento (Translations on a windy day), La Rosa, Torino, 2001, translation
by Mariella Lorusso.
Nous sommes tous americains, Les Editions du Mont Popey, Carnoux-Ancy, France, 2000.
Lieder in der Sprache des Feindes (songs in the enemy's language), Big Mountain Aktionsgruppe,
Munich,Germany, 1999.
Another train ride, Materiali Sonori, Florence, Italy, 1999. [Jazz C.D.with spoken poetry]
•
ArkivMusic.com
Revolutionslied, Selene Edizioni, 1998 [in English and German]
Canto di rivoluzione, Selene Edizione, Milan, Italy, 1999. [In English and Italian]
Un moto di improvvisa solitudine, Selene Edizione, Milan, Italy, 1998. [In English and Italian]
Entre Rage et Liberté, editions Poesie-Rencontres, Lyon, France, 1998. [In English and French]
Strong Heart Songs: Lines from a Revolutionary Text, West End Press.
•
[http://westendpress.org/catalog/books/strong_heart_song.htm Publisher's page, 1997.
Poems for a Master Beadworker, OBEMA, 1993.
•
Publisher's page
Tra il Buio e la Luce / Between the Dark and the Light, Selene Edizioni, 1993.
A Cheyenne Sketchbook: Selected Poems 1970-1991, Greenfield Review Press.
A Motion of Sudden Aloneness: Expatriot Songs, American Native Press Archives, University of
Arkansas Press, 1991.
Another distance: new and selected poems, Point Riders Press.
Le Orme de Tasso/The Badger Tracks, Soconos Incommindios, 1989.
This small sound / dieser kleine klang, with German translation by Hartmut Lutz, Institut für
Indianische Kulturen Nordamerikas, 1988.
Un altro canto per l'america (bilingual edition), with introduction and translation by Franco Meli,
1985.
Another song for america, Point Riders Press, 1984.
Tonger út stiennen / thunder from stones, with Frisian translation by Jelle Kaspersma, Fryske
Nasjonale Partij, Nederland, 1987.
Tepee, Cooperative La Parentesi/Soconos Incommindios, 1987.
A circling remembrance, Blue Cloud Quarterly Press, 1978. (Bilingual English/Cheyenne)
Selected poems 1970-1983, Greenfield Review Press.
In a Dark Mist (bilingual English/Cheyenne), Cross-Cultural Communications, 1978.
Buffalo Marrow on Black, Full Court Press, 1975.
Mistah: New Poems, Strawberry Press, 1973.
Naming the Dark: Poems for the Cheyenne, Point Riders Press, 1972.
Keeper of Arrows, Renaissance Press, 1969.
Plays
Winter Man, with Andy Tierstien, New York Dance Theater Workshop, Feb. 1991.
Coyote Road, with Jeff Hooper, Mad River Theater Works, West Liberty, Ohio, June 1992.
Anthologies
Stand, Native American Special Issue, engaging with tradition, Edited by Mick Gidley, University
of Leeds, England, 2008.
Yellow Medicine Review, A Journal of Indigenous Literature, Art and Thought, Southwest
Minnesota State University, Marshall, Minnesota, Spring 2008.
Ahani: indigenous American Poetry, Oregon State University, Fall 2006.
Words from the Edge, Aktionsgruppe Indianer & Menschenrechte, München 2000.
Words From The Edge, Associazione Mu, Roraipiccolo Di Porcia (PN), 2006.
Words From The Edge, Editrice Universitaria Udinese, Spring 2002.
Around the World in Eighty Poems, James Berry (Editor), Katherine Lucas (Illustrator), Chronicle
Books.
Native American Songs and Poems: An Anthology, Brian Swann (Editor), Dover Books.
Une soudaine solitude, editions Paroles D'Aube, Paris, France, 1997. [In English and French]
La neige Écarlate, dans la poesie de Yves Bonnefoy, Paul Celan, Alain Tasso, Salvatore
Quasimodo, Lance Henson, Gisele Vanhese (Editor), Editions Dar An Nahar, Beyrouth, 2003.
Reclaiming the Vision: Past, Present, and Future: Native Voices for the Eighth Generation, Lee
Francis & James Bruchac (Editors), Greenfield Review Press.
Returning the Gift: Poetry and Prose from the First North American Native Writers' Festival, (Sun
Tracks Books, No 29) University of Arizona Press.
Home Places: Contemporary Native American Writing from Sun Tracks (Sun Tracks, Vol 31), Larry
Evers, Ofelia Zepeda (Editors), Univ of Arizona Press.
Smoke Rising: The Native North American Literary Companion, Janet Witalec,Visible Ink Press.
Poetry in Motion: 100 Poems on the Subways and Buses, edited with Molly Peacock and Neil
Neches, W W Norton & Co.
De Aarde is Ons Vlees: Bloemlezing uit het werk van zeventwintig Indiaanse dicters (The Earth is
our Flesh edited and translated by Jelle Kaspersma), In de knipscheer, Amsterdam: Netherlands.
The Clouds Threw This Light, Phillip Foss (Editor), Institute of American Indian Arts Press.
Point Riders Great Plains Poetry Anthology, Arn Henderson and Frank Parman (Editors), Point
Riders Press.
Wounds Beneath the Flesh, Maurice Kenny (Editor), White Pine Press.
Songs from This Earth on Turtle's Back: An Anthology of Poetry by American Indian Writers,
Joseph Bruchac (Editor), Greenfield Review Press
The Remembered Earth: An Anthology of Contemporary Native American Literature, Geary Hobson
(Editor), Univ of New Mexico Press
New and Old Voices of Wah'Kon-Tah, Robert K. Dodge, Joseph B. McCullough (Editors),
International Publishers Co.
Words in the Blood: Contemporary Indian Writers of North and South America, Jamake Highwater
(Editor), New American Library.
American Indian Literature: An Anthology, Alan R. Velie, Univ. of Oklahoma Press.
Voices of the Rainbow: Contemporary Poetry by Native Americans, Kenneth Rosen (Editor), R.C.
Gorman, Aaron Yava (Illustrator), Arcade Pub.
The Norton Anthology of Poetry, Margaret Ferguson, Mary Jo Salter (Editors), Jon Stallworthy, 4th
Edition , W W Norton & Co.
Harper's Anthology of 20th Century Native American Poetry, Duane Niatum (Editor),
HarperCollins
Carriers of the Dream Wheel, Duane Niatum, HarperCollins. AMbooks
The Written, Spoken and Unspoken Word, University of Oklahoma Press.
Textbooks
New Worlds of Literature: Writings from America's Many Cultures, Jerome Beaty, J. Paul Hunter
(Editors), W.W. Norton & Co.
Interviews/Essays
La violenza contro i nativi americani, intervista a Lance Henson (a cura di Silvana Fracasso), in
Confronti magazine, September 2009.
T.N. Pnmigra.tv, the Treviso interview, Summer, 2008
Arcoiris Tv, televisione indipendente, video of WORDS FROM THE EDGE TOUR, and interview,
Summer 2008
Lance has an article in Il Manifesto on the anniversary of Wounded Knee, November 29, 2005
Lance was interviewed on Radio Citta, Bologna, Italy, 2005.
Interview with Lance Henson, by Silvana Fracasso, Carta Magazine, Rome, Italy, 2003.
Long Streets Full of Ghosts, Silvana Fracasso, Rivista del Volontariato, Roma, Italy, 2003.
L’agguato del poeta cheyenne. L’opera poetica di Lance Henson, tra i Mc Donald’s e le Montagne
Sacre, Mauro Macario, Rivista Anarchica, anno 32 n. 278 febbraio 2002
The Nature of Native American Poetry, Norma C. Wilson, Univ. New Mexico Press.
Another Distance: New and Selected Poems (book review) by Craig Womack, An article from: The
American Indian Quarterly
Lieder in der sprache des feindes / songs in the enemy's language (book review) by Robert L.
Berner, An article from: World Literature Today
Revolutionslied (book review) by Robert L. Berner, An article from: World Literature Today
Native American Writers of the United States (Dictionary of Literary Biography, V. 175), Kenneth
M. Roemer (Editor), Gale Research.
Handbook of American Indian Literature, Andrew Wiget (Editor), Garland Press.
Survival This Way: Interviews With American Indian Poets, Joseph Bruchac III (Editor), (Sun
Tracks Books, No 15) University of Arizona Press
I Tell You Now: Autobiographical Essays by Native American Writers, Brian Swann, Arnold Krupat,
Brompton Books Corp.
American Indian and Eskimo Authors: A Comprehensive Bibliography, Arlene B. Hirschfielder,
Association on American Indian Affairs.
The Magic of Names: Three Native American Poets: Norman H. Russell, Lance Henson & Jim
Weaver Barnes, Patrick D. Hundley, Blue Cloud Quarterly, Marvin, SD, 1978.
"A Harvest of Native Poets," Maura McDermott, Oklahoma Today, 43, Sept-Oct 1993, 42-47.
"Interview with Lance Henson," Jacob Freydont Attie, Cuyahoga, The Oberlin Quarterly, Spring
1993, 24-29.
"The Conceptions Southwest Interview with Lance Henson", T.D. Cameron, Conceptions
Southwest, Spring 1993, 24-28.
"Lance Henson: Poet of the People", Robert L. Berner, in World Literature Today, 64(3):418-421,
1990 Summer. Norman, OK
See Also
Words from the Edge
Profile of Lance at the Alumni Hall of Fame at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in
Chickasha.
Biography of Lance from the Dictionary of Literary Biography on Bookrags.com
Profile of Lance at Words from the Edge
"Wood Floor Dreams" from the American Composers Alliance
Action Group Native Americans & Human Rights
A short biography from the Internet Public Library's Native American Authors Project
This page is part of the Storytellers: Native American Authors Online project.
Retrieved from "http://www.nativewiki.org/Lance_Henson"