Missoula Current

Renowned local poet Heather Cahoon will read from her recent series of poems that speak of Coyote’s children. These poems rediscover Salish and Pend d’Oreille stories and probe the role that language plays in passing culture on to the next generation.

Cahoon's reading at the Missoula Art Museum runs in conjunction with the interactive exhibition “Resistance” by Seattle-based artist RYAN! Feddersen of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.

Cahoon is an artist and poet, and serves as an adjunct professor of Native American Studies at the University of Montana. She also works as a tribal policy analyst for the Montana Budget and Policy Center.

Cahoon grew up in St. Ignatius on the Flathead Indian Reservation. She holds an MFA in Poetry from the University of Montana and was the recipient of the 2000 Richard Hugo Memorial Scholarship, as well as the 2005 Merriam Frontier Award for publication of her book, “Elk Thirst.”

Cahoon will read at the MAM on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 5:30 p.m.

Feddersen's work will also be on display through April. She has created a unique art practice that gets those who visit her exhibits to participate in the process of creating the art she makes while they reflect on what that work means.

For this exhibition, Feddersen has created four interactive installations that address equitable development and resource use. She will later join Julie Cajune at MAM for an artist discussion on Saturday, March 4.

Julie Cajune (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes) is an educator, playwright and historian who has worked on educational materials for the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Indian Land Tenure Foundation, the National Park Service, the Smithsonian and the Montana Historical Society.

In 2009, Utne Reader named Cajune one of “50 visionaries changing your world.” She was also a recipient of the 2011 Montana Governor’s Humanities Award.

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