JOY HARJO: READING AND REFLECTION ON REMATRIATION
Photo courtesy of Joy Harjo
SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 2025
DOOR OPEN AT 12:30 PM | PERFORMANCE FROM 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Tulsa Artist Fellowship - Flagship
112 N. Boston Ave, Tulsa, OK 74103
Words of the People hosts a special reading with Joy Harjo centered on rematriation, an Indigenous woman and Two Spirit-led movement reconnecting the sacred to the mother. Joy Harjo, the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate and a citizen of the Muscogee Nation, will share a reading of her poetry, offering a powerful reflection on land, memory, and spiritual reclamation. Introductions by NDN Girls Book Club.
Co-presented by Words of the People, Tulsa Artist Fellowship, and Fulton Street Books & Coffee.
ABOUT JOY HARJO
Joy Harjo, the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate and member of the Muscogee Nation, is the author of ten books of poetry, several plays, children’s books, two memoirs, and seven music albums. Her honors include Yale’s 2023 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry, National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, the Ruth Lily Prize from the Poetry Foundation, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Tulsa Artist Fellowship. She is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and Chair of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation. She is the inaugural Artist-in-Residence for the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she lives.
ABOUT CHELSEA HICKS
Chelsea T. Hicks (she/they) is the author of A Calm & Normal Heart, winner of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 Award and longlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize. A writer, model, and artist, her work explores rematriation, language revitalization, and cultural reconnection, and has appeared in Poetry, McSweeney’s, and World Literature Today. She founded Words of the People to support Indigenous language creative production and reports for Osage News. Chelsea is Wahzhazhe of the Pawhuska District, Tsizho Washtake clan, a citizen of the Osage Nation, and a Tulsa Artist Fellowship alumna with degrees from UC Davis and the Institute of American Indian Arts.
ABOUT WORDS OF THE PEOPLE
Words of The People seeks to normalize Indigenous language creative production. WTP currently hosts Indigenous Language Creative Writing Workshops as well as Rematriation workshops in Tulsa, OK. As land-connected women have worked to define Rematriation, it is to “return the sacred to the mother,” and comprises a complimentary practice to the Land Back movement.
ABOUT FULTON STREET BOOKS & COFFEE
Fulton Street is a space to call home. It is a space to build community and to change our city through civic discourse. It is a space on a mission to increase literacy, with people at the center of all the work that we do. It is a space for coffee, books, and a good time. It is a space for you; you who have been longing for a space created with you in mind. At Fulton Street, we center the stories, narratives and lived experiences of people of color and marginalized communities. Welcome to Fulton Street. Welcome home.
ABOUT TULSA ARTIST FELLOWSHIP
Established in 2015, Tulsa Artist Fellowship was created as a place-based initiative by the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) that addresses pressing challenges faced by contemporary artists and arts workers living in and joining Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tulsa Artist Fellowship believes the arts are critical to advancing cultural citizenship and supports community-invested practitioners who intentionally engage with our city.
VISITOR EXPERIENCE
Tulsa Artist Fellowship strives to provide a welcoming and accessible experience. Our exhibitions and events are free, documented, and archived. Programming sound levels and space reverberation are variable. Ear protection will always be available.
Tulsa Artist Fellowship - Flagship is located at 112 N Boston Ave Tulsa, OK 74103. Public hours are Thursday-Saturday from 12-6 pm. The gallery accommodates wheelchairs and strollers. Variable seating is provided, as well as areas for distanced standing and wheelchairs. Family-scale private washrooms are available to support visitors with disabilities and caregivers who need access to increased square footage and changing tables.
Tulsa Artist Fellowship is a cultural initiative of the George Kaiser Family Foundation. Open House programs are made possible, in part, by The Bush Hughes Foundation for Progress. Special thanks to the dedicated staff, visionary awardees, artistic contributors, cultural partners, media platforms, presenters, culinary experts, and champions for supporting this ambitious weekend.