When I was picked as one of Ten Outstanding Young South Dakotans, I was given an award and had to answer a questionnaire. One of the things we had to answer on this questionnaire was who our hero was and why; it would then be read to the audience as were getting our award. The […]
About Mary Black Bonnet
Mary Black Bonnet is an enrolled member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation (incorrectly known to the greater world as the Rosebud Sioux Tribe). She was born in Rosebud, South Dakota but taken from her mother at a young age and raised by a non-Native family. She spent the next 22 years trying to get back to her homeland. In her early 20s, she returned, learned her culture and language, and then used it in her work, writing both in Lakota and English.
She has been an artist in residence at Colorado College and Leech Lake Tribal College, and a visiting writer at Sinte Gleska University and Ihanktowan College as well as at various schools. She is a feminist author with a strong voice and a long to-do list. “I became a feminist by circumstance,” she says. “As long as Native women and children’s voices remain unheard, I will use my voice to assist, help them find their strength and voices. The dark ages are over.”
Mary is an activist in her community, focusing on reclamation of culture, language, sacred parenting, traditional midwifery and traditional medicine.“Wasicus [white people] want us to stand silently behind glass and only come out for pow wows and parades. But now we have education and resources on our side. The fight this time around is a bit more even, as long as there are warriors, we will not go without a fight. Acculturation and evolution are not the same thing.”
She has published poetry, and nonfiction essays. Her work can be seen in Tribal College Journal, Frontiers: a Journal of Women’s Studies, Genocide of the Mind, Eating Fire Tasting Blood, Sharing Our Stories: Native women surviving Violence, and Birthed From Scorched Hearts.
She was awarded an NCUR grant that she used to tell the story of the White Swan People and their forced removal by the government. She was an artist-in- residence at The Montana Artists Refuge, and was named One of South Dakota’s Ten Outstanding Young South Dakotans for her contributions to literature. She collaborated on a mixed media piece titled “Indian 3.0” which was presented at the University of Montana at Billings.
Mary has taught at Ihanktowan Community College and at her Alma Mater, Sinte Gleska University.
Her website is: www.maryblackbonnet.com
Where I’ve Been
I know I’ve been gone, long gone. But I’m here. And for the first time in a long time, I’m happy, really happy!
Big news, we’ve sold our little ranch that we had bought, and moved into, right before I started writing for Life As A Human. I loved the ranch, loved the views, but really hated the solitude it brought. I really disliked the community that we were a “part of.” I use quotes because I never felt a part of it, the whole time we lived there. I was always a lurker, always held at an arm’s length.
Do You Understand?
I preferred my deaf friends and “my” deaf community to my hearing ones. I started freelancing as an interpreter and I attended many deaf community activities. I began to look into colleges that were predominately deaf, and look into speech therapy and sign language interpretation degrees. But, as time wore on, I found my birth family and moved to South Dakota. I did not search out a deaf community and pretty much lost touch with that part of myself. I still signed anytime a favorite song came on the radio and I started to teach my boyfriend-turned-husband to sign.
Ina’s Dilemma
A mother ponders taking a job that will reduce her time spent with her child. Will others see the sacredness of her child when she is not there every minute? Are either of them ready for this?
The Wounded Knee Massacre
The Wounded Knee Massacre is a tragic part of history. For Mary Black Bonnet, a Lakota woman, it’s personal. Here, Mary takes readers into the powerful story of a courageous people whom the government tried to eradicate.
He Gave Me Permission
A writer meets a remarkable teacher who inspires her to be a writer and embrace her passion for words.
Coming and Going: More Loss, More Joy
When her brother returns, Mary looks forward to a new beginning and to having him in her life. But nothing is as it first seems.
Attack of the Bitches
A 7th grade science projects involving dog training results in one one girl bullying another, with long-term implications and a few hard-won lessons.
Babies: Mother Nature’s Alert System
When babies cry, everyone’s blood pressure goes up and no one is sure whether to offer help or not. Mary Black Bonnet looks at a society where people don’t communicate. Oh, except for the babies. But are we really listening?
The Sacred Act of Parenting
A mother reflect on parenting as a sacred act of helping her child navigate the “maze of a world and have her come out of her journey with her sacredness and her soul intact.”