Amelia Schafer
ICT
RAPID CITY, South Dakota – For Robert Bordeaux, poetry is a way for the Sicangu artist to understand the world around him.
Typically, his inspiration comes to him while walking in the sacred Black Hills or He Sapa, but it also comes from his ancestors, his language and his community.
Growing up outside of his community, Bordeaux moved back to the Rosebud Reservation as an adult in 2021 to spend time with his father and reconnect with his community.
“(I was) slowly starting to connect with language, culture, family and my own reckoning with identity,” Bordeaux said.
These themes are all explored in Bordeaux’s newest poetry book, “Prairie Bones.”
The book is a glimpse into Bordeaux’s experience as a Sicangu person learning Lakota and about himself. There are also pieces discussing Palestine and the genocide the Palestinian people are experiencing, relating it back to how Lakota people were treated by the United States.
“Wherever you’re at in your connection, or reconnection journey, this hopefully offers a bit of inspiration and hope,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of work in the language space and that can be a touchy little space, a discouraging space, so I just want to offer to folks to try and do your best, listen and learn.”
One poem that Bordeaux is especially proud of is a three-part poem titled “My Ancestor’s Tongue.” the poem depicts Bordeaux’s journey to learn Lakota language in three parts, with the third part entirely in Lakota. Here is an excerpt from the second part of the poem:
I saw an eagle fly over I-70.
I whispered to myself waŋblí.
There is so much I do not yet know,
but with every word I learn in Lak̇ot̄a,
I think about what it will sound like
hearing my children say them back to me.
I think about how my ancestors will get to hear
the future generation’s children they prayed for
speak in their tongue
And that alone carries me toward every tomorrow
The book is over two years in the making, Bordeaux said, and is his third poetry book and fourth piece of published writing overall. His previously published work includes “Lovely Seeds,” “Quiet Remnants” and a short story included in the anthology “Disconnected.” Bordeaux also has multiple poems included in “Pasque Petals” from the South Dakota State Poetry Society.
The title for his newest book, “Prairie Bones,” is a callback to Bordeaux’s Instagram page, which was initially a faceless account where he would post poetry.
“It was a moniker, no one knew it was me,” he said. “A few of those (poems) actually went viral, but I wanted people to connect with me, not just this persona. … I’ve kind of gone full circle back to that. It’s a reference to myself. I’m from the prairie.”
Bordeaux said he’s been writing since he was 12 years old, having published his first book in 2016 when he was in his early 20s.
“Doing poetry is my creative outlet,” he said.
Outside of writing, Bordeaux is a tactical media organizer for NDN Collective, a Rapid City-based Indigenous advocacy nonprofit organization. He also leads the Black Hills Writers Collective, a group dedicated to providing space for Native and non-Native writers in Spearfish, a small city in the northern Black Hills, through regular open mic sessions.
“We’re a small town, so it’s been really cool to create a queer-safe friendly space,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to create.”
Bordeaux’s new book, published with Dakota-owned publishing company Wiyounkihipi Productions, is available now for purchase online and will be available in person in the Black Hills area at Prairie Edge in Rapid City and Henry’s Books in Spearfish, South Dakota.