In the prairies, The Truth is a yt man. The Truth is whatever the yt man says, and whatever truth is said by the yt man is the ruling law of the holy wild wild (prairie) west.

      —Lindsay Nixon, nîtisânak (2018)

      Whereas looking up the word thunderbird I find descriptors such as

      supernatural which I take to mean not a normal thing. Further I find

      the thunderbird under a chapter heading Native American Myth and

      Legends. Whereas I once attended a summer writing program and

      while there a lecture by a poet on Native American myths. As a student

      I wanted to stand up at the mic during Q and A to challenge the terms

      under which one applies the term myth not to mention legend but I

      did not because the line was long because the speaker was well-known

      well-respected in other words he was a legend but not a myth. I could

      not work myself out from under that power nor what was missing

      and in hesitation / the language / my supernatural chapter ended.

      —Layli Long Soldier, WHEREAS (2017)