Something Small of How to See a River: Poetry Book Launch

Where else would make sense to launch my new poetry book, Something Small of How to See a River, then by the river? Come spend an afternoon scoping out native plants, engaging in river education activities, hearing directly from Water Protectors about the movement at Standing Rock, and being in community.

Urban Rivers is providing the space and the river education activities. Yay rivers!

Women and Children First is supporting this event as a bookseller. Yay local bookstores!

About the Book:

Something Small of How to See a River, was selected by Tyehimba Jess for Tupelo Press's Dorset Prize. The book tells a little piece of the story of the Mni Wichoni Nakicizin Wounspe (Defenders of the Water School), which I helped to run at the Oceti Sakowin Water Protector Camp at Standing Rock. It's a book about narrative authority, whiteness in movement spaces, state violence, joy, and the small labors that build community. Tyehimba Jess said about it, "Working in the true sense of a liberatory project, here is honest, bracing news for the weary but unwavered.” Craig Santos Perez called it "the most memorable debut I've read in years."

The book cover was generously made by textile artist, Val Eagle Shield.

About the author:

Teresa Dzieglewicz is a poet, educator, and lover of rivers and prairies. She is a fellow with Black Earth Institute, a Poet-in-Residence at the Chicago Poetry Center, and part of the founding team of Mni Wichoni Nakicizin Wounspe (Defenders of the Water School). With Natasha Mijares, she organizes "Watershed: Ways of Seeing the Chicago River". Her first book of poetry, Something Small of How to See a River was selected by Tyehimba Jess for the Dorset Prize (Tupelo Press). Her first children's book, Belonging, co-written with Kimimila Locke, is forthcoming from Chronicle Books. She has won a Pushcart Prize, Best New Poets, the Gingko Prize, the Auburn Witness Prize, and the Palette Poetry Prize. Teresa lives with her family in Chicago, on Potawatomi land.

About our guests:

Steve Tamayo, recipient of the 2025 NEA Bess Lomax Hawes National Heritage Fellowship, has spent 14 years on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, reclaiming and preserving Lakota culture through his art. As a traditional artist and educator, Tamayo revives stories that were systematically erased by discriminatory laws, the boarding school system, and forced relocation. In 2022, Tamayo was awarded a four-year Creative Capital project grant to design, paint, and adorn 13 traditional buffalo robes for the school at Standing Rock Reservation. Tamayo’s work also includes buffalo robes gifted to Willie Nelson and Neil Young.

Frankie Archambault is a Lakhota youth artist and activist. She was a student at the Mni Wichoni Nakicizin Wounspe and a leader among the kids at the Oceti Sakowin Camp. She's interested in environmental issues, especially surrounding water. She currently works with the Joslyn Museum in Omaha and Bluebird Cultural Initiative. She is working and studying to be a knowledge keeper for her people.

EJ Sweetly is a citizen of the Comanche Nation and current Chairwoman of the Oscar Jacobson Foundation, a (501)c3 non profit organization whose mission is to bring people together by promoting and celebrating Native American art and culture and honoring the artistic legacy of the Kiowa Six and Dr. Oscar Jacobson. A community organizer, writer and artist, EJ continues to create work in a variety of artistic mediums, though her first love has always been creating art with words. She has published work with NPR’s, “This I Believe” series and Yellow Medicine Review. EJ’s career is focused on cultivating and promoting access to the arts, for all.

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