This video spot was created in 1987 by Mike Hazard for the late Amos Owen. It honored the Year of Reconciliation in connection with the Dakota Conflict of 1862. Carrie Schommer speaks the Dakota voiceover. The next annual powwow in Mankato is September 15-17, 2023. For more, visit.
Once upon a time, I used to love tasting
the crispy skin of animals. Pig. Fish. Turkey.
Peking duck still makes my mouth water.
Scars remember, remind I used to eat myself alive.
Palimpsest of sinning and unoriginal sin,
vellum of om and um, cannibal of soul, I am.
My skin is a country of ad hoc, make-do tattoo,
a pretty pattern of stain, damaged by the sun.
Real life will forever struggle with unreeling evil.
The color of my skin is a crime scene.
Human skin burns, to protest napalm.
Eat what you kill, the singer sings, and I listen.
I listen as I've grown comfortable in my own skin.
Tasty memories, now that I am happy as a vegan.
I bite a honeycrisp and juice drips on my chin.