4 August 2022

LAST NIGHT AT APPROXIMATELY 2:11AM CENTRAL TIME, MY SISTERS & I MADE CONTACT WITH EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE. 

I need to strike this while the iron still binds.

Northern Minnesota. Cass Lake, belonging to the Leech Lake band of the Ojibwe Tribe. We’re at a family camp. We can’t afford real vacations so every year we attend a quasi-religious camp in Minnesota. Iris led programming focused on the teachings of author bell hooks. I’m not saying the name of the camp because I don’t wanna blow its spot up. I’ve been going since I was 5 years old. Family has been going since the 1920s. 

Iris, Mica & I are the only ones on the dock of the lake. Very little light pollution. Major constellation presence. 

All the stars are out, including in the sky. I haven’t been in therapy since May.

Mica, my younger-older sister, asked us, “would you guys tell anyone if we got abducted by aliens?” I then referenced a podcast that my girlfriend listens to called “Stuff You Should Know.” In a recent episode, the hosts of the podcast reported that — on a scale of 1-10 (1 being “I could care less,” 10 being “omg a comet is on its way to put an end to life it’s like literally almost here” seriousness), the public consensus of general interest in contact with extraterrestrial life is a 2/10. We’re really out here as a species entirely unconcerned with other galactic beings.

Just then, a blinding flash of white light from the sky beams onto us. It was sudden & instantaneous. Brilliant & salient. A direct spotlight striking from above. 

What was that?

I think it was lightning…

*night sky is entirely clear of any clouds // overcast*

Are you sure?

That was weird.

So strange.

Do you think mom loves us all equally?

Yeah, I don’t know what that was.

Alright then.

Not all of us were entirely attuned to what happened — looking in different directions, etc. But we all did recognize that there was a light.  No doubt about it. There was a palpable degree of wondrous curiosity shared amongst us much like the space in our mother’s uterus was once shared amongst us.

We continue on with our conversation, less gusto in our dialogue than before. Sometimes, weird shit happens in nature & you just gotta keep it pushing. I didn’t drink that night, but my tiredness was on par with my sisters' drunkenness. Maybe we were just all a little out of it? It was a flash from a nearby lighthouse?

A moment later, another beam of white light flashes from above. Bigger & brighter than the first. Blinding us for those few milliseconds.

Alright.

Okay, well I’m not trying to stick around for the third beam.

Yeah, let’s head back.

We gingerly lifted our butts from the wooden dock & waddled our way to shore. I was gripping the huge night-watchman flashlight (the dildo-looking ones that hold like 56 cheeto puff batteries inside of it) and tried to turn it on to light our way back to the cabin. It wouldn’t turn on! The flashes from above rendered the batteries useless!

Our level of concern gradually grew as we made it closer to the cabin. My sisters & I are all adults, years apart, and live thousands of miles away from one another. But on that walk, we were budding children once more, reacting to an inexplicable phenomenon. 

A short five hours later, we would gratefully arise to another day. All of us were unsure who to tell & why to tell. Are we wasting oxygen with the details of something so tremendous? I would sprinkle what happened into a few conversations throughout the day. Folks would react a bit stunned, but nothing worthwhile. My news was neither sad nor happy. It just was impactful. I still don’t know how to emotionally gauge everything. Thankfully I can look to my lineage fora semblance of understanding. 

I will keep it Parliament levels of Funky right now.. Natives & Aliens are like pickles & crunchy peanut butter — an unlikely, scrumptious, slightly acidic duo. I grew up hearing extensive lore of aliens, as did my other Native peers. Petroglyphs that depict flying saucers. Uncle was chilling by the creek at night, when some speckled lights came & hovered above him. He gave them a head nod. They did the same to him. Then both parties kept it pushing.

I think aliens like Natives because we don’t assume anything about them. We aren’t pervasive. We don’t commodify their image & likeness. Natives aren’t all up in their space trying to discover forms of life, emboldening us to eventually colonize & gentrify their neighborhoods with litter & face mountains. Maybe because Natives know how that feels. Aliens can come down to visit Natives with a little more ease than other human communities. Might even get a watecha (leftovers) plate from grandma on the way out of town. My latest music video Down2earth explores this galactic relationship.

If you’ve read this far, check out this song & tag me in an instagram story of you listening to it. 

Anywho, I’m gonna wrap this up kind of unceremoniously. Check out the Shows/Events tab on my website for the list of what I’m up to performance-wise.

If any beings from neighboring planets/galaxies are reading this diary entry: enjoy your future visits, feel free to come & say hi to me again… maybe with your dimmers on next time.