Henry Real Bird’s poetry represents a communicative art; it is poetry that blends his Native heritage with the identity of an “assimilated Indian.” Via his work, he brings ancient wisdom to life, transforming it into poetry, essays, plays, and performances. His writing offers an Apsáalooke perspective on the Western North American cattle culture, weaving his thoughts into soundscapes that create emotionally evocative imagery. Henry sees poetry as true freedom – a way to explore the deeper meanings of life. Henry was raised on the Crow Reservation ranch lands by his grandparents, who taught him Crow, his first and primary language. This deeply influences his poetry, as his poems begin in Crow in his mind before being translated into English.
Henry has been deeply involved in the education and cultural preservation of Crow tradition throughout his career. In the summer of 2010, a year after being appointed the third poet laureate of Montana by Governor Brian Schweitzer, Henry embarked on a 415-mile journey by horseback, during which he distributed books of poetry to communities along his path, aiming to bring literature to rural areas. Henry is not short on accomplishments. In addition to his history as poet laureate, he has authored six anthologies, four collections of poetry, and twelve children’s books, which he illustrated. He is also an active and decades-long participant in the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, where he recites his work annually. Further, his poetry earned him the prestigious Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and has been documented by the Library of Congress, featured by entities such as Yellowstone Public Radio, Humanities Montana, and the Western Folklife Center. In 2012, Henry was named Cowboy Poet of the Year at the 16th annual Academy of Western Artists Will Roger Awards. In 2020, Henry’s poem “Thought” was documented and archived by the Library of Congress in their “Living Nations, Living Words” collection.
