The overall theme for this collection is a deeply felt sense of wonder about everything everywhere. This is the Cree sense of matwân cî. Nia's poetry is at times mystical, playful and humorous, poignant and painful, and inspiring. Her poetic observations are a philosophical critique of an increasingly mechanized world with its digitized heartbeat. Above all, her poems are an invitation to be aware of the expanse and beauty of knowing we are in-separate and permeable, birthed, and rooted in an ancient past and integral to a life that arcs toward connection and wholeness. "This poet holds the stories, the language, the dances, and visions of the sacred animals. She stands between worlds. The healing involves all of us and needs our awareness, our differences, our likeness to weave together what has been separated in and among all of us." - Christin Lore Weber, author of No This But This "As a wild tangling and untangling of contemporary cultural worldviews (and their horrors) with traditional lifeways and experiences, Nia To Go There's poems illuminate, challenge, inspire and educate." - Chris La Tray, Montana Poet Laureate 2023-2025, Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians "In the insanities of our world today, matwân cî reminds us to take a moment to be still... to experience deeply, profoundly a journey into the language of the unknown, yet known. A reminder of who we are. An invitation to become fully self, loving other." - Wanda Daniel, Earth Minister From Modern History Press I close the cover of Nia To Go There's new book, matwân cî , and lean back in my chair-calm, feeling an intense oneness with the earth, both simple and complex, filled with wonder. To Go There has laid out for us in her poems and the illustrative art that accompanies them, the journey of a people, and within that story the journey which is herself. Here is a book that travels through your blood¬stream into your soul and heart. This poet holds the stories, the language, the dances, and visions of the sacred animals. She stands between worlds. The healing involves all of us and needs our awareness, our differences, our likeness to weave together what has been separated in and among all of us. - Christin Lore Weber, author of No This But This. Nia To Go There's new collection of poems often requires a good amount of sitting with. As a wild tangling and untangling of contemporary cultural worldviews (and their horrors) with traditional lifeways and experiences, To Go There's poems illuminate, challenge, inspire and educate. Rich with imagery and at times deeply personal, the poems collected here flourish with multiple readings. So, I urge you, reader, to not put matwân cî on a timer. Allow the poems every moment they deserve, every moment they require of you. You will be better for the conversation. - Chris La Tray, Montana Poet Laureate 2023-2025, Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians Nia To Go There has provided a literary medley of mystical and wonderful poetry and poetic prose in her book, matwân cî . Her poems and prose are provocative and evocative in addressing the existential questions of identity, purpose, and direction through indigenous thought and voice. Thank you for this gift of moving and inspirational poetry. - Paul Hill, Jr., Founder, National Rites of Passage Institute matwân cî offers a window into a wide range of topics. Some of the poems are specific to Nia To Go There's experiences of being an indigenous woman. Others are universal: for example, her keen and appreciative observations of the natural world. Readers will explore many new horizons in the care of a kind and wise guide. They are in good hands. - Patricia Park (One of Nia To Go There's former-and forever-students.) Nia's poetry and poetic prose in matwân cî is a refreshing sigh of an authentically true and connected being. An honest experience is held in Nia's beautiful word images that sustain the paradoxes embodied and linked in all energies. - Steph Hecker, LCSW, RPT In the insanities of our world today, matwân cî reminds us to take a moment to be still... to experience deeply, profoundly a journey into the language of the unknown, yet known. A reminder of who we are. An invitation to become fully self, loving other. An honoring of the most beloved, Earth. Hers is a voice raised to reveal the lies we worship and a voice that inspires us to the truths of living wise and well. - Wanda Daniel, Earth Minister We are both visible and invisible. We are sacred and must open ourselves to our own story...waiting to be told." With these words Nia To Go There invites us to accompany her on a journey into an ancient space that transcends time, to a place in which first peoples live within the sacred sphere of the earth. She is re-minding us in matwân cî of the language and practices of her ancestors. To go there offers a way to bring these languages and practices into our own stories, which wait to weave us into the fabric of the living cosmos. Sp