Thomas LeBlanc
Strong Buffalo, (Tatanka Ohitika) is an enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota, and a decorated Vietnam veteran. He has been writing poetry before there was anything named as native poetry, starting in Vietnam. In 1990 he was awarded a Heinrich Boll fellowship; in 1997, a St. Paul Companies Leadership In Neighborhood Grant, and a Jerome travel grant that initiated Oyate Hotanin. Traveling the world and speaking has been a way of life, working for the International Treaty Council, Indigenous Uranium Forum, and One People Foundation. His words, translated in more than 17 languages, 3 published books, 6 CD’s, lectures and performances are spoken to contribute to a world where we use creativity and options other than war, racism, and classism to solve the problems we face.