NOELLE HUSER
for the Missoulian
It was midnight when Ash Nataanii left her music studio in downtown Missoula and drove to her close friendâs house. She plugged in her phone and pushed play on the song sheâd been working on all day.
Watery guitar riffs and cathartic drums bled from the car stereo, filling her ears with raw self-reflection. Her voice sang back to her, crying transparent lyrics, âI shifted gears and held you in my womb, I laughed it off but started weeping elephants in the room.â
Her whole life she had every reason to not feel free, Nataanii said. As an Indigenous queer person growing up in Montana, she carried the weight of oppression, from the church she grew up in, from society, even from herself. âEmpty Nest,â became an outlet for her to process her feelings, the regret and healing from abuses suffered in her life.