#Indigenous poetry

[niibaataa]

Some Indigenous Poets to Read

Disclaimer: Some of these poems deal with pregnancy, colonialism, substance abuse, murder, death, and historical wrongs. Exercise caution.

Tacey M. Atsitty [Diné] : Anasazi, Lady Birds' Evening Meetings, Things to Do With a Monster.

Billy-Ray Belcourt [Cree] : NDN Homopoetics, If Our Bodies Could Rust, We Would Be Falling Apart, Love is a Moontime Teaching.

CooXooEii Black [Arapaho] : On Mindfulness, Some Notes on Vision, With Scraps We Made Sacred Food.

Trevino L. Brings Plenty [Lakota] : Unpack Poetic, Will, Massacre Song Foundation.

Julian Talamantez Brolaski [Apache] : Nobaude, murder on the gowanus, What To Say Upon Being Asked To Be Friends.

Gladys Cardiff [Cherokee] : Combing, Prayer to Fix The Affections, To Frighten a Storm.

Freddy Chicangana [Yanacuna] : Of Rivers, Footprints, We Still Have Life on This Earth.

Laura Da' [Shawnee] : Bead Workers, The Meadow Views: Sword and Symbolic History, A Mighty Pulverizing Machine.

Natalie Diaz [Mojave] : It Was The Animals, My Brother My Wound, The Facts of Art.

Heid E. Erdrich [Anishinaabe] : De'an, Elemental Conception, Ghost Prisoner.

Jennifer Elise Foerster [Mvskoke] : From "Coosa", Leaving Tulsa, The Other Side.

Eric Gansworth [Onondaga] : Bee, Eel, A Half-Life of Cardio-Pulmonary Function.

Joy Harjo [Muscogee] : An American Sunrise, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings, A Map to The Next World.

Gordon Henry Jr. [Anishinaabe] : How Soon, On the Verve of Verbs, It Was Snowing on The Monuments.

Sy Hoahwah [Comanche/Arapaho] : Colors of The Comanche Nation Flag, Definitive Bright Morning, Typhoni.

LeAnne Howe [Choctaw] : A Duck's Tune, 1918, Iva Describes Her Deathbed.

Hugo Jamioy [Kamentsá] : PUNCTUAL, If You Don't Eat Anything, The Story of My People.

Layli Long Soldier [Lakota] : 38, WHEREAS, Obligations 2.

Janet McAdams [Muscogee] : Flood, The Hands of The Taino, Hunters, Gatherers.

Brandy Nālani McDougall [Kānaka Maoli] : He Mele Aloha no ka Niu, On Finding my Father's First Essay, The Island on Which I Love You.

dg nanouk okpik [Inupiaq-Inuit] : Cell Block on Chena River, Found, If Oil Is Drilled In Bristol Bay.

Simon J. Ortiz [Acoma Pueblo] : Becoming Human, Blind Curse, Busted Boy.

Sara Marie Ortiz [Acoma Pueblo] : Iyáani (Spirit, Breath, Life), Language (part of a compilation), Rush.

Alan Pelaez Lopez [Zapotec] : the afterlife of illegality, A Daily Prayer, Zapotec Crossers.

Tommy Pico [Kumeyaay] : From "Feed", from Junk, You Can't be an NDN Person in Today's World.

Craig Santos Perez [Chamorro] : (First Trimester), from Lisiensan Ga'lago, from "understory".

Cedar Sigo [Suquamish] : Cold Valley, Expensive Magic, Secrets of The Inner Mind.

M. L. Smoker [Assiniboine/Sioux] : Crosscurrent, Heart Butte, Montana, Another Attempt at Rescue.

Laura Tohe [Diné] : For Kathryn, Female Rain, Returning.

Gwen Nell Westerman [Cherokee/Dakota] : Dakota Homecoming, Covalent Bonds, Undivided Interest.

Karenne Wood [Monacan] : Apologies, Abracadabra, an Abecedarian, Chief Totopotamoi, 1654.

Lightning Round! Writers with poetry available on their sites:

Shonda Buchanan [Coharie, Cherokee, Choctaw].

Leonel Lienlaf [Mapuche].

Asani Charles [Choctaw/Chickasaw].

[uwmspeccoll]

Voices of the Land

What better way to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day than to highlight this landmark anthology that commemorates the Indigenous Peoples of North America? When the Light of the World was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry, edited by Joy Harjo with Leanne Howe, Jennifer Elise Foerster, is a curated collection that features the poetry of 160 poets each showcasing a distinct voice from nearly 100 Indigenous Nations. This is the first edition from 2020, published by W. W. Norton & Company in New York.

The anthology is the first to provide a historically comprehensive collection of Native poetry. The literary traditions of Native Americans, the original poets of this country, date back centuries. The book opens with a blessing from Pulitzer Prize winner American Kiowa/Cherokee N. Scott Momaday (1934-2024) and contains introductions from contributing editors for five geographically organized sections. Each section begins with a poem from traditional oral literature and closes with emerging poets, creating a rich and diverse tapestry of Indigenous voices.

Joy Harjo, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is a prominent figure in the literary world. She is known for her work as a poet, musician, playwright, and author. In addition to her contributions to literature, Harjo is also a celebrated performer and has released several albums combining poetry and music. In 2019, she made history by becoming the first Native American United States Poet Laureate and only the second to serve three terms. Throughout her career, Harjo has been a vocal advocate for Indigenous rights and has used her art to shed light on the experiences of Native peoples.

The following is an excerpt from Harjo’s introduction to this work:

“The anthology then is a way to pass on the poetry that has emerged from rich traditions of the very diverse cultures of indigenous peoples from these indigenous lands, to share it. Most readers will have no idea that there is or was a single Native poet, let alone the number included in this anthology. Our existence as sentient human beings in the establishment of this country was denied. Our presence is still an afterthought, and fraught with tension, because our continued presence means that the mythic storyline of the founding of this country is inaccurate. The United States is a very young country and has been in existence for only a few hundred years. Indigenous peoples have been here for thousands upon thousands of years and we are still here.”

View other Indigenous Peoples' Day posts.

View other posts from our Native American Literature Collection.

-Melissa (Stockbridge-Munsee), Special Collections Graduate Intern

We acknowledge that in Milwaukee we live and work on traditional Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, and Menominee homelands along the southwest shores of Michigami, part of North America’s largest system of freshwater lakes, where the Milwaukee, Menominee, and Kinnickinnic rivers meet and the people of Wisconsin’s sovereign Anishinaabe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Oneida, and Mohican nations remain present.

[gennsoup]

Sun makes the day new. Tiny green plants emerge from earth. Birds are singing the sky into place. There is nowhere else I want to be but here. I lean into the rhythm of your heart to see where it will take us.

Joy Harjo, For Keeps

[big-gay-demons]

From 'This Wound Is A World' by Billy-Ray Belcourt.

[ometochtli2rabbit]

"How To Be A Good Savage and Other Poems" by Mikaes Sanchez, translated from Zoque and Spanish by Wendy Call and Shook. It includes three translations of each poem. Here's jus a taste:

WE ARE MOKAYAS

They call us Indians

for defending Nasakopajk'

but what child would help the executioner

rather than his mother?

We are Mokayas,

sowers of maize.

We aren't savages,

we aren't uncivilized.

We understand the language of rivers,

and hills.

We are the wound that will not heal,

we are the answer to your emptiness.

Come, white brother,

we will teach you a song you must

remember.

Come, white sister,

we will give you the secret of the sublime.

[takataapui]

A poem about how time is a circle, echoing down through the generations. And also colonisation and psychosis, I suppose.

You, my tūpuna A hundred years after the empire came. Forced into a school, Forced to speak the Queen's English. You didn't know how you didn't kōrero their reo so you stayed quiet to avoid punishment. Yet punish you they did for disobedience for not listening for silence. Me, your moko, Two hundred fifty years After the empire came. Forced into a school, Forced to be a good student. I had a split from reality. Stayed quiet to avoid killing everyone as the delusion said speaking would do Yet they still punished me for disobedience for not listening for silence. A hundred fifty years between us Yet I feel the echo of you in me A hundred fifty years between us Yet the colonisation lives on A hundred fifty years between us Yet we are a pool of water reflecting each other They see our silence as breaking their rules, I see it as survival.

[giiwedinongkwe]

I have a website!

[laikacore]

i finally found the thing i've been looking for

searching for, for years

i finally found it on an island out east

and there it tasted just as i'd imagined it would

rich chocolate, delicious and sweet

where i couldn't smell the difference in the air

but i could feel it on my skin

where i found myself in that rich red dirt

where it fades to soft amber sand

where it fades to an endless horizon of steely blue

and when i found it again here

at home, in the gray world

of tall glass buildings and honking cars

and the gasoline i can smell

it doesn't quite taste the same here, no

synthetic sugar, not quite right

not like it did on that island out east

with the rolling hills and the deep green trees

and the goats and the cows and the potato fields

ah, that's home, that's where i'm from

if not me then my family

and my family's family

l'nuk, on the mi'kma'ki

prince edward island/epekwitk by laika wallace

[blaze-artist]

Drumming

A forgotten part of me

The moment I sit down at the drum, all the tension leaves my body and I feel at peace. It feels like I can breathe freely again, like there are no responsibilities waiting for me once the drumming ends, I feel myself… 

With each hit of the drumstick hitting the drum that makes the beautiful songs of my culture, everything seems to fade around me, the chatter of students, the talks between the teachers, the texting, the laughter, the calls, all of it fade around me. All I hear is the calming beat of the drumming and the singing.

When I sit down at the drum drumming, all the weight of the world is lifted from my shoulders, even if it is for a moment. It is a moment of freedom for me,  as it makes me feel connected to the creator and mother earth. 

The Stories that are behind the songs that are sung at the drum with courage, the drumming that accompany the songs, that is what brings the songs alive for me. That is what brings me peace, what brings me freedom, even if it is just for a moment. 

The moment I am at the drum drumming to my heart's content, I am myself… The drum, the drumming, the singing, the stories that are told, the mother earth, the creator. They are what is healing a part of me that I have lost long ago, a part of me that I am still finding amongst the darkness I am still finding my way out of…

I am myself the moment I sit at the drum… Even if it is for a moment...

Blaze

[niibaataa]

Nishnaabe Nagamonan

Disclaimer: Some works deal with historical wrongs, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, colonialism, and residential/boarding schools. Exercise caution.

Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm is a member of Saugeen Ojibway First Nation. Akiwenzie-Damm has served as Poet Laureate for Owen Sound and North Grey. In 1993, she established Kegedonce Press, a publishing house devoted to Indigenous writers. She has also authored Without Reservation: Indigenous Erotica.

Works: (Re)Generation, My Heart is a Stray Bullet.

Marie Annharte Baker is a member of Little Saskatchewan First Nation. Annharte's work concentrates on women, urban, Indigenous, disability, and related topics. She critiques life from Western Canada. After graduating with an English degree in the 1970s, she became involved in Native activism and was one of the first people in North America to teach a class entirely on Native women.

Works: Indigena Awry, Miskwagoode, Exercises in Lip Pointing.

Lesley Belleau is a member of Garden River First Nation. She is noted for her 2017 collection Indianland. She has an MA in English literature from the University of Windsor and is working on a PhD in Indigenous Studies from Trent University.

Works: Indianland.

Kimberly M. Blaeser is an enrolled member of the White Earth Reservation. Blaeser served as Wisconsin's Poet Laureate from 2015-2016. She is a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Miluwakee. A contemporary of Vizenor, she is the first critic to publish a book-length study on his fiction. She has been writing poetry since 1993.

Works: Apprenticed to Justice, Trailing You, Absentee Indians and Other Poems.

Diane Burns was a member of the Lac Courte Oreilles band. Burns was Anishinaabe through her mother and Chemehuevi through her father. Burns attended the Institute of American Indian Arts and Barnard College (within Columbia University). She was also an accomplished visual artist. She is considered an important figure within the Native American contemporary arts movement.

Works: Riding the One-Eyed Ford (available online).

Aja Couchois Duncan is a Bay Area educator, writer, and coach. Duncan is of Ojibwe, French, and Scottish descent. Her debut collection won the California Book Award. She holds an MFA in creative writing from San Francisco State University.

Works: Restless Continent, Vestigal.

Heid E. Erdrich is a member of the Turtle Mountain band. Erdrich is a granddaughter of Patrick Gourneau, who fought against Indian termination during his time as tribal chairman from 1953-1959. Erdrich holds a PhD in Native American Literature and Writing. Erdrich used to teach, but has since stepped back from doing it full-time. She directs Wiigwaas Press, an Ojibwe language publisher.

Works: Cell Traffic, The Mother's Tongue, Curator of Ephemera at the New Museum for Archaic Media.

Louise Erdrich is a member of the Turtle Mountain band. Erdrich is a granddaughter of Patrick Gourneau, who fought against Indian termination during his time as tribal chairman from 1953-1959. She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant writers of the Native American Renaissance. Owner of Birchbark Books, an independent bookstore that focuses on Native Literature.

Works: Jacklight, Original Fire, Baptism of Desire.

David Groulx was raised in Elliott Lake, Ontario. Groulx is Ojibwe and French Canadian. He received his BA in Literature from Lakehead University and later studied creative writing at the En'owkin Centre in British Columbia. He has also studied creative writing at the University of Victoria.

Works: From Turtle Island to Gaza, Rising With a Distant Dawn, Imagine Mercy.

Gordon Henry Jr is an enrolled member of the White Earth Reservation. Gordon Henry Jr holds a PhD in Literature from the University of North Dakota and is currently a professor of English at Michigan State University. He has authored several novels and poetry collections and is a celebrated writer in Michigan.

Works: Spirit Matters, The Failure of Certain Charms.

Jane Johnston Schoolcraft was Born in Sault Ste. Marie on Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Schoolcraft was given the name of Bamewawagezhikaquay ('Woman of the Sound that the stars make Rushing Through the Sky') in Ojibwe. Her mother was Ozhaguscodaywayquay, the daughter of the Ojibwe war chief Waubojeeg. Her father was fur-trader John Johnston. Johnston is regarded as the first major Native American female writer. She wrote letters and poems in both English and Ojibwe.

Writeup containing works.

Denise Lajimodiere is a citizen of the Turtle Mountain band. Lajimodiere is considered an expert on Native American boarding schools following her work Stringing Rosaries, published in 2019. She is a poet, professor, scholar, and the current Poet Laureate of North Dakota.

Works: His Feathers Were Chains, Thunderbird: Poems, Dragonfly Dance.

Linda Legarde Grover is a member of the Bois Forte Band. She is a columnist for the Duluth Tribune and Professor Emeritus of American Indian Studies at University of Minnesota (Duluth). She has written poetry, short stories, and essays.

Works: The Sky Watched, Onigamiising.

Sara Littlecrow-Russel is of Ojibwe and Han-Naxi Métis descent. Russell is a lawyer and professional mediator as well as a poet. She has worked at the Center for Education and Policy Advocacy at the University of Massachusetts and for Community Partnerships for Social Change at Hampshire College.

Works: The Secret Powers of Naming.

Jim Northrup was a member of the Fond du Lac Reservation in Minnesota. Northrup lived a traditional lifestyle in his early years. As a child, he attended an Indian boarding school where he suffered physical abuse. Later in life, he served in the Vietnam war and experienced PTSD. Much of his poetry comes from these hardships.

Works: Walking the Rez Road, Rez Salute: The Real Healer Dealer, Anishinaabe Syndicated.

Duke Redbird was born in Saugeen First Nation. He became a ward of Children's Aid at nine months old when his mother died in a house fire. He began writing to give words to his experiences as an Indigenous man raised by white foster families. He is recognized as a key figure in the development of First Nations literature.

His poetry is available on his site.

Denise Sweet is a member of the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. Sweet served as Wisconsin's Poet Laureate from 2004-2008. She has taught creative writing, literature, and mythology at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Works: Songs for Discharming, Palominos Near Tuba City.

Mark Turcotte is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band. Turcotte is a visiting assistant professor of English at DePaul University. He has published two books of poetry. His chapbook, Road Noise, was translated into French.

Works: The Feathered Heart, Exploding Chippewas.

E. Donald Two-Rivers was raised in Emo Township, Ontario. He moved to Chicago at age 16 and became involved with the Urban Native community there. A playwright, spoken-word performer, and a poet, Two-Rivers had been an activist for Native rights since the 1970s. He was the founding director of the Chicago-based Red Path Theater Company.

Works: Powwows, Fat Cats, and Other Indian Tales, A Dozen Cold Ones by Two-Rivers.

Gerald Vizenor is an enrolled member of the White Earth Reservation. Vizenor has published over 30 books. He taught at the University of California for many years and is currently at the University of New Mexico. He has a long history of political activism and he is considered one of the most prolific Indigenous ironists writing today.

Works: Favor of Crows, Cranes Arise, Empty Swings.

[the-verses-stained]

Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation

Natalie Diaz, “Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation” from When My Brother Was an Aztec

[gennsoup]

I have more faith in you than I have ever had in mere gods

Phil Kawana, Songs for my children

[washontaes]

of the land

heart-shaped face passed down across generations; my momma, from the land of coal and sandstone my pops, from the land of cedar and flint my body, carved out by both

[woodsfae]

Chris La Tray. Descended from a Travel-Worn Satchel. 2021.

[taya-yayaa]

🦋

butterflies are an insect i enjoy

they flutter without a care in the world

my favourite, ever since i was a little girl

why have they turned against me?

they create a swarm in my stomach

clouding my lungs, gasping for air

my asthma can’t compare

to the way the butterflies are frantic on the inside

sometimes they’re dormant

but when something important happens

i have to remind them that they can’t absorb

meant that they can’t go towards my brain

clouding my thoughts, doesn’t ease the pain

going to my head they get stuck in my throat

it makes me choke

on my words and all i let out is a croak

as if a frog has replaced my larynx

do the butterflies feed on my hysterics

i think it’s over until i fly into a web i can’t see

or get stung by a bee

but all i wish is to be is free

from the swarm in my stomach that brings me everything but glee

i have been trapped in my cocoon

my wings are folding and starting to prune

and i wish to flutter without a care in the world

and be what i admired when i was a little girl

- t