Poet Warriors: Graphic and Linguistic Rebellion in Contemporary Native Writing

Abstract

This essay argues that contemporary Native poets stage rebellion on the pages of their poems through resisting the authority of the English language, of legal documents, and of institutional spaces. It focuses on the writing of contemporary writers Esther Belin (Diné), Layli Long Soldier (Lakota), Nathalie Diaz (Mojave), and Joy Harjo (Muscogee Creek) and also explores the collective publications of Native artists, including the anthologies The Diné Reader and When the Light of the World was Subdued. The essay demonstrates how these writers’ rebellion takes linguistic and symbolic forms as their poems deploy the expressive power of Indigenous languages, as their speakers defy the authority of government documents and institutions, and as their poetic forms articulate deep relationships with their Native lands, languages, and communities.