This was kind of a cool find as I was looking for Native poets and poems. It’s a spoken word poem read by a group of Native women living in L.A. I think best experienced by actually viewing it! My Once Life By Pamela J....
Ernestine! I’ve been looking forward to posting this poem, and today just seemed like the day. It is permanently installed at Totem Bight Park in Ketchikan, where I first encountered it. Ernestine Hayes is our current Alaska Writer Laureate. The Spoken Forest By...
I was missing my mama today. 😢 I texted her, but not quite the same! And I used to love her brushing my hair. This poem by Gladys Cardiff just reached out to me. Combing By Gladys Cardiff Bending, I bow my headand lay my hands uponher hair, combing, and thinkhow women...
A little over halfway through the month, and I’m back at Joy Harjo. I wasn’t initially going to repeat any poets, but today Joy posted something on Facebook about the importance of paying artists, especially in this time, and she’s been on my mind ever since. This...
I went into some interesting places in search of a “traditional” Native poem. But it’s really difficult to verify just who is saying it is traditional, their translation, etc. So I stumbled on this Inuit “oral poet” Uvavnuk. A few online sources say she was struck by...
