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Layli Long Soldier is an Oglala Lakota poet, writer, feminist, artist, and activist.
Layli Long Soldier | |
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| Occupation |
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| Nationality | Oglala Lakota |
| Alma mater | |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Notable awards | |
Long Soldier grew up in the Four Corners region of the Southwest, where she continues to live and work to advocate against the continued, systematic oppression of Indigenous populations.[1] She graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts with a Bachelor's in Fine Arts and went on to earn a Master's at Bard College.[2]
In 2010, Layli Long Soldier published the chapbook Chromosomory.[3] In 2013, she participated in the art exhibit Pte Oyate at the Red Cloud Indian School, alongside Roger Broer, Michael Two Bulls, and Keith Brave Heart.[4]
Long Soldier is an editor of the journal Drunken Boat and the poetry editor for Kore Press.[3]
Her first volume of poetry, Whereas, was published in 2017 by Graywolf Press.[5][6] The collection explores the systemic violence against and cultural erasure of Native tribes in the United States through a thoughtful investigation of language.[7] Whereas responds to the cautiously phrased and quietly passed 2009 U.S. Congressional Apology to Native Peoples for the history of genocidal policies and actions enacted by the United States Federal government against Indigenous peoples. In writing these poems, Long Soldier studied similar apologies from governments worldwide to Indigenous peoples and considered the nature of an authentic apology.[8]
The volume's longest poem, the five-page "38," recounts how 38 Sioux warriors were hanged, with the approval of President Lincoln, after the 1862 Sioux Uprising on December 26, 1862. Long Soldier writes, "This was the same week that President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation."[9]
Whereas also invokes personal experiences, including Long Soldier's reflections on her relationship with her daughter and motherhood.[8]
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- 2015 Lannan Literary Award[10]
- 2016 National Artist Fellowship from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation[3]
- 2016 Whiting Award[11]
- 2017 National Book Award for Poetry, finalist for Whereas[12]
- 2017 National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry, winner for Whereas[13]
- 2018 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, winner for Whereas[14][15]
- 2018 Griffin Poetry Prize, shortlisted for Whereas
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