- #DearNative Youth Poetry Contest
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- Issue 1
- Letter from the Editors
- Shauna Osborn – Poetry
- Lyla June Johnston – Spoken word
- Tacey M. Atsitty – Poetry
- Valentina Cano – Poetry
- Nila Northsun – Poetry
- Yasmeen Najmi – Poetry
- Juanita E. Mantz – Creative Nonfiction
- Tria Andrews – Poetry
- Justine Kao – Creative Nonfiction
- Interview with Joy Harjo
- Marianne A. Broyles – Poetry
- Julie Lythcott-Haims – Poetry
- Layli Long Soldier – Poetry
- Erika Wurth – Poetry
- Jennifer Givhan – Fiction
- Alicia Lawrence – Poetry
- Lesley Belleau – Essay and Poetry
- Leanne Simpson – Poetry
- LaEsha Sanders – Fiction
- Kaylanah Shendo – Featured Youth Poet
- Linda Boyden – Poetry
- Venaya Yazzie – Poetry
- Acknowledgments
- V-Day Issue
- Letter from the Editors
- Hank Richardson – Artist
- Lauren Chief Elk – Save Wiyabi, Co-Founder
- Takeo Rivera – Spokenword
- Natalia Duong – Dance
- Hakim Bellamy – Poetry
- Jessica Helen Lopez – Poetry/Spoken Word
- Ricky Triana – Poetry
- Teresa Blankmeyer-Burke – Poetry
- Alejandro Jimenez – Spoken Word
- Natalie Scenters-Zapico – Poetry
- Cuauhtémoc Peranda – Dance
- Lisa Gill – Creative Nonfiction
- Carlos Contreras – Spoken Word
- Michelle Brooks – Poetry
- Richard Vargas – Poetry
- Michelle Otero – Poetry
- Reed Bobroff – Poetry
- Erika L. Sánchez, NBC Latino – Article
- Molina Speaks – Music and Spoken Word
- Margaret Randall – Poetry and Prose
- Ara Cruz – Spoken Word
- Tanaya Winder – Poetry and Spoken Word
- Casandra Lopez – Fiction
- Scott Hernandez – Poetry
- Aaron Yazzie – Photo Essay
- Poetic Theater Productions’
- Issue 2
- Letter from the Editors
- Lisa Marie Rollins – Poetry
- Mari Beltran – Poetry
- Cristina Correa – Poetry
- Safia Elhillo – Poetry
- Nakita Nokwanda – Poetry
- Tiffany Midge – Poetry
- Annam Manthiram – Creative Nonfiction
- Interview with Annam Manthiram
- Dysfunction – Book Review
- Michaela Pino – Youth Featured Poet
- Reed Bobroff – Poetry
- Shireen Hamza – Poetry and Spoken Word
- Aaron Yazzie – Photo Essay
- Kimberly Williams – Poetry
- Felicia Chavez – Creative Nonfiction
- Patricia Killelea – Poetry
- April Gibson – Creative Nonfiction
- Natalie Scenters-Zapico – Poetry
- Interview with Scenters-Zapico
- Alejandro Jimenez – Spoken Word
- Jessica Helen Lopez – Poetry
- Cynthia Sylvester – Fiction
- JiaJing Liu – Poetry
- Hank Richardson – Artwork
- Karen An-hwei-Lee – Poetry
- Kateri Menominee – Poetry
- Lisa Gray – Fiction
- Hana Riaz – Fiction
- Unraveling the Spreading Cloth of Time: Indigenous Thoughts Concerning the Universe, dedicated to Vine Deloria Jr – Book Review
- Jennifer Elise Foerster – Poetry
- Acknowledgements
- Queer Issue
- Letter From the Editor—Queer Issue
- Sheri Wright – Photography
- Elsa Valmidiano – Creative Nonfiction
- Itoro Udofia – Music and Spoken Word
- Catherine Rose Torres-Fiction
- Cynthia Sylvester-Fiction
- Sofia Rose Smith – Poetry
- Anna Puthuran-Poetry
- Tommy Pico- Poetry
- Mónica Teresa Ortiz – Fiction
- Carrie Ayagaduk Ojanen-Poetry
- Randi Beck Ocena – Creative Nonfiction
- Cherrie Moraga – Poetry
- Sarah Maria Medina-Poetry
- Dwayne Martine – Fiction
- Sasha LaPointe-Poetry
- Nia King Interview by Samantha Tetangco Ocena
- Nia King-Interview with Ryka Aoki
- Maisha Z. Johnson-Poetry
- Alexis Gumbs-Fiction
- Aziza Zenobia– Poetry
- t’ai freedom ford – Poetry
- Hannabah Blue-Spoken Word
- Crystal Azul-Poetry
- Byron Aspaas – Poetry
- Cathy Arellano – Poetry
- Celeste Adame – Poetry
- Celeste Chan and JDX – Poetry
- Issue 3
- Letter from the Editors
- Ann-erika White Bird – poetry
- Rachelle Cruz – Poetry
- Lauren Espinoza – Poetry
- Min Kang — Poetry
- Jasmin Garcia — Digital Photographic Manipulation
- Danielle Shontae Smith — Poetry
- Caridad Moro — Poetry
- Supriya Misra – Poetry
- Vickie Vértiz – Poetry
- Nandini Dhar – Poetry
- Molly McGlennen – Poetry
- Cherríe Moraga — Poetry
- Tanaya Winder – Poetry
- Adela Najarro – Poetry
- ire’ne lara silva – Poetry
- Caroline Mar – Poetry
- Alexandra Delcourt – Poetry
- Jamie Figueroa — Fiction
- Ramona Beltrán – Poetry
- Andrea Serrano — Poetry
- Natanya Pulley – Fiction
- Casandra Lopez – Poetry
- Isabel S. Quintero – Poetry
- Neebinnaukzhik Southall — Body Painting/Photography
- Courtney Hill – Creative Nonfiction
- Marissa Johnson-Valenzuela — Poetry and Fiction
- Shauna Osborn – Poetry
- Idrissa Simmonds — Poetry
- Jessica Helen Lopez – Poetry
- Jo Reyes-Boitel – Poetry
- Carrie Ojanen – Poetry
- Acknowledgments
- Issue 4
- Letter From The Editors
- Barbara Jane Reyes – Poetry
- Heidi Andrea Restrepo Rhodes – Poetry
- Marlon Footracer – Creative Non-Fiction
- Michael Utzler – Poetry
- Nakita Nokwanda – Poetry
- Michael Dauro – Poetry
- Clarissa Mendiola – Poetry
- Sophia Terazawa – Performance Essay
- Arielle Taitano Lowe – Dance
- Samantha I. McQuibban – Poetry
- Daniel White – Poetry
- Latasha Diggs – Poetry
- Che Christ Cruz – Poetry
- Julian Romero – Poetry
- Leow Hui Min Annabeth – Poetry
- Nikay Paredes – Poetry
- Robert Wilson – Poetry
- Tria Andrews – A Reflection
- Sonny Nguyen
- Isiah Morgan – Poetry
- The Truth from Youth and Elders as Discovered in Susan Power’s SACRED WILDERNESS and Steve Berman’s RED CAPS
- Bojan Louis – Creative Non-Fiction
- Nicolaus Montoya – Poetry
- Laura Da – Poetry
- Jennifer Givhan – Poetry
- LeNeil Spotted Horse
- Melissa R Sipin – Fiction
- Velma Kee Craig – Poetry
- Lettie Laughter – Poetry
- Christine Garcia – Poetry
- Michael Armendariz – Poetry
- Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha – Poetry
- Jaye Sablan – Poetry
- Charlie Bast – Poetry
- Tori Cárdenas – Poetry
- Imee Cuison – Mixed Media
- Sandy Lockheart
- Rachelle Cruz – Poetry
- Elsa Valmidiano – Poetry
- David Andrew Talamantes – Fiction
- Celeste Adame – Poetry
- Lorenzo Johnson
- Luis Lopez-Maldonado – Poetry
- Review of Hustle
- Michael Wasson – Poetry
- James Vick
- Kimberly Alidio – Poetry
- Patricia Perea – Poetry
- Kathryn Kilner – Dance
- Steve Mirabal – Poetry
- Tanya Lukin Linklater – Poetry
- Sierra Fredericksen – Photography
- Anna Nelson – Poetry
- Jerry Brunoe – Poetry
- Billey Dooley
- Rachel Ronquillo Gray
- Lisa Hase-Jackson – Poetry
- Natanya Pulley’s Review of My Body Is A Book of Rules
- Victoria Garica – Poetry
- Tria Andrews – Poetry
- Camele-Ann White – Poetry
- Leslie McGraw – Non Fiction
- Vanessa Willoughby – Poetry
- Trevino L. Brings Plenty – Poetry
- Curtis Espinosa – Poetry
- Jessica Helen Lopez – Poetry
- Michael Wolke
- Tiffany Midge – Fiction
- Review of Solecism
- Eve Tuck – Poetry
- Leticia Hernádez-Linares – Poetry
- Annita Lucchesi – Mixed Media
- Leanne Simpson – Fiction
- Review of Islands of Decolonial Love
- Interview with Leanne Simpson
- Elithet Silva – Creative Non-Fiction
- Vincent Lewis – Poetry
- Lionel Scott
- Acknowledgements
- Contributor Bios
- Issue 5
- Letter from the Editors
- Fawn Douglas – Cover Artist
- Book Review – Queer and Trans Artists of Color: Stories of Some of Our Lives
- Isabella Fillspipe – #DearNativeYouth Honorable Mention (Middle/High School)
- Sierra Edd – #DearNativeYouth Poetry Contest (College) Winner
- Charli Fool Bear – #DearNativeYouth Honorable Mention (College)
- Hailey Nez – #DearNativeYouth Poetry Winner (High/Middle School)
- Natani Notah – Poetry
- Karen Marie Maliwat Villa – Poetry
- Venaya Yazzie – Poetry
- Book Review – Letterrs
- Juanita Pahdopony – Poetry
- Sequoyah Moore – Poetry
- Vanessa Martir – Creative Nonfiction
- Dana Collins – Poetry
- Amanda Huynh – Poetry
- Chelsey Luger – Poetry
- Jessica Lanay – Poetry
- Courtney C Grambrell – Poetry
- Natasha Sharma – Poetry
- Verna Zafra – Poetry
- Melanie Laura – Poetry
- Kanwalroop Kaur Singh – Poetry
- Cynthia Dewi Oka – Poetry
- Vidya Panicker – Poetry
- Aries Hines – Poetry
- Rain Prud’homme-Cranford – Poetry
- Tori Cardenas – Poetry
- Cutcha Risling Baldy – Creative Nonfiction
- Alice Rose Crow-Maar’aq – Creative Nonfiction
- Melanie Fey – Fiction
- Geraldine King – Fiction
- Jacqueline Jones LaMon – Creative Nonfiction
- Famia Nkansa – Creative Nonfiction
- Breauna L. Roach – Creative Nonfiction
- Iris Ruiz – Creative Nonfiction
- Sarena Tien – Creative Nonfiction
- Elsa Valmidiano – Creative Nonfiction
- Issue 6
- Letter from the Editor
- Part 1: I Am From
- Part 2: Bridges, Backs, and Borders*
- Part 3: We Transform (the academy)
- Jenny Davis—Poetry
- Viki Eagle—Photography
- Angel M. Hinzo—Nonfiction
- Thuan M. Duong, Roberta Hunte, and Gita R. Mehrotra—Nonfiction
- Ashley Tsosie-Mahieu—Fiction
- Sarah Rafael Garcia—Nonfiction
- Vanessa Dion Fletcher—Nonfiction
- Daphne Jeyapal and Rupaleem Bhuyan—Essay
- Yvonne Delgado Thomas—Poetry
- Ramona Beltrán—Poetry
- Issue 7
Nila Northsun – Poetry
angel tree
one year on the rez
i picked a boy and girl’s name
from the angel tree
bought them winter jackets
hats gloves
a play outfit
and jammies
a week after Christmas
was surprised to see
my niece and nephew
wearing the clothes i bought
i just said
‘nice jacket’
and they smiled.
* * *
walmart
it is finally there
just on the other side
of the freeway
located on our tribal land
our poverty is over
we get all of the sales tax
besides the lease on the land
it is a fact
our unemployment rates
will decrease
an elder is a greeter
her white hair brilliant
against the blue of her
walmart smock
she smiles at me and
says ‘welcome to walmart’
minimum wage is
better than nothing.
* * *
nila northSun, Shoshone/Chippewa, has been writing for over 3 decades and her books include: diet pepsi & nacho cheese; Coffee, Dust Devils and Old Rodeo Bulls (with Kirk Robertson); small bones, little eyes (with Jim Sagel) ; a snake in her mouth: poems, 1974-96; love at gunpoint 2007; and whipped cream & sushi published in 2009. She’s received the Silver Pen award from the University of Nevada, Reno, the Indigenous Heritage award from Atayl out of Florida and a Sierra Arts Foundation Literary Award. She lives and works in Reno.
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Really enjoyed these poems, Nila. They hold a certain joyful sorrow, a familiarity that I know very well.
Hi Nila, I am doing a research paper about Indian Reservations using different poems/short stories from my textbook. I am using one of yours titled “Up and Out” and I was wondering if you could tell me when you wrote that poem?
Thanks!
Hello nila, My name is Valirie Serawop, I am currently a student at Institute of American Indian Arts, located in Santa Fe. I enjoy your poetry, it brings me back to my childhood, and the happy memories I hold. Some say that your poetry is sorrowful, but as a child my memories were full of happiness. I never knew that I was “poor.” I had food, love, shelter, and parents who loved me. I never knew we had enough money to cover bills, and get a few groceries.
So now for my final presentation for Fall semester, I have chosen you as my author to present on. I just wanted you to know I appreciate your community service and your works. Keep up the great writing!