In:Storytelling, Identity Formation, and Resistance in Indigenous Cultures in Canada and the United States
Edited by Kamelia Talebian Sedehi
[Studies in Narrative 28] 2025
► pp. 125–147
Chapter 7Poetry as a praxis of resistance
Subverting colonial imposition through poetic resistance in Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe poetry
Published online: 2 September 2025
https://doi.org/10.1075/sin.28.07pav
https://doi.org/10.1075/sin.28.07pav
Abstracts
Indigenous storytelling practices have been traditionally tied to oral narratives, but contemporary
Indigenous authors have turned to modern tools to convey their community values, cultural worldview, and tell their
stories from their own perspective. This chapter looks at five Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee women poets: Kateri
Akiwenzie-Damm (Chippewas of Nawash), Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Michi Saagig Nishnaabeg), Liz Howard (Anishinaabe),
Rebeka Tabobondung (Wasauksing First Nation), and Beth Brant (Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte). Poetry is used by these
poets in a praxis of resistance to subvert colonial language as ‘universal,’ and transcend the limitations of the
written form. This chapter uses Critical Dispositioning, an ethical reading practice for settler-scholars, and
culturally-specific theory to keep Indigenous voices and storytelling grounded in the work.
Article outline
- Introduction
- Methodology
- Poetry as praxis: Unpacking language and form
- Indigenous bodies and the natural world
- Poetry as resistance
- Land and language: An indelible link in Indigenous poetry as storytelling
- Conclusion
Notes References
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