Layli Long Soldier

Layli Long Soldier is an award-winning poet, writer, and activist from the Oglala Lakotah Nation — a sovereign tribal nation located in South Dakota. Her work addresses issues of colonialism and erasure, Indigenous perspectives, Western culture and colonialism, government policies and the effects of tribal nation policies on the land, culture and people.

The daughter of aunts and a warrior, Long Soldier’s words offer a contemporary vision of decolonization in today’s society. She is the author of Whereas (Graywolf Press, 2017), a collection of poem-essays that explore the connections between land and language, and particularly the tragedies that occurred in Americas through her re-contextualization of the 2009 “Apology to Native Americans” issued by the United States.

Long Soldier’s writing experience began as a young woman, playing with words and their ability to communicate meaning. It soon became a passion and her work soon began to evolve as she saw an opportunity to use her language to combat the inequalities and erasure of her people.

Her upcoming book is titled, “Chapbook” — a collection of five essay-poems that explore the influence of Lakota Sioux beliefs and cosmologies on American Indian history and contemporary issues of justice and colonization.

Using vivid language, Long Soldier blends her Indigenous heritage with Western colonialism and imperialism. She speaks of things such as the oppression of Native language and displacement of tribal communities, and she calls on the United States to honor its treaty obligations. In her “Apology Essay” she questions: “What is this government apologizing for if not for facts of their participation in the degradation of Indigenous Peoples and their culture, their removal of our natural strengths, their preference for race purity, their torture and execution of elders, their caging of children, their searching interrogation of Native Americans, and now the occupation of our land?”

Equally powerful is her poem entitled, “Ode to the Cows on the Interstate” which speaks to the many injustices people of color face in this country. Long Soldier hopes her writing will help draw attention to the disregard for Indigenous people and communities, and the racism and prejudice experienced by those of color in America.

Long Soldier is an advocate for Native American issues and her work is essential for anyone who wants to understand the perspectives and experiences of Indigenous people. With her poetry, Long Soldier is shining a light on the dark history of colonization in America, and her words are helping to create a platform for Indigenous voices to be heard.

Layli Long Soldier is an inspiration and an artist who is using her words to communicate the struggles, struggles of Indigenous people and the fight to undo the damaging consequences of colonialism in the world today. Her work is a reminder that history can never be forgotten and her words are vital to understanding the experience of Native people in the present.