To read Layli Long Soldier is to witness the architecture of silence being dismantled. A citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, Long Soldier has emerged as one of the most vital voices in contemporary American letters, known for a style that is as surgically precise as it is emotionally expansive. Her work does not merely describe the world; it interrogates the very language we use to govern it.
Born in the Southwest, Long Soldier’s path to poetry was paved with sound. Before she was a poet, she was a musician, playing violin and piano as a child and later picking up the electric guitar and bass in her twenties. This musicality remains a ghost in her lines, which often favor a staccato rhythm and a deep awareness of the 'mouth-feel' of words. She earned her BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts, studying under the renowned poet Arthur Sze, and later received an MFA with honors from Bard College.
Poetic Reclamation
Long Soldier’s 2017 debut collection, Whereas, transformed the landscape of modern poetry. It was a direct response to the 2009 Congressional Resolution of Apology to Native Peoples—a document signed by President Barack Obama but never read aloud publicly, buried deep within a defense appropriations bill. Long Soldier took the legalistic 'Whereas' statement and turned it into a weapon of poetic reclamation. In the book’s central sequence, she writes:
"WHEREAS I am a citizen of the United States and a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, meaning I am a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation and in this dual citizenship I must work, I must eat, I must art, I must mother, I must friend, I must listen, I must observe, constantly I must live."
Her innovation lies in her 'visual poetics.' She uses white space, erasure, and concrete forms—such as poems shaped like boxes or maps—to represent the gaps in history and the boundaries of indigenous identity. Her work has been met with staggering critical acclaim, winning the National Book Critics Circle Award and the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, while also being named a finalist for the National Book Award.
The Legacy of '38'
If you are new to her work, the poem to read first is "38." It is a masterpiece of historical documentation and lyrical restraint. The poem recounts the 1862 execution of 38 Dakota men in Mankato, Minnesota—the largest mass execution in U.S. history. Long Soldier avoids typical poetic flourishes, opting for a series of declarative sentences that mirror the coldness of a legal record, yet the cumulative effect is devastating. She writes verbatim in the poem:
"The sentences are for the Dakota 38. You may like to know, I do not consider this a “creative effort,” rather, it is an effort to write honestly."
She concludes the piece by referencing Andrew Myrick, a trader who, when told the Dakota were starving, famously said, 'If they are hungry, let them eat grass.' When Myrick was later found dead during the Sioux Uprising, his mouth was stuffed with grass. Long Soldier observes:
"I am inclined to call this act by the Dakota warriors a poem. There’s irony in their poem. There was no text. “Real” poems do not “really” require words."
'38' is recommended as a starting point because it encapsulates Long Soldier’s unique ability to bridge the gap between historical document and the human heart. It teaches the reader how to look at the past through the lens of language—and how to see the grass that still grows over the sites of our collective memory.
Backgrounder Notes
As an expert researcher and library scientist, I have identified several key historical, literary, and cultural references in the article that warrant further context to deepen a reader's understanding of Layli Long Soldier’s work.
1. Oglala Lakota Nation
The Oglala are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people (part of the Great Sioux Nation) primarily based on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. They are historically recognized for their fierce resistance to westward expansion and for preserving their linguistic and spiritual traditions despite systemic displacement.
2. Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)
Located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, IAIA is a premier tribal college dedicated to the study and promotion of Indigenous arts and culture. Since its founding in 1962, it has served as a vital intellectual hub, fostering generations of contemporary Native American writers, artists, and leaders.
3. Arthur Sze
Arthur Sze is a celebrated Chinese-American poet and a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets known for his "fission" style of poetry that weaves together disparate images and scientific concepts. His influence on Long Soldier is evident in her precise attention to structure and the use of the "sequence" poem to explore complex histories.
4. 2009 Congressional Resolution of Apology to Native Peoples
This formal apology for "official depredations, ill-conceived policies, and breaking of covenants" was included as Section 8113 of the 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. Because it was signed by President Obama without a public ceremony or oral reading, it is often cited by critics as a "ghost document" that lacked the transparency necessary for true reconciliation.
5. Visual Poetics (Erasure and Concrete Poetry)
Visual poetics is a literary practice where the physical arrangement of text on the page is as meaningful as the words themselves. Erasure involves removing words from an existing document to create a new, subversive meaning, while concrete poetry arranges words into shapes or patterns to provide a visual representation of the poem's subject.
6. The Dakota 38 (The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862)
This refers to the mass hanging of 38 Dakota men in Mankato, Minnesota, on December 26, 1862, following a conflict sparked by broken government treaties and starvation. Ordered by President Abraham Lincoln, it remains the largest one-day mass execution in United States history.
7. Andrew Myrick
Myrick was a white trader at the Lower Sioux Agency whose refusal to extend credit to the Dakota—famously telling them to "eat grass"—is credited as a primary catalyst for the U.S.-Dakota War. His death and the subsequent symbolic act of stuffing his mouth with grass became a powerful emblem of poetic justice and historical retribution within Dakota oral tradition.
