War, Death and What Remains in the Poetry of Joy Harjo

In order to understand American Indian literature, one has to skillfully situate it within the context of atrocities done unto American Indians. Such atrocities include killings, forced eviction, trauma, rape and assimilation. Historical and cultural contexts are imperative for readers to help piece together a mosaic of suffering that American Indians beautifully transform into art represented in stories, poems, music and visual art that stand as instances of witness. Angelique Nixon elaborates on the nature of the required context as “both ritual and historical, contemporary and ancient” (3). American Indians have drawn extensively on myth and legend which they have employed to ensure their survival and their belonging to nature and their ownership of the story of their being. Creating a combination of oral and written literary conventions enriches the poetic texture and ensures outreach and readership that is ready to be taken by surprise. Singing through their degradation and elimination is a choice that most American Indian writers including Joy Harjo have opted for in their careers as writers.