Literatures in English Research Guide

Natalie Diaz (Mojave/Akimel O’odham)

This page highlights the work of Natalie Diaz, a poet who identifies as Mojave and Akimel O’odham. Diaz is a Director of the Center for Imagination in the Borderlands and Maxine and Jonathan Marshall Chair in Modern and Contemporary Poetry at Arizona State University.  She is a 2018 MacArthur Foundation Fellow, a Lannan Literary Fellow, and a Native Arts Council Foundation Artist Fellow. In her poetry, Diaz draws on imagery from Catholicism, Mojave traditional beliefs, the land, her family, her love of languages and basketball.

Diaz was born and raised in the Fort Mojave Indian Village near Needles, California, on the banks of the Colorado River. Diaz is renowned for her work in Mojave language revitalization, and her love of languages resonates throughout her work. Diaz is also a former college and professional basketball player. 

Diaz called Native languages “the foundation of the American poetic lexicon” (Parmer). The poet David Shook reviewed Postcolonial Love Poem (2020), writing, "Diaz’s book is an education, an indictment of the American myth, and a defiance of the mythologization of this land’s Native inhabitants, but it is first a love poem" (Shook 15). Read about Natalie Diaz in her own words and read her poetry in the links below. 

Works Cited:

Diaz, Natalie, “I Judas Horse.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry FoundationYou can read about Natalie Diaz in her own words in a number of articles on this page. , 13 Nov. 2022, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet-books/2014/03/i-judas-horse. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/.

Parmar, Sandeep. “Natalie Diaz: ‘It Is an Important and Dangerous Time for Language.’” The Guardian, 2 July 2020. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jul/02/natalie-diaz-postcolonial-love-poem-shortlisted-forward-prize-collection-interview.

Poetry Foundation. “Natalie Diaz.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 13 Nov. 2022, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/natalie-diaz. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/.

Shook, David. “Poetry as Wonder, Desire, Rage, and Memory: A Conversation with Natalie Diaz.” World Literature Today, vol. 94, no. 4, 2020, pp. 12–15. (Fresno State Login Required). 

The worst work of my hands is in English—: I’m a chiral body writing into what I cannot coincide. 

I’ve come to the mountain to bless these hands back. Clay clod & gypsum—: a way my body has been & will become. I rename one hand Occupied Territory, call to the other Amante Verde. & the mountain sobs its hornblende to the surface. 

I am known in this place—: of Creation & cascabel. Mojave Greens are my relatives. I holograph in the ambient heat, green quicked with copper. Don’t play with snakes they say Don’t play with your own power.

Opening stanzas of the poem "excerpts from 'Duned'" -- Read the full poem below: 

Academy of American Poets. excerpts from “Duned” by Natalie Diaz - Poems | Academy of American Poets. https://poets.org/poem/excerpts-duned. Accessed 13 Nov. 2022.

In 2014, PBS Newshour featured a seven-minute video of Natalie Diaz's work preserving the Mojave language. In the video, Diaz appears with family and other tribal members. The video is freely available via both the PBS YouTube channel and with better quality via the Fresno State Films on Demand subscription (Fresno State login required).  

Works Cited: Poet Natalie Diaz Returns to Her Roots - Conservation. PBS Newshour, 2014. Film.

Natalie Diaz - Using Form to Find Freedom. Directed by ACCArtsandDigitalMedia, 2014. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neVA5sXbBQM.

Academy of American Poets. "excerpts from 'Duned' by Natalie Diaz." Academy of American Poets, Academy of American Poets, 13 Nov. 2022, https://poets.org/poem/excerpts-duned.  

Diaz, Natalie. “How to Love a Woman with No Legs.” The Iowa Review, vol. 38, no. 2, 2008, pp. 122–30. doi: https://doi.org/10.17077/0021-065X.6499 (requires Fresno State Login) 

Poetry Foundation. “Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation by Natalie Diaz.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 13 Nov. 2022, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56353/abecedarian-requiring-further-examination-of-anglikan-seraphym-subjugation-of-a-wild-indian-rezervation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/.

---. “Dome Riddle by Natalie Diaz.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 13 Nov. 2022, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/151340/dome-riddle. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/.

---. “It Was the Animals by Natalie Diaz.” Poetry Magazine, Poetry Magazine, 13 Nov. 2022, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/56833/it-was-the-animals. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/.

---. “My Brother at 3 A.M. by Natalie Diaz.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 12 Nov. 2022, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56355/my-brother-at-3-am. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/.

---. “My Brother My Wound by Natalie Diaz.” Poetry Magazine, Poetry Magazine, 13 Nov. 2022, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/56832/my-brother-my-wound. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/.

---. “No More Cake Here by Natalie Diaz.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 13 Nov. 2022, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56356/no-more-cake-here. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/.

---. “The Facts of Art by Natalie Diaz.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 13 Nov. 2022, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56354/the-facts-of-art. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/.

“‘How to Go to Dinner with a Brother on Drugs’ by Natalie Diaz (from The Speed Chronicles).” Akashic Books, 8 May 2013, https://www.akashicbooks.com/how-to-go-to-dinner-with-a-brother-on-drugs-by-natalie-diaz-from-the-speed-chronicles/.

The Fresno State campus sits in the midst of the San Joaquin Valley, a valley rich in the traditions and representation of Native American peoples and cultures. We are grateful to be in the traditional homelands of the Yokuts and Mono peoples, whose diverse tribal communities share stewardship over this land. 

The Table Mountain Rancheria made a generous gift to the Fresno State Library at the time of the construction of the North Wing. Many of the architectural features, art and collections in our beautiful library highlight our gratitude to the native peoples who host us here and make important contributions to our library and campus community. 

Sarah McDaniel developed this page in her role as subject librarian for the English Department, in honor of Native American Heritage month and in order to feature Native American literature in our print and electronic collections. If you have proposals for other pages, Sarah McDaniel and her colleagues can consult with you in support of your research and teaching. 

Thank you to the colleagues who reviewed this page: Sam Hidde-Tripp (Librarian and graduate student in the MFA program), Heather Parish (Library Communications) and Beth Contreras (Library Assistant and undergraduate student in English). Efforts were made to point to to Natalie Diaz's own writings. 

Additional perspectives, in particular those of Native American community members, would be welcome. And if you have suggestions about the library, we would be grateful for your insights. Please contact page owner Sarah McDaniel (sarahmcdaniel@csufresno.edu).