WHEREAS

“WHEREAS” by Layli Long Soldier is part of the first section of Part II (“WHEREAS”) of her book of the same title. The section includes a number of “Whereas Statements,” one of which comprises the text of this poem. Long Soldier’s debut full-length collection was published by Graywolf Press in 2017.

Written in unrhymed free verse, “WHEREAS” is an example of documentary poetry in that it interacts with and responds to a primary source—The Native American Apology Resolution of 2009—to both document and question historical, contemporary, and personal events in poetic form. The resolution—S.J. Res. 14—was passed as part of a larger defense appropriations bill signed by President Barack Obama in December 2009. The White House issued no public announcement about the resolution.

The poem uses some the language and diction of the Senate bill to consider the history and ongoing nature of violence to Native Americans in the United States. Diction, syntax, and form combine to interrogate how language is used to obfuscate and erase, as well as to communicate.

Poet Biography

Layli Long Soldier is a poet, essayist, and artist. She is a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation. Her collections of poetry include the chapbook Chromosomory (2010) and the full-length collection WHEREAS (2017), winner of the 2017 National Book Critics Circle Award, among other honors.