October marks the 50th anniversary of the Institute of Indian Arts (IAIA). It’s the only 4-year college in America that is completely dedicated to Native American studies.
At The Poetry Foundation, Elizabeth Hardball expounds upon the history of poetry at the Institute and its alumni.
“IAIA alumni and faculty, as well as most scholars of indigenous writing, stress that each tribal nation has its own unique culture and language, resulting in differing tribal aesthetics. ‘Most Native poets do not share stylistic tenets, so a school of poetry is not really apparent in the way that schools normally are,’ says poet Allison Hedge Coke, who graduated from the IAIA in 1993.”
