EXPRESSIONS


Succinct Poetry with Long Roots and Reach


BY MARGARITA MARTÍN-HIDALGO BIRNBAUM


Donna Beaver’s poetry and imagery have been inspired by her Tlingit and Tsimshian cultures. Here she holds a hand drum painted with a salmon-trout head in formline design.


That’s in part because it plugs into her love of nature. It also nurtures Beaver’s connection to her Alaska Native ancestry. A short form of poetry, haiku was originally the starting verse of the longer collaborative form of poetry known as “renga,” which originated in Japan more than 700 years ago. Although haiku is thought to be a strict form of three lines long, with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second and five in the third, most haiku in English are commonly written in less than 17 syllables. A Tlingit and Tsimshian poet, Beaver said her poems are inspired by the “simple obser- vations about seasons” (known as “kigo” in Japanese) and other elements of the natural world that are also characteris- tic of this form of poetry. Beaver’s poems also express her feel-


H


ings about and experiences with her cul- tures. Her Native name is Kaakwdagaan, and she belongs to the Kaagwaantaan (wolf clan). Her childhood memories of exploring forests around Juneau and berry picking with the women in her family live on in her haiku. “My auntie Julie was extremely wise on going out into the woods,” said Beaver. “The bears love the berries just as much as we do.” Although Beaver, now living in Kern-


ersville, North Carolina, has spent most of her life in the eastern United States, her poems draw primarily from her family’s Alaska Native history. Her works are also


12 WINTER 2022 AMERICAN INDIAN


aiku has been Donna Beaver’s go-to poetry style for a long time.


COURTESY OF DONNA BEAVER


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52