“When a Lipan Woman Refuses Extinction”: Margo Tamez’s Dissidence against Settler-Colonial Violence at the U.S. | Mexico Border

The article analyzes the collection of poetry, Father | Genocide, by Lipan Apache poet, hersorian, and activist Margo Tamez. The work represents Tamez’s critique of border politics in the Texas-Mexico border region rooted in settler-colonial genocidal practices that have fragmented and traumatized generations of the Lipan Apaches and violently exploited their traditional lands. The border wall imagery remains central in the book and is used by the poet to demonstrate that the colossal structure is not only a material barrier but a manifestation of the ongoing physical, ideological, cultural, and psychosocial oppression. Truthing about the Lipan Apache peoples’ resilient existence in the shadow of the wall, Tamez creates a poetic story in which she restores, nurtures, and celebrates her people’s body, mind, and spirit. In so doing, she continues the role of Nde´ isdza´ ne´ (the People-Women)—traditional law-keepers who have governed, protected, and chronicled the life of Lipan Apache communities for generations.