Resisting, Remembering, Reclaiming: Healing Poetics in Mexican American and Indigenous U.S. Literature

This dissertation examines how contemporary Mexican American and Indigenous U.S. poets engage with language, the environment, and Indigenous epistemologies to confront the enduring legacies of colonialism and envision pathways to healing. Framing these poetic works within the concept of the counter-archive, the study underscores how poetry challenges dominant historical narratives while preserving marginalized voices and experiences. Through a comparative analysis of poetry addressing migration, border violence, and ecological degradation, this project traces a tonal shift from defiance to reconciliation, illustrating how poetic expression fosters resistance, remembrance, and reclamation. Drawing on an interdisciplinary framework that integrates Latino/a and Indigenous studies, environmental humanities, and decolonial theory, this study identifies key poetic strategies—linguistic hybridity, natural motifs, and Indigenous knowledge systems—that disrupt colonial structures. Chapter 1 explores language as resistance, focusing on how bilingualism, code-switching, and oral traditions assert cultural survivance and fluid identities. In this context, Gloria Anzaldúa, Sheryl Luna, and Pat Mora use language as a powerful tool, creating spaces that celebrate fluidity and hybridity. Chapter 2 shifts to environmental themes, emphasizing the river as a central motif symbolizing ecological resilience, relationality, and resistance to extractivist practices. Through the works of Emmy Pérez, Ada Limón, and Natalie Diaz, the river emerges as a symbol of interconnectedness and cultural endurance. Chapter 3 focuses on Indigeneity, examining how Layli Long Soldier, Joy Harjo, and Lorna Dee Cervantes reclaim Indigenous epistemologies, using poetry to imagine envision through reciprocal relationships with land, community, and ancestors. By centering Mexican American and Indigenous U.S. voices, this dissertation contributes to ongoing discussions in decolonial poetics, environmental justice, and the intersections of literature and activism. It positions poetry as a counter-archive, where language, land, and Indigenous knowledge converge to confront historical trauma and imagine relational futures grounded in care, reciprocity, and survivance.