Abstract
This article examines how Indigenous poets deploy formal poetic strategies to decolonize lyric expression and reclaim cultural sovereignty. Through a mixed-methods analysis of 120 poems from 30 Indigenous poets across North America, Oceania, and the Arctic, the study identifies five key decolonizing techniques: ceremonial framing, code-switching, non-linear temporality, collective voicing, and cartographic poetics. Quantitative content analysis reveals that poems employing at least three of these techniques are significantly more likely to assert sovereignty themes (χ² = 14.23, p <.001). Close reading of exemplar poems further demonstrates how these forms disrupt Western lyric conventions and enact Indigenous epistemologies. The findings suggest that formal innovation in Indigenous poetry is not merely aesthetic but constitutes a political act of reclamation, offering a model for decolonizing literary studies more broadly. Implications for pedagogy, publishing, and cultural policy are discussed.
Keywords
Indigenous poetry, decolonization, cultural sovereignty, lyric form, poetic technique, code-switching, ceremonial poetics, cartographic poetics