And I'm going to introduce to you
our next reader who works a lot with language
with Mojave people.
She's dedicated herself to revitalizing the language
in her tribe, and there are four fluent speakers left,
so she's really got a handful of work with the four speakers.
And I'm entirely impressed by what she's doing,
and have been very happy to have her as a guest.
It was something else I'd do working with sandhill cranes
up in pony territory in Nebraska.
And Natalie Diaz is Mojave and Pima.
She was born and raised in the Fort Mojave Indian
village in Needles, California.
After playing professional basketball in Europe and Asia
for four years, she completed her MFA
at Old Dominion University.
She recently taught in a community college bridge
program for native high school students
who wanted to attend college.
And as I said, she now lives on her reservation working
full-time on language reclamation
with the four elders who are the only remaining fluent speakers.
Her work has been published, and is
forthcoming in the Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, Narrative,
North American Review, Nimrod, and Black Renaissance.
Newer, her first volume, When My Brother Was an Aztec
is forthcoming from Copper Canyon Press.
Please welcome Natalie Diaz.
[APPLAUSE]