Denied a normal childhood, Nebraska’s youth poet laureate now aims to inspire Native kids like her to dream

Aliyah American Horse didn’t have much choice – she had to grow up, and fast. 

She remembers being left at 7 to care for her younger siblings in a hotel room. It was before they landed in the foster system, before their family put itself back together, before she found the words to help it all make sense.

Her truncated, traumatic childhood helps explain why this 19-year-old Lakota woman raised in the Nebraska Sandhills harbors grand ambitions. Aliyah American Horse wants to inspire. She wants to change the world.

“I write my poetry for the kids who have lived the same life I did,” she said. 

American Horse, Nebraska’s 2023-24 Youth Poet Laureate, will take the stage Saturday at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. for the National Youth Poet Laureate competition. She is one of four finalists. And she is the first Nebraska poet to compete for the national title since its inception in 2016.

It is a big deal. The first National Youth Poet Laureate was Amanda Gorman, who achieved  fame after delivering a heartfelt reading of her poem “The Hill We Climb” during the 2021 presidential inauguration.

“Once we got to look at all the applications I had zero questions that she (American Horse) was the one,” said Zedeka Poindexter, co-executive director of the nonprofit Nebraska Writers Collective, which oversees selection of the state poet laureate.

The 2023 graduate of Gordon-Rushville High School said she isn’t too hung up on the possible outcomes of this weekend’s events. It’s a stepping stone toward her overarching goal.

“All the young little Native kids are going to want to follow in my footsteps through their outlets like sports or music,” she said. “They’re going to want to follow their dreams. Win or lose, I want to be able to inspire kids.”

The young poet knows it’s important that these kids have a positive influence that looks like them.

Tumult defined much of American Horses’ younger years. When she was born, her parents were about the same age she is now. Mom suffered from drug and alcohol addiction. Dad struggled  with alcohol.

American Horse’s extended family became a periodic source of stability.

“The memories are so clear,” American Horse recalled. “Whether it’s the night my grandmother passed away, to learning to sew for the first time.”

Her grandmother – “unci” in the Lakota language – was a pillar in the family.

Her death may have exacerbated the addiction afflicting American Horse’s mother, who had custody of the children at the time. It spiraled to that moment when 7-year-old Aliyah was left in an extended stay hotel room in Bellevue for an unknown amount of time. American Horse remembers changing diapers and feeding her two younger siblings, but not much else.

Aliyah and one of her younger siblings had missed 28 days of school and been reported tardy 19 times in five months, according to court documents. The youngest of the three kids, 1 at the time, had tested positive for methamphetamine exposure. 

The children were placed in the foster care system. They remained with family for some time, staying with relatives in Ohio and Nebraska, she said. Eventually, American Horse was moved to a loving foster family. She still stays in steady contact with them, she said.

After nearly a year, American Horse’s father Emil American Horse won custody of his daughter. He got sober so that he could give 8-year-old Aliyah a stable home. The reconfigured family – American Horse, six younger siblings, Emil and stepmom Illea – came together in Gordon.

American Horse found solace in the arts. 

She filled journals and sketchbooks with drawings and lyrics, including her oldest poem about a boy she liked in second grade. She quickly found a more profound use for her new hobby: poetry could help her heal.

She began exploring her own pain and the struggles facing Natives. She also drew creative inspiration from pop artists – the metaphors and vibe of singer Lana del Rey and the rhyming complexity of Eminem, her father’s favorite rapper. 

In high school she delved into the performing arts, co-starring in a production of “Steel Magnolias” under the direction of Candie Johnson, one of American Horse’s favorite teachers who she affectionately refers to as Mrs. J. American Horse’s performance as Shelby won her praise from Mrs. J.

“She is an artist. And writer. And an actor. And a singer.”

When Nebraska State Poet Matt Mason and members from the Omaha-based Nebraska Writers Collective visited Gordon-Rushville High School as part of a tour across rural Nebraska in late 2022, American Horse had already established a reputation as a writer.

“Everyone was like, ‘I got a poem or two, but you really want Aliyah. She’s the poet,’” Mason recalled. 

Mason and Poindexter performed their poetry for the school that day. 

American Horse, who was originally skeptical of “another assembly,” was mesmerized by the passion in their presentations, particularly Mason.

His rendition of his poem “Make Star Love, Not Star Wars,” highlighted by Wookie calls and other movie-themed references, helped American Horse see the performative potential of poetry.

“I was inspired by them being up there and doing what they loved,” she said. “I’ve always loved being on a stage. Next time, I wanted to be up there!”

The young writer got her chance to take the stage later that night at an open mic hosted by Nebraska Writers Collective.

“She came to the open mic and did an amazing job,” said Poindexter, the nonprofit’s co-executive director. 

“Unbeknownst to me, they kept talking to me about a kid whose work I had already read.”

American Horse’s piece “Shed No Tears, Unci” won first place in the 2022 Nebraska Poetry Activated Competition. Poindexter was a judge in the competition. 

The poem calls attention to the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women, who are often overlooked by the media. 

An analysis in neighboring Wyoming found that only 18% of the homicides involving an Indigenous woman between 2000 and 2019 were associated with a news article, compared to 51% for White homicide victims. 

As of April 12, there were 22 Native women reported missing in Nebraska, according to a database maintained by the State Patrol. 

“I decided to put myself in their shoes,” American Horse explained. “If I was that girl who was missing or murdered or found dead somewhere, what would it be like for me?”

She blended joyous memories with her unci with tragic depictions of missing and murdered indigenous women. The poem centers on the sewing of a star quilt, a cherished Lakota tradition that holds multiple meanings. 

“I turned it into a grandma sewing her star quilt that is put on the casket of her granddaughter who was found dead.”

After hearing American Horse’s open mic performance, Mason and Poindexter felt their newfound poet was a perfect candidate for the Nebraska Youth Poet Laureate.

The program is a local initiative of the National Youth Poet Laureate program run by Urban Word NYC. Local initiatives help select youth poets who can then advance to the regional and national levels.

“It’s a way of getting out there to people that poetry is relevant,” Mason said. “People were debating Amanda Gorman’s poem for weeks after the inauguration.” 

American Horse was a reluctant participant at first. She didn’t believe she could win. She didn’t think her poems were good enough.

The Nebraska Writers Collective worked with Gordon’s school superintendent and American Horse’s favorite teachers, including Mrs. J, to encourage their special student to submit her poetry.

The PTSD-fueled “Steel Graves and October Days” gives a vivid retelling of a violent car crash she had recently survived. 

“Legless and Running,” describes sleepless nights with bouts of self-diagnosed restless leg syndrome. 

American Horse’s artistic background helps her convey expressive depictions with intricate detail.   

“When you want to put something on a canvas you have to think of that image, paint every little detail, do everything,” she said. “I think I use that same technique in my poetry. I want the reader to really feel that they are there and understand where I’m coming from while also being abstract.”

Her poem “Drunk Indians” tackles a painful subject in the Native American community.

Her knowledge of family members suffering from alcohol addiction and Gordon’s proximity to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where her father delivers bread, informed her writing.

“I wanted to use real-life experiences,” she said “One of the pieces of the poem is about one of my relatives who passed away and they found their body.”

I have a family member who sat on the side of the road and died because they couldn’t stumble their way home one night.

American Horse weaves metaphors throughout the poem to address and critique an uncomfortable stereotype that carries a bit of sad truth with lines like: 

No longer brave warriors, we’re just livers filled to the brim with sin. And to you another drunk Indian.

The inspiration for her verses, she explained after a deep breath, came from an experience she had at a volleyball camp. Another girl, unaware American Horse was behind her, “started talking about how gross Gordon was because there were drunk Indians everywhere … and how she didn’t like Native people.”

“Of course, I was offended,” American Horse said. “When the competition came around to submit a poem for the Nebraska Youth Poet Laureate I needed one more poem that would really make me stand out. I thought of that experience.”

American Horse is putting all of her passion into her preparation for the upcoming National Youth Poet Laureate competition.

She moved to Omaha to be closer to the Nebraska Writers Collective. She’s currently working for a mental health service provider and working on a forthcoming poetry book named after her popular poem, “Shed No Tears, Unci.” She hopes to become a teacher.

“Teachers would say, ‘You’d be an amazing English teacher!’ and I’d be like, ‘I’m never going to be a teacher!’ Now I want to go into it,” American Horse said.

Her father, who lovingly calls her Cheeseburger, is proud of his daughter. 

“It’s awesome watching her,” he said. “I tell her this all the time, she’s developing into a beautiful butterfly ready to spread her wings and fly.”

American Horse has grown closer to her Native culture. She credits her trips to visit family in Utah, where her relatives remain especially in touch with Lakota and Navajo culture, with bringing her closer to her heritage. 

And this teenager from Gordon knows the upcoming trip to Washington is a big opportunity, one that could help her get closer to her goal: inspiring Native kids. Kids like her.

“I’m very very passionate about what I do,” she said. “Even if I don’t win, I’m still going to do the next thing I can do to change the world.”