UCLA

“Queer Native Poetics in Demian Din�Yazhi’’s Artistic World” examines queer Indigeneity through the artistic output of Din� transdisciplinary artist and poet Demian Din�Yahzi’. This thesis examines Din�Yazhi’’s visual art, their chapbook called An Infected Sunset, and their Instagram account @RISEindigenous to excavate the ways that Indigeneity shows up with respect to time, place, and Indigenous survivance. This thesis reads Din�Yazhi’’s visual poetry as firmly situated within a legacy of women of color artistic production. Written in the wake of the 2016 election, Pulse nightclub shootings, and #NoDAPL actions, An Infected Sunset is located within that moment, and this thesis utilizes queer of color critique and queer Indigenous studies to analyze Din�Yazhi’’s spatial sensibilities, politics of possibility, and an artistic practice that nurtures vulnerability and healing. This thesis also analyses the material aspects of Din�Yahzii’s artistic output in the form of the @RISEindigenous Instagram account and Etsy store, which provides political education and sells merchandise with queer Indigenous political messages, and provides and avenue to analyze the way political emotions circulate when shared online.