UCLA

Darcie Little Badger, a Lipan Apache author, writer, and artist, uses her novels as a means to challenge dominant narratives about Lipan Apache culture, language, and status. Little Badger’s extensive use of Lipan language highlights the importance of language reclamation to the (re)establishment of cultural sovereignty, while her inclusion of Lipan cultural practices have amplified the visibility of Lipan Apaches significantly through the success of her novels. In this project I explore Little Badger’s novels, how they challenge narrative erasure, and their relation to other works of Indigenous Futurism. Lastly, I propose the term dream work, which describes the act of collective dream(ing) for a better future, as one way in which Little Badger’s work can be analyzed as representative of a larger movement of sovereignty for the Lipan Apaches.