BEND, Ore. — A member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs has been named Oregon’s eighth poet laureate.
The Bulletin reports that Gov. Kate Brown has appointed Elizabeth Woody as the state’s next poet laureate, making her the first Native American to hold the position.
The poet laureate program was first created in 1923 but has been vacant for stretches for as long as 20 years and the position was held by William Stafford for 16 years. Gov. Ted Kulongoski revived the program in 2006.
Woody was born on the Navajo Nation reservation in Arizona before moving to Central Oregon as a child./ She attended Madras High School.
She says she doesn’t think of herself as exclusively a Native American poet but her heritage is a major part of her work.
