Diane Burns (Anishinaabe/Chemehuev, USA)

Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney

Diane Burns (1956 – 2006) was an Anishinaabe and Chemehuevi artist and poet. She attended Barnard University and in the 1980s became a member of the Lower East Side poetry community, reading her work at the Bowery Poetry Club, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church. She was invited by the Sandinista government to visit Nicaragua for the Ruben Dario Poetry Festival, along with Allen Ginsberg, Joy Harjo, and Pedro Pietri. Known for her direct, wry poems, Burns engages themes of Native American identity and stereotypes.